Who is winning in the debate tonight

Key posts

• 10.14pmLeaders asked to describe the other’s strength
• 9.59pmMorrison says Alan Tudge will be education minister
• 9.37pmHow would either leader help families with the cost of living?
• 7.03pmMental health charity director asks Liberal MP to withdraw unauthorised ads
• 5.03pmPriest asks Brisbane MP to stop using endorsement letter in campaign
• 4.49pmASX closes 0.2 per cent higher
• 4.01pmAustralia records 51 deaths and 57,637 new cases of COVID-19
• 3.27pmHelen Haines and Zali Steggall on must-have features of a federal anti-corruption body

11.07pm on May 11, 2022

Pub test verdict now in

By Latika Bourke

And voters watching tonight’s debate in pubs across key electorates have delivered their verdict, declaring Anthony Albanese the winner by an overwhelming margin: 50 per cent compared with 34 per cent for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the remaining 16 per cent undecided.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese had the last laugh in the final leaders’ debate, according to viewers.Credit:Lukas Coch

In WA, voters watching in the seat of Hasluck, currently held by minister Ken Wyatt, returned a deadlocked vote: 44 each and 12 undecideds.

In NSW’s Macquarie, currently held by Labor MP Susan Templeman, 50 per cent of voters favoured Albanese, while 25 per cent voted for Morrison and the other 25 per cent remained undecided.

In Victoria, voters in the seat of Chisholm, currently held by Liberal MP Gladys Liu, returned 52 per cent for Albanese, 35 per cent for Morrison, and 13 per cent were undecided.

In SA, voters in the seat of Boothby, vacated by Liberal MP Nicole Flint, returned 52 per cent of votes for Albanese, 32 per cent for Morrison and 16 per cent undecided.

In Tasmania, voters in the seat of Bass, held by the Liberals’ Bridget Archer, returned 52 per cent for Albanese, 32 per cent for Morrison, and 16 per cent were undecided.

In Queensland, voters in the seat of Lilley, currently held by Labor’s Anika Wells, returned 54 per cent for Albanese, 41 per cent for Morrison, and 5 per cent undecided.

And in the NT’s seat of Solomon, currently held by Labor’s Luke Gosling, 25 per cent of votes were cast in favour of Morrison, 50 per cent for Albanese and 25 per cent were still undecided.

Chief political correspondent David Crowe has filed this report on tonight’s final showdown, in which the leaders managed to keep their hostilities in check.

Read more: Morrison and Albanese face off over climate and border protection

And that’s it from us for the day. Thank you so much for your company.

Join us tomorrow for our continuing coverage of the federal election.

Cut through the noise of the federal election campaign with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.

10.19pm on May 11, 2022

Government has no plan for future, struggles with present: Albanese

By Latika Bourke

The leaders reprise their opening pitches as they are given two minutes each to make their closing statements.

Scott Morrison goes first, having lost the coin toss, and says that a vote for the Liberals and Nationals on May 21 is one for a “strong, responsible and safe choice for a stronger future”.

Anthony Albanese says the government doesn’t have a plan for the future because they “struggle with the present”.

“We can do better,” he says.

Moderator Mark Riley thanks the pair for such a civil debate. Noticeably, there was no shouting from either this time.

Viewers who have been watching in key electorates for Channel Seven are now casting their votes.

10.14pm on May 11, 2022

Leaders asked to describe the other’s strength

By Latika Bourke

To close the debate, the leaders are asked to describe a strength that they admire in each other.

Morrison says Albanese has never forgotten where he came from, having grown up in public housing.

However, he then goes on to say that as much as he respects what Albanese has achieved, he doesn’t believe he’s up to the job.

Albanese says he admires Morrison’s commitment to the nation and praises that Morrison has made mental health an issue that can be talked about. He says the extra funding provided by the government for mental health charity Headspace has been a good thing.

10.12pm on May 11, 2022

Why can’t free childcare continue?

By Rachel Clun

Free childcare was made available during the pandemic, and both leaders were asked why it couldn’t continue, as it could boost women’s workforce participation, security and equity.

Anthony Albanese says Labor wants more affordable childcare, “where 96 per cent of families will be better off and 4 per cent will be the same”.

“We have also said that what we will do is to have the Productivity Commission in our first term look towards whether you would move to a universal system of affordable childcare,” he says.

Mark Riley (centre) moderates as Scott Morrison (right) and Anthony Albanese face off in their third and final leaders’ debate.Credit:Mick Tsikas

The opposition leader says affordable childcare isn’t welfare but rather economic reform.

“It will boost productivity, help business, help women’s retirement incomes. That’s just one element that we have. We also want to make gender pay equity an objective of the Fair Work Act.”

Scott Morrison says the gender pay gap had narrowed under the Coalition government, from 17.4 per cent to 13.8 per cent.

“What does that mean? It means women today, because of the closing of the gender pay gap under our government, are better off,” he says.

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“There is 1.7 million more women in work than when we came to government. Female participation in the workforce is at record levels.”

It was fine for Labor to make big promises, “but you’ve got to be able to pay for them”, the prime minister says.

