2016 Australian federal election debates and forums

Last updated

The Australian federal election debates of 2016 consisted of a series of leaders' debates between the leaders of the two main parties contesting the 2016 Australian federal election: Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party; and Bill Shorten, Leader of the Opposition and Labor Party. Other debates, between portfolio spokespeople for example, were also held.

Contents

Background

On 8 May Turnbull attended Government House to advise Peter Cosgrove, the Governor-General, to issue the writs for a double dissolution. [1]

At his press conference, Turnbull said "we haven’t discussed debates but I look forward to having a number of them". [2] The following day Shorten said "I’ll debate Malcolm Turnbull anywhere, anytime". [3]

Richard Di Natale, leader of the Greens, unsuccessfully called to be included in the leaders' debate. [4] [5] [6]

Leaders' debates

13 May – Sky News Daily Telegraph People's Forum

Sky News had planned a debate in Brisbane for Thursday 12 May. Shorten agreed but Turnbull did not and so the debate did not occur. [3] Shorten had tried to hold a debate in Townsville. [7]

The Sky News Daily Telegraph People's Forum, the first leaders' debate, took place at 7:00pm AEST on Friday, 13 May in the RSL club in Windsor, New South Wales. [8] It was organised by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph and broadcast on Sky News. [9] David Speers moderated the debate. [10]

The audience was made up of 100 undecided voters selected by polling company Galaxy Research. The leaders open the programme with a statement, and close with a speech, [11] with the unscripted questions asked in between. Shorten won the audience vote by 42 votes to 29, with 29 undecided. [12]

The Sydney Morning Herald , The Courier-Mail and The Australian Financial Review have criticized the debate being held on a Friday night, which generally has low television viewership. [13] [14] [15] It drew an average of 54,200 viewers, making it the thirteenth most watched pay television program of the night. [16] Sixty people protested against the proposed Western Sydney Airport outside the venue. [17]

29 May – ABC News 24 leader's debate

National Press Club in Barton, Australian Capital Territory National Press Club in Barton (1).jpg
National Press Club in Barton, Australian Capital Territory

The first official leader's debate between Shorten and Turnbull took place on the 29 May at the National Press Club in Canberra. [18] The debate, organised by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, was moderated by ABC political journalist Chris Uhlmann and the panel consisted of three journalists from Fairfax, News Corp, and Seven West Media. [19]

8 June – Sky News Daily Telegraph People's Forum

The second Sky News Daily Telegraph People's Forum took place on Wednesday, 9 June in the Brisbane Broncos sports club in Red Hill, Queensland. It was organised by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph and broadcast on Sky News. David Speers moderated the debate.

The audience was made up of 100 undecided voters. Shorten attended but Turnbull declined and instead appeared on 7.30 .

17 June

A third federal election debate took place on Friday, 17 June 2016. [20] The debate was hosted jointly by News.com.au and Facebook, and was the first to be predominately broadcast using Facebook's video livestream feature. [21]

Other debates

18 May – National Press Club Environment Debate

On 18 May, Greg Hunt, Minister for the Environment debated Mark Butler, Shadow Minister for the Environment at the National Press Club. It was broadcast on ABC News 24. [22]

25 May – ABC Regional Leaders Debate

On 13 May, Joel Fitzgibbon, Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs and member of the Labor Party, called to debate Barnaby Joyce, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources and leader of the National Party. [23] Fitzgibbon, Joyce and Di Natale debated in the ABC Regional Leaders Debate which took place from 7:30pm AEST on Wednesday, 25 May at Goulburn High School in Goulburn, New South Wales. It was broadcast on ABC News 24 and ABC NewsRadio and moderated by Chris Uhlmann. [24] [25]

16 June – National Press Club Defence Policy Debate

On 16 June, Marise Payne, Minister for Defence and Stephen Conroy, Shadow Minister, debated Defence policy at the National Press Club. It was broadcast on ABC News 24 and was moderated by Sabra Lane. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Turnbull</span> Prime Minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018

Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Wentworth from 2004 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Republic Movement</span>

The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. The ARM and its supporters have promoted various models, including a parliamentary republic, and the organisation has branches active in all states and territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Abbott</span> Prime Minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015

Anthony John Abbott is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales division of Warringah from 1994 to 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 42nd Parliament of Australia

The 2007 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 24 November 2007. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The election featured a 39-day campaign, with 13.6 million Australians enrolled to vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Shorten</span> Australian politician (born 1967)

William Richard Shorten is an Australian former politician and trade unionist. He served as the leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2013 to 2019. Shorten also held several ministerial portfolios in the Gillard, Rudd and Albanese governments from 2010 to 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cory Bernardi</span> Australian politician

Cory Bernardi is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party he founded in 2017 but disbanded in 2019. He is a former member of the Liberal Party of Australia, having represented the party in the Senate from 2006 to 2017. He is the author of The Conservative Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Pyne</span> Australian politician

Christopher Maurice Pyne is a retired Australian politician. As a member of the Liberal Party, he held several ministerial positions in the Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, and served as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Sturt from 1993 until his retirement in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Chester</span> Australian politician (born 1967)

