Amid sharp questions in leaders’ debate, Morrison stayed relentlessly on message while Albanese showed he was listening

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison speak during the first leaders’ debate of the 2022 federal election at the Gabba in Brisbane. Photograph: Jason Edwards/AAP

Look, I can whip through the theatre criticism if you like. Let’s do it quickly.

Anthony Albanese, in the first leaders’ debate of the 2022 federal election campaign, moved early to establish professional equivalence with Scott Morrison by deploying a workmanlike grasp of facts and a basic rhetorical flex.