LIVE: Election 2025 – Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton ruthlessly mocked over ‘boring’ People’s Forum debate – as viewers unleash on their ‘uninspiring’ performances

Political commentators, in their wisdom, reached for words like ‘prosaic’ and ‘lacklustre’ to describe the debate.

Another, simpler, word comes to mind: boring.

That’s certainly what a lot of those who could be bothered to tune in at home thought.

Matt Camenzuli, the multi-millionaire IT boss who is standing as an Independent in the working class seat of McMahon in Western Sydney, said it was ‘not the most exciting debate in the history of Australia’.

‘More like discussion between middle managers at a concrete plant,’ he added.

Meanwhile, former Liberal staffer-turned political consultant John Macgowan bemoaned that ‘there’s just nothing here’.

‘I thought hey, fun night, I got a good bottle of whisky, I’ll watch the leaders debate and poast (sic) some funny takes, but they’re not putting anything down to pick up,’ he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

‘An AI would be more engaging.’

Mr Macgowan then proceeded to ask X’s AI function, Grok, various questions about Labor and the Coalition’s policies, the results of which left him suitably impressed.

‘I think I’ve proved my point that both leaders could be replaced with AI and no one would notice,’ he added.

Another user put it more simply: ‘That was the most uninspiring Leaders’ Debate in living memory.

‘How did we end up with such sh** political leaders?’, they asked.

The Opposition Leader was immediately declared the winner by Sky’s Political editor Andrew Clennell and the Daily Telegraph’s editor Ben English.

‘I think Peter Dutton was a clear winner and I think that’s pretty meritorious with the situation with his father,’ Mr Clennell said.

He was, or course, referencing the news that broke just before the debate began about Mr Dutton’s 79-year-old father being rushed to hospital with a heart attack.

Mr English added: ‘He (Dutton) won it. He was clear, he was focussed and he was across the detail.’

But the majority of the one hundred undecided voters did not agree, as 44 believed Mr Albanese won the debate, while only 35 were convinced by Mr Dutton.

The remaining 21 were undecided.

Both leaders were put on the spot by 74-year-old grandmother Janine who asked about the vexed issue of immigration and the housing crisis.

‘I worked very hard all my life. I didn’t come for money at all. I came from an average family,’ Janine began her question.

She said she wasn’t worried about her own future, but said she held grave fears for those of her children and grandchildren.

‘I have not seen any government take control of a fact, and it is a fact: a lot of foreign companies and countries buy Australian farmland,’ she told both leaders.

‘We have a lot of migrants. Sorry, not migrants – I didn’t say that – we have a lot of students who are here visiting, who are buying housing within the city area.

‘And we have a lot of people here, just on visas, buying properties here in Sydney, and they are now empty.’

She asked: ‘Is one of our governments going to turn up and say, “Australia belongs to Australians, and therefore our land remains Australian land”?’

Both Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton went on the charm offensive, seeking to compliment Janine.

Mr Dutton acknowledged that ‘people want to invest into our country’.

‘We have limits in relation to purchases being made. Your point is that they can be made tougher. And that’s a fair point to make,’ he told Janine.

He also repeated his campaign promise that a Coalition government would impose ‘a two-year ban on foreign buyers from purchasing existing housing stock’.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said his government had that policy already in place.

Peter Dutton’s father Bruce, 79, has reportedly been rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack.

Ben English, editor of The Daily Telegraph, revealed the news less than 40 minutes before the debate was due to begin on Sky News.

The paper is reporting that his father has been taken to a hospital in Queensland after a ‘serious’ medical eipsode.

Long before entering politics, Mr Dutton started a small building company with his father.

An account for the Liberal National Party in Queensland confidently declared that Peter Dutton won the debate seven minutes after it ended.

But it was perhaps a tad premature.

Of the 100 undecided voters in the room, 44 believed Anthony Albanese had won the debate, while just 35 were swayed by Mr Dutton.

X users were quick to pile in.

‘Whatever the LNP is smoking must be industrial grade,’ quipped journalist Latika Bourke.

Another user added: ‘Congratulations also to England and Bazball on winning back the Ashes last series.’

Invited to ask Mr Albanese a question directly, the Opposition Leader asked him if it was correct his Labor government was the largest-spending government since Gough Whitlam.

‘So in 40 years, there has not been a higher spending government than your government? Is that correct?’ Mr Dutton asked.

But the Prime Minister fired back.

‘Well that’s not true – except for the one that you’re a part of,’ he said.

Mr Dutton was left to shake his head and mutter: ‘Of course, it’s true.’

Another moment of wit came when the PM criticised the Coalition’s enegry policy.

‘The only gas policy that the Coalition has is the gaslighting of the Australian public,’ he quipped.

A truck driver called Ian has demanded Labor match the Coalition’s pledge to cut fuel excise for 12 months.

