Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he’s been on a nuclear-powered US submarine. Peter Dutton wondered if it scared him. Photo: Screenshot.
Anthony Albanese made a point of saying he had been on a nuclear-powered US submarine, allowing Peter Dutton to sarcastically ask if it made him scared.
That was the highlight of an otherwise lacklustre debate between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader at the halfway point of a rather dull federal election campaign.
The leaders’ debate, which aired nationally on ABC television Wednesday night (17 April), was only marginally more interesting than the previous week’s debate on Sky News.
It allowed both men to again present their respective cases as to why they should be leading Australia in the next term of government.
There were no knockout blows and few scratches inflicted, but Mr Dutton did admit to an own-goal over his comments about Russia wanting to base war planes in Indonesia.
Earlier in the week, when an international news report made the claim, the Opposition Leader suggested that Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had confirmed it.
The opposite was in fact the case, allowing Labor to accuse Mr Dutton of making things up to score political points.
During Thursday’s debate, the Opposition Leader backed down from his comments.
“The reference I was making shouldn’t have been to the President. It was in relation to sources from the Prabowo Government,” Mr Dutton said.
“It was a mistake, and I’m happy to admit that.
“What we got from the Indonesian authorities in the report … was that the sources inside the Prabowo Government confirmed that that was the case … and I think the main point here is that the Prime Minister knew nothing of it, nothing of the concerns, nothing of the prospect. The Prime Minister found out about it through a news report.”
It allowed Mr Albanese to accuse Mr Dutton of being unsuited for the diplomacy required of national leadership.
“Well, that’s an extraordinary double down from the alternative prime minister of Australia who verballed the Indonesian President yesterday,” Mr Albanese said.
“Indonesia will be the fourth-largest economy in the world. They are an important partner of Australia. We have an important defence relationship with Indonesia as well.
“President Prabowo, I regard as a personal friend, and we have good relations there. And the idea that you just throw out these comments is just extraordinary.
“And the fact that we just saw a double down on it, as if there’s nothing to see here, just shows that there’s no understanding of the need for diplomacy.
“Diplomacy means engaging seriously in a calibrated, serious way, treating Indonesia with respect as we do other nations that we deal with.”
It was the second major backdown from the Opposition Leader during the election campaign, the first being his crawl back over work-from-home and forcing public servants back to the office.
When the debate turned to US President Donald Trump and the tariffs he has imposed on Australian goods, both leaders were asked if they trusted him.
Mr Dutton said he couldn’t answer because he didn’t know President Trump.
“Well, we trust the United States and I don’t know the President, I’ve not met him,” he said.
“I don’t know. I don’t know, Donald Trump is my point. My point is that who I trust is the Australian people.”
The Opposition Leader’s admission he didn’t know Mr Trump, somewhat undermined his insistence that he could have secured an exemption from the tariffs for Australia.
Mr Albanase said he did trust the US President.
“Yeah, I have no reason not to. I’ve had a couple of discussions with him,” the Prime Minister said.
“In the last discussion, we agreed on a series of words that he would give consideration, great consideration was the words that he used. And he did that.
“In the end, he made a decision as part of the US Administration to put these tariffs on every country.
“We got the lowest amount, but we made it very clear that that was an act of self-harm by the United States.”
On Closing the Gap, Mr Albanese said First Nations people had not fared well under either side of politics.
“That’s just a fact, and that’s something that breaks my heart,” the Prime Minister said.
On energy, the PM was reminded that he went to the last election promising power prices would fall by $275 by 2025 – which hasn’t happened.
But during the energy debate, the Opposition Leader made his best jab when the discussion turned to nuclear power and Mr Albanese threw into the conversation that he’d actually been on a nuclear-powered sub.
“Were you scared?” Mr Dutton asked.
There are two more leaders’ debates scheduled before the 3 May polling day.
