Big Win For Beazley In Election Debate

Audience reaction to tonight's televised election debate has given a significant boost to the ALP's campaign for the November 10 poll. An instant poll conducted with an audience chosen by the Roy Morgan opinion polling organisation gave victory to Kim Beazley by 67% to 33%.

The debate's moderator, Ray Martin, was rendered largely irrelevant for much of the hour-long confrontation as John Howard and Kim Beazley responded to each other's questions, allegations and comments.

Over twenty minutes were devoted to issues surrounding terrorism and asylum-seekers. The most significant moment came when Beazley responded to Howard's accusation that he had "flipped" on the issue of the passage of the Border Protection Bill. Beazley convincingly outlined the reasons for the ALP's opposition to the original bill and its reasons for accepting the revised bill some days later.

An extraordinary observation was made by the Prime Minister that the best thing that had happened to education funding in Australia was the introduction of the GST.

Beazley borrowed from a tactic adopted by former US President Ronald Reagan in a 1980 debate with Jimmy Carter, asking the Australian people whether they felt that they were better off now than they were five years ago.

• Read the transcript of the debate
• Listen to the debate between Howard and Beazley

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