Albanese says childcare shouldn’t be seen as just a cost but rather an investment in the economy.

“All the analysis shows that every time you spend a dollar on childcare, more than $2 comes back – through economic growth, through increased workforce participation, through increased productivity,” he says.

10.05pm on May 11, 2022

‘Never will, never have had, a carbon or mining tax’: Morrison

By Latika Bourke

The leaders are asked to rule out a carbon or mining tax.

Scott Morrison says the Coalition “never will, never have had, a carbon or mining tax”.

Anthony Albanese is equally emphatic. “The answer to your question is yes, we will certainly rule them out and have done so,” he says.

Asked how to achieve their climate pledges, Albanese says Labor has a better plan than a carbon tax, including improving electricity transmission and encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles.

The prime minister says the opposition’s spending on electricity transmission will ultimately be clawed back from consumers.

The opposition leader says Australia needs to move on from the debate as climate change is real and here now, citing the floods and bushfires.

He says his climate policy has been endorsed by the business community and is aimed at ending the climate wars.

Morrison says his plan is about investing in new cleaner-energy businesses rather than taxing.

9.59pm on May 11, 2022

Morrison says Alan Tudge will be education minister

By Rachel Clun

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Alan Tudge will be education minister if the Coalition is returned to government.

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Tudge stepped down from his duties in December following allegations from a former staffer of abuse, which he has strongly denied.

Employment Minister Stuart Robert has been acting in the role of education minister since.

Morrison said Tudge – who has been focusing on campaigning locally in his Melbourne seat and has rarely been seen publicly during the election campaign – has not resigned or been dismissed as a minister.

“He will be happy to come back and serve in the ministry and I welcome that,” Morrison says.

9.58pm on May 11, 2022

‘Why would you vote for Scott Morrison?’ Albanese asks

By Latika Bourke

Anthony Albanese says he is open to any formal complaint about the alleged bullying of the late Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching but that no complaint has been made.

Scott Morrison says he finds Labor’s response to the accusations “disappointing”.

Both leaders are then asked about their plans for an integrity commission.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Wednesday night’s debate.Credit:Mick Tsikas

Morrison says he will introduce a bill for his proposed integrity commission when he can be sure it will be supported by the parliament.

Albanese says that gives voters even less of a reason to re-elect the Coalition.

“Why would you vote for Scott Morrison on Saturday week? Because what he says is [that] unless the opposition supports [his] legislation, it won’t even come before the parliament,” he says.

9.49pm on May 11, 2022

Leadership spills drove voters away from major parties: Albanese

By Latika Bourke

Asked what they have done to drive voters away from Labor and the Coalition, Anthony Albanese says the leadership spills and rotating prime ministerships, which Labor started when Kevin Rudd was toppled in 2010, have turned voters off.

He says corruption is also a factor for voter disillusionment and that’s why Labor will bring in a national anti-corruption commission if elected.

Morrison’s answer is somewhat different. He blames the last two years of the pandemic and says that the challenges “greatly disrupted our society”.

He says it’s critical that voters don’t support the teal independents who are threatening to oust moderate Liberal MPs as he says that would cripple the government’s ability to manage the economy.

9.45pm on May 11, 2022

Fight over boat turnbacks

By Rachel Clun

Now for something completely different, the leaders are arguing about who is tougher on boat turnbacks. Morrison goes first.

He says the previous Labor government wound back temporary protection visas, which led to more boat arrivals.

“We all know what happened after that: 800 boats, 1200 people dead, 50,000 people turning up causing chaos,” he says.

“We have fixed that with three clear policies: temporary protection visas and turn the boats back where it’s safe to do so.

“Mr Albanese has said if he is elected he will abolish temporary protection visas, that means permanent visas for people who have come on a boat. They have learnt nothing in the last decade.”

Albanese says Labor plans to “keep Australia’s borders strong”, including through processing refugees who arrived by boat offshore and resettling them in third countries.

“Anyone who comes by boat will not get any visa here in Australia; they won’t be allowed to settle here in Australia. We have the same position on all of those issues,” he says, pointing out it was the Labor government that organised the New Zealand resettlement deal.

9.40pm on May 11, 2022

I’ve been acting PM before, says Albanese

By Latika Bourke

Both leaders have stumbled throughout their pitches and responses tonight, and Scott Morrison has struggled to get some of his sentences out seamlessly.

After early stumbles, Anthony Albanese is growing more confident.

The prime minister attacks the opposition leader for being from the left of the Labor Party and calls him a “loose unit” again after first using the Australian slang term earlier today.

Anthony Albanese says he has more experience than former Labor leaders Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke had when they took office.Credit:Lukas Coch

“I wouldn’t let him near the till either,” Morrison says, adding that Albanese is an “armchair critic”.

Albanese hits back, saying he’d been acting prime minister during the last Labor government and he would lead the “most experienced incoming government in history”.

The Labor leader says he has more experience than former Labor leaders Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke had when they took office.

Albanese accuses Morrison of going missing when it came to the bushfires, ordering COVID-19 vaccines and rapid antigen tests.

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