Mr Dutton has promised to slash petrol costs by 25 cents per litre, while rejecting Labor’s tax cuts announced in the Budget.

‘To be honest, Mr Prime Minister, people are hurting now, not in 15 months’ time,’ Ian (pictured, below) told the audience, referencing Labor’s plan to cut income tax next year.

‘Fuel is dialled into everything, not only personally people’s cars, but for me and other truck drivers. It makes the supply chain cheaper and cheaper and cheaper.’

But Mr Albanese said the Treasury was ‘concerned that it was just a temporary measure, just like it happened prior to the 2022 election’.

‘It then just disappeared after a period of time. And what Peter’s proposing is something that is (also) temporary,’ Mr Albanese added.

But Mr Dutton hinted he might be open to extending the fuel excise cut.

‘We would reassess where we are as an economy, as a people, as a nation, in 12 months’ time, and if we needed to extend it, then we could do that,’ he said.

Mr Dutton accuses the Prime Minister of running a ‘Mediscare campaign and education-scare campaign’.

‘It is not a truthful statement,’ Mr Dutton said in response to the claim that the last Coalition government slashed healthcare and education funding.

‘Now, what the Prime Minister is saying is that the funding didn’t go up by as much as he would want each year, but there was no year where funding was cut from hospitals or from education,’ he added.

‘When I was health minister, we increased hospital funding by 16 per cent.’

Mr Dutton accused the Prime Minister of being ‘misleading’.

But the PM stood his ground, insisting: ‘It is a fact’.

Michael, a member of the audience, asks how both leaders will deal with the ‘Trump pandemic’ sparked by the US President’s punitive global tariffs.

Mr Albanese stresses that Australia is better ‘prepared’ than other countries but insists there are opportunities in other markets.

‘It’s important to remember this 80 per cent of global trade, doesn’t involve the United States,’ he told the audience.

‘So in our region…there will be opportunities for Australia, that we want to see.

‘We have several have global trade missions following the missions that I’ve led to Indonesia to India and China, looking for opportunities for businesses.

Mr Dutton insisted the Prime Minister of the day ‘should have the ability of the strength of character, to be able to stand up against bullies, against those that would seek to do us harm’.

‘And that’s exactly what I would seek to do as Prime Minister,’ he added.

Clive Palmer’s colourful new party, Trump-et of Patriots, stole the early airtime with a lengthy ad just before the debate began that will have cost some serious money.

But then mining magnate Mr Palmer is not short of cash.

But now to the main event, as the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader shake hands before delivering their own pitches.

The Prime Minister was spotted getting the lie of the land ahead of the debate.

Anthony Albanese was filmed on Sky News being shown the two podiums and where the crowd would be sitting (pictured, below).

The audience is made up of 100 undecided voters selected by an independent polling agency, who will vote later tonight on who they think has won.

The debate will be moderated by Sky News’ chief news anchor Kieran Gilbert.

Sky News host Peta Credlin said these debates ‘can and do make a difference’.

‘Dutton’s challenge is not just to pin people’s pain on Labor, but to show how he’ll make it better’ she said.

‘Labor’s challenge is even harder because they can’t just blame Dutton tonight – this room won’t cop it – as they know Dutton hasn’t been in power and won’t take kindly to the political sledging.

‘They will want to see Albanese stand up and take responsibility for their pain, rather than dodge it.

‘A prime minister with no record to run on and no plan for the future except for more of the same, will use every answer to attack Peter Dutton.’

All eyes will be on Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton tonight when they face off tonight in the must-win leaders’ debate kicking off at 7.30pm.

But another debate that was slated to take place between two fierce political rivals will not go ahead.

Teal MP Allegra Spender, who represents the well-heeled residents of Wentworth in Sydney’s east, had enthusiastically agreed to a debate with her Liberal rival Ro Knox on Sky News.

‘On March the 5th, the independent member for Wentworth Allegra Spender did agree to a Sky News debate against her Liberal contender Ro Knox,’ ’ Sky News host Laura Jayes revealed on Tuesday.

‘But Allegra Spender now says she is not going to participate in that debate.’

Members of the Liberal camp have accused Ms Spender of ‘running scared’.

But a spokesperson for the Teal MP insisted she will ‘appear in at least six more campaign forum debates during the current election campaign’.

‘Allegra Spender is declining the proposed Sky debate because she no faith in the editorial standards of Sky News,’ the spokesperson added.

Senator James Paterson, the Coalition campaign spokesman, said Ms Spender’s decision was ‘classic when it comes to the Teals’.

‘They talk about transparency but they don’t live transparency, transparency is something that other people should do but they don’t have to do,’ he told Sky News Peta Credlin.

There is certainly no love lost between Ms Spedner and Ms Knox – and a debate between the pair would have been an opportunity to crack out the popcorn.

You can read more about their fractious history below: