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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/jun/17/facebook-leaders-debate-turnbull-and-shorten-in-first-ever-online-head-to-head-politics-live
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Facebook leaders debate: Turnbull and Shorten in online head-to-head – politics live | Facebook leaders debate: Turnbull and Shorten in online head-to-head – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 9.52am BST | |
| 09:52 | |
| Summations now in response to a question about vision. The prime minister delivers the stump speech, with this added burst of enthusiasm, or over reach, depending on your level of tolerance on a Friday night. | |
| Malcolm Turnbull: | |
| What I’m doing is enabling the dreams of every Australian. | |
| 9.50am BST | |
| 09:50 | |
| Question ten is on parliamentary perks, pensions and the like. | |
| Malcolm Turnbull says an independent tribunal governs the system and the alternative is politicians police themselves. He says he’s the worst person to ask about entitlements because he didn’t come into politics to make more money. | |
| Bill Shorten echoes the sentiment on the tribunal, but he inflects his point. He doesn’t understand why the Liberal party keeps freezing increases to everyone else’s superannuation. | |
| I’m committed to lifting the superannuation, but I’m the Labor guy and I want to see people do better. | |
| 9.47am BST | |
| 09:47 | |
| Question nine. Why is going to university becoming so unaffordable? | |
| Malcolm Turnbull: | |
| What we are doing, of course, is seeking to reform and provide more flexibility to universities. We are not going to deregulate fees entirely. As you know, the minister, Simon Birmingham, has announced that what we will seek to do is to offer the universities the ability to deregulate fees, if you like, for a small number of flagship courses so that they can compete, so that you do get more competition between universities, but the strong support - government support - through HECS, for higher education, is absolutely critical. | |
| Hildebrand says deregulation means money flows to the top and not the bottom. Turnbull says competition between universities fixes that problem. | |
| Bill Shorten says Labor is fair dinkum on education. No $100,000 degrees. And a better educated country means growth and jobs. | |
| 9.43am BST | |
| 09:43 | |
| Q: Do you really think that that level of hatred would emerge in Australia in a plebiscite? Do you really think the no campaign would be talking about massacring gay people? | |
| Bill Shorten: | |
| I don’t understand homophobia. I also don’t understand why kids whose parents are LGBTI should have to go to school and see stupid posters on the walls, or be subjected to taxpayer-funded advertising campaigns. Life is hard enough. We’ve got enough going in our lives without taxpayer-funded campaigns challenging the authenticity of one person’s love for another. | |
| 9.41am BST | |
| 09:41 | |
| Question eight is about the plebiscite for marriage equality. Why are we doing it? | |
| Malcolm Turnbull says that was a decision of his party, but the evidence suggests people want a say. | |
| I can assure you that I will support it, I’ll be voting yes, and I’m confident it will be carried. | |
| Bill Shorten says this is a question of leadership. Parliament should get on with it. | |
| I totally accept that Malcolm supports marriage equality. The problem is, it’s just how we get there. The argument says, plebiscites - very democratic. The truth of the matter is, this is a debate where I don’t believe people’s relationships and their love for each other need to be submitted to a public opinion poll. | |
| We’ve seen two terrible events in the last week have shown that hate and terrorism does exist in modern societies. I don’t want to give haters a chance to come out from under the rock and make life harder for LGBTI people or their families, to somehow question the legitimacy of their relationship. | |
| This is an opportunity for him and I to lead. | |
| Turnbull says he trusts in the goodwill of the Australian people. | |
| 9.37am BST | |
| 09:37 | |
| 9.35am BST | |
| 09:35 | |
| Seventh question is about mental health. | |
| Less combative here between the two leaders. Bill Shorten talks about suicide prevention. He says unfreezing the GP rebates will help doctors treat people who need help. | |
| Malcolm Turnbull says the Coalition is spending record amounts on mental health services now. He talks about the importance of primary care. | |
| Updated | |
| at 9.35am BST | |
| 9.32am BST | |
| 09:32 | |
| @murpharoo Pretty average. Mostly fine, but at times parts choppy, drops in and out, skips or replays short sections. | |
| 9.31am BST | |
| 09:31 | |
| Sixth question is about youth unemployment. | |
| Malcolm Turnbull says it’s a significant issue. | |
| The key is strong economic growth. If there’s growth, then companies expand. That’s why it is important to reduce tax. | |
| Hildebrand says what’s Labor’s plan, we haven’t heard one have we? Bill Shorten says he’s been talking about jobs for the past week. He talks about TAFE and apprenticeships and the NBN. | |
| A fight about the NBN ensues. Turnbull says it’s Labor’s fault that the NBN didn’t roll out faster. Shorten says hang on, do you want copper? Hit like on Facebook if you prefer fibre to copper. The prime minister is less than amused. | |
| Speaking of which .. How’s reception going out there? Not great my readers say. | |
| @murpharoo Buffering, Not Viewing (hmmm. sounds like a band name...) | |
| 9.26am BST | |
| 09:26 | |
| Fifth question is about company tax cuts. What actual evidence do you have that reducing company tax will lead to mass employment? | |
| Malcolm Turnbull says company tax cuts boost growth and that boosts jobs. He says he only need quote Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen on the subject. Both have accepted that orthodoxy. | |
| Bill Shorten says the company tax cuts and Labor’s support for that, is the great lie of this election. | |
| The problem is the Libs only ever tell half the story. | |
| The other side of the story is how you replace the income lost. Shorten says Turnbull should tell the whole story. | |
| Paul Keating, Chris Bowen and myself have never, ever supported reducing corporate tax if it means sick people pay more [and] can’t go to the doctor. It’s ironic when Mr Turnbull misquotes me from the past. Let me remind you of a Turnbull quote. He called the current climate policy of the government, when he was not the leader of the government, a “fig leaf for environmental change”. Now all of a sudden, Tony Abbott’s his climate adviser. | |
| 9.20am BST | |
| 09:20 | |
| 9.19am BST | 9.19am BST |
| 09:19 | 09:19 |
| Fourth question is climate change. What are the respective positions of the leaders? | Fourth question is climate change. What are the respective positions of the leaders? |
| Bill Shorten plays the man before recounting the various Labor policies: | Bill Shorten plays the man before recounting the various Labor policies: |
| Climate change is a real problem. I’m very lucky that I don’t lead a party who disputes me about the science of climate change. | Climate change is a real problem. I’m very lucky that I don’t lead a party who disputes me about the science of climate change. |
| Malcolm Turnbull repeats his formulation that he’s paid a high price for his support for the science of climate change. He then launches into a defence of Direct Action. | Malcolm Turnbull repeats his formulation that he’s paid a high price for his support for the science of climate change. He then launches into a defence of Direct Action. |