Sky leaders’ debate: Albanese appeared polished, but some in the room described his performance as ‘arrogant’

Anthony Albanese won the night but he only did so based on a number of cut-through moments in an otherwise status-quo performance that he failed to land the knockout blow he needed to harden soft voters. He may have won the People’s Forum, but one-in-five of the 100 voters remain unconvinced he’s the right man to be Prime Minister come May 3. For the most part he played it safe, whipping out his favourite prop - his Medicare card - as he butted heads with Peter Dutton over bulk-billing, and talked up Labor’s first term agenda. He was focused, disciplined and on-message, delivering well-polished campaign lines in a gaffe-free delivery, but he struggled to keep up with Dutton on topics like migration and energy. Albanese was polished, but was described by some in the room as a “smart arse” and “arrogant”. Others described him as “confident”, a positive quality they told The Nightly outside the venue. The more personable approach he took to questioners, like walking towards audience members as he answered their question and asking them details about their lives to inform his answer, also cut through. He posed for a few selfies at the end, to the delight of some audience members. Both leaders fell a little flat. Dutton was the best he’s been so far this campaign, but Albanese delivered the best line of the night as he took aim at Dutton’s about face on work from home: “Peter hasn’t been able to stand up for his own policies. I don’t know how he can stand up for Australia”. His second best came as he criticised the Coalition’s gas policy: “the only gas policy the Coalition has is gaslighting the Australian public”. He was effective in invoking the Coalition cuts of the past, and reminding voters of the Medicare co-payment Dutton tried to introduce while health minister. Albanese came across as assured and across the detail, he had more positive policy to speak about than his opponent and he was sure to use that to his advantage. But there was nothing new. Neither he nor Dutton were victors apparent in an hour of more-of-the-same. Voters who want more answers about the big questions they care about, and facing the country, deserve a more inspiring performance at the next debate.