After the ABC Leaders Debate, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton admitted he had made a mistake, saying he was quick to comment on reports that Russia sought to base military aircraft at the Manuhua base in Indonesia’s Papua province.

Dutton suggested reports were confirmed by Indonesia’s president Prabowo Subianto, however, Subianto has since confirmed Indonesia would not be hosting Russian planes.

At a press conference at the Brisbane seat of Bonner today, Albanese criticised Dutton for misquoting what Subianto said.

“How do you reconcile the fact that the issue here is that Peter Dutton said that the Indonesian President had issued a statement saying that there would be a Russian air force base in Papua. It was simply wrong,” Albanese said.

Meanwhile, during the debate Albanese repeatedly declined to comment when electricity prices would come down under the re-elected government. Labor still defends promises it made in the 2022 election about power prices falling from $275 by 2025, saying they were not met because of the Ukraine invasion and broad inflation pressures.

During the debate, Albanese and Dutton clashed over the Coalition’s plan to reduce the size of the federal public service by 41,000 jobs. When asked if cuts to the public service would cover all its election commitments, Dutton said “the short answer is no”.

“We won’t achieve all of the savings we need to achieve through our changes to the public service,” he said.

In response, Albanese accused Dutton of not being upfront with the Australian public.

“He won’t say where the cuts will be but says vote for me, trust us, we will tell you after the election,” Albanese said.

Photo: Zero Chance Campaign Launch by Department of Home Affairs found HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified.