Peter Dutton also mentioned in there that he didn’t think that interest rates would be coming down “anytime soon”.

Which might be news to the market. Which is predicting another five cuts. At least.

Is more debt inter generational theft?

A common argument we hear is that increasing debt is unfair on younger people. The argument that Peter Dutton is making is that higher debt today means that younger people will have less in the future.

Dutton is against increasing taxes to pay for government services. He is effectively saying that we should cut spending on services to help the next generation. But how will it help young people if we cut spending on the hospitals they will be born into or the schools they will be educated in?

A smarter way would be to tax enough to supply the services that Australians demand. Cutting spending will not make the next generation better off. It will just make the poorer and less able to access the government services that the generation before them took for granted.

Anthony Albanese is right – debt is lower now than was forecast in the last budget by Josh Frydenberg. But that says absolutely nothing about being a good “economic manager”

Peter Dutton is suggesting that all been due to higher iron ore prices etc… well given that was the case during the 2000s mining boom, not sure he should say that too loudly

People are now voting, and the Coalition has still not shown all their policies or how they are paying for them. Do they expect people to vote for them without this? If so, does that mean they think that policies costings are pointless?

Dutton:

Fortunately, none of our kids have decided that politics is a good pursuit for them. So that is a relief to all of us. Thank you. I’m sure I speak for the Prime Minister.

That actually demonstrate just how bad things are. Politics is good – it should be something people look to aspire to, and not be viewed as a horror show of megalomania (and other horrors that women especially have to endure)

So is Anthony Albanese too soft?

Albanese then proves he is a Lana Del Rey fan, by paraphrasing Mariners’ Apartment Complex. (He is more of a Born to Die fan apparently, but seems he knows the Sad Girl catalogue)

Kindness isn’t weakness. Kindness is something that I was raised with. We’ve we raised our children to be compassionate with each other, but I’ve been capable of making tough decisions.

But HOW CAN YOU DEAL WITH WORLD LEADERS WITHOUT BEING A MONSTER?

I’ve managed to be firm about Australia’s position, and we’ve managed to, for example, on China. We have repaired the relationship without compromising any of Australia’s values. That has been very important. We’ve continued to deal with all this, for example, putting it in place. Some people don’t like that. That’s Australia’s position. It’s in our national interest on issues like nuclear powered submarines. Not everyone in the Labor Party was convinced by that. At the beginning, I took the argument to the ALP national conference, put it through. We’re putting it in place. I’ve been in public life like Peter for a long period of time, and you don’t get to be Prime Minister and to lead the Labor Party without a toughness.

Dutton says thankfully neither of their children has shown an interest in politics. Which – of course not? They already have houses.

Sigh.

We are now at the ‘I am not a monster’ part of the debate.

Peter Dutton is talking about being a police officer. Which he hasn’t been since 1999.

He has been a property developer for longer. A politician for longer. Peter Dutton as a police officer is as relevant as me being a barister.

The leaders are now being asked about character.

You know what is actually important in being prime minister?

What they do with power. What. Do. They. Do. With. Power.

That’s what’s important.

Allan Behm wrote last week in Guardian: “US president Donald Trump has created a massive opportunity for America’s adversaries to capitalise on his rare facility for ceding economic, political and strategic ground to China and Russia. China’s president is now making hay in the sunshine of Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia, while his trade minister was recently in discussion with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on a joint approach to tariff imposts – three ancient enemies joined at last in common purpose”

“The starting point for our brave new world is to understand that the opportunity of a lifetime lasts only as long as the lifetime of the opportunity. We need to get cracking. We need the leadership that recognises good luck rather than looks backwards at a lost world or, even worse, cries over spilt milk. We need the confidence to engage with our neighbours and to reinvest in the diplomatic tools that are critical to creating the geopolitical capital that is now so much in demand.

And least of all do we need to start at shadows and indulge in the fear of unknown non-events and “agreements” from over-excited politicians who are making heavy weather of an election campaign.”

OK. We are onto our second glass of wine over here.

Goodness me. This is painful.

Peter Dutton goes into more detail about why he would be so amazing as a leader in terms of diplomacy.

I bring more experience to this job than any predecessor. I’ve been the defence minister in our country. I’ve been the home affairs minister, the Immigration Minister. I’ve been on the front bench of the Liberal party and government opposition since 2004 as I said earlier, I’ve worked with four prime ministers, and I’ve watched them very closely, the good and the bad, and I’ve learned from each and I believe very strongly that we have the runs on the board.

I’ve got a good friendship and relationship with the PNG Prime Minister. I met the current President of Indonesia when he was defence minister. I had a meeting with him in Canberra when he was the president elect. I put good relationships in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Canada, in Japan, and that has built up over a period of time. And I’m very proud of the connections globally that I have, and I believe not just me, but our team is highly experienced and has the ability to bring together the best opportunity for us to stand proud on the world stage, the problems that Australia has seen at the moment with a week leader, not just from Australians, but also from our international counterparts, who see a weak leader In the Lodge.

So the man who has denigrated other nations why in senior leadership positions, who said that bringing in Lebanese people to Australia was a mistake, made up an African gang problem to try and win a state election, the man who accused asylum seekers of faking rape claims to come to Australia for medical treatment, who was a senior minister when Border Force launched an operation to randomly check people on the streets of Melbourne for their visas, who made up that white South African farmers needed fast tracked visas because of the danger they apparently faced in their own country, who joked about climate change causing water to lap at the feet of Pacific Islanders, who said that he would get along better with Trump because he had the sort of personality that Trump liked and who just last week verbaled the Indonesian president (and I know I am missing things here) – HE thinks that he will do better on foreign affairs.

OK. Third glass of wine coming up.