Darren Jeffrey Chester is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the House of Representatives for Gippsland in Victoria, representing the Nationals since 2008. Chester had served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Defence Personnel between March 2018 and July 2021 in the Turnbull and Morrison governments. He was also Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC until May 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 45th Parliament of Australia

The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbott government</span> Australian government (2013–2015)

The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served as Deputy Prime Minister. Following the 2013 Australian federal election held on 7 September, the Coalition defeated the second Rudd government, ending six years of Labor government. The Abbott government was sworn into office on 18 September 2013. Less than two years later on 14 September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull defeated Abbott in a leadership ballot, 54 votes to 44 and the Turnbull government became the executive government of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gillespie (Australian politician)</span> Australian politician and gastroenterologist

David Arthur Gillespie is an Australian politician and gastroenterologist. He is a member of the National Party and has served in the House of Representatives since 2013, representing the New South Wales seat of Lyne. He held ministerial portfolios during the Turnbull and Morrison governments as Assistant Minister for Rural Health (2016–2017), Assistant Minister for Health (2017), Assistant Minister for Children and Families (2017–2018), Minister for Regional Health (2021–2022), and Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment (2021–2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peta Credlin</span> Australian political advisor

Peta-Louise Mary Credlin is an Australian former political advisor who served as Chief of Staff to Tony Abbott during his term as prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2015 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill</span>

A motion seeking a leadership spill of the federal parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and Prime Minister was proposed by Malcolm Turnbull, who requested the ballot on 14 September 2015. The incumbent Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, announced that a meeting of Liberal members of the House and Senate would take place at 9:15 pm AEST on 14 September 2015 for the purpose of a spill motion. During the meeting a vote was held for the leadership and deputy leadership. Turnbull defeated Abbott, 54 votes to 44, becoming the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and Prime Minister-nominee. Julie Bishop retained her position of deputy leader defeating Kevin Andrews 70 votes to 30.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turnbull government</span> Australian government (2015–2018)

The Turnbull government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 29th prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, from 2015 to 2018. It succeeded the Abbott government, which brought the Coalition to power at the 2013 Australian federal election. The government consisted of members of Australia's Liberal-Nationals Coalition. Turnbull took office by challenging his leader, Tony Abbott, in an internal leadership ballot. Warren Truss, the leader of the Nationals, served as deputy prime minister until he retired in 2016 and was replaced by Barnaby Joyce. Joyce resigned in February 2018 and the Nationals' new leader Michael McCormack became deputy prime minister. The Turnbull government concluded with Turnbull's resignation ahead of internal leadership ballot which saw him succeeded as prime minister by Scott Morrison and the Morrison government.

Several research and polling firms conducted polls during the parliamentary term and prior to the 2016 Australian federal election on 2 July in relation to voting intention for the Australian House of Representatives and leader ratings. Most firms use the flow of preferences at the previous election to determine the two-party-preferred vote; others ask respondents to nominate their second preference before applying the preference flows at the previous election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Australian federal election</span> Election for the 46th Parliament of Australia

The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolution federal election. All 151 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate were up for election.

The history of same-sex marriage in Australia includes its express prohibition by the Howard government in 2004 and its eventual legalisation by the Parliament in December 2017. Although a same-sex marriage law was passed by the Australian Capital Territory in 2013, it was struck down by the High Court on the basis of inconsistency with federal law. The Court's decision closed the possibility of concurrent state or territory laws that would allow same-sex marriage where federal law did not. A law legalising same-sex marriage passed the Parliament on 7 December 2017 and received royal assent the following day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharri Markson</span> Australian journalist, editor and author

Sharri Markson is an Australian journalist and author. She is investigations editor at The Australian and host of the Sky News Australia program Sharri, which airs 8-9pm Monday - Thursday. She is the winner of numerous awards in journalism, including two Walkley Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Liberal Party of Australia leadership spills</span> Leader selection contests within Australias then governing party

Leadership spills of the federal parliamentary leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia were held on 21 and 24 August 2018 and were called by the incumbent leader of the party, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The Australian federal election debates of 2019 were a series of leaders' debates between the leaders of the two main parties contesting the 2019 Australian federal election: Scott Morrison, Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal Party; and Bill Shorten, Leader of the Opposition and Labor Party.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Associated Press (8 May 2016). "It's official: Malcolm Turnbull confirms Australia will go to the polls on July 2". Ninemsn . Archived from the original on 15 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Press conference (8 May 2016). "Election 2016: It's no accident we have a debate on a night when voters love to switch off". Malcolm Turnbull . Retrieved 13 May 2016. We haven't discussed debates but I look forward to having a number of them.
  3. 1 2 Baxendale, Rachel (9 May 2016). "Federal election 2016: 'I'll debate Malcolm Turnbull anywhere, anytime'". The Australian . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Sinnott, Alex (27 December 2015). "Greens leader Richard di Natale calls to be included in federal election debate". Geelong Advertiser . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Rosie (10 May 2016). "Federal election 2016: Greens demand place in debates". The Australian . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Stark, Jill (14 May 2016). "'The Green tide is coming in': Di Natale challenges Turnbull, Shorten to leaders debate". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 18 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  7. ↑ Australian Associated Press (13 May 2016). "Shorten fights hard to capture Qld hearts". Special Broadcasting Service . Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  8. ↑ Borrello, Eliza (13 May 2016). "Election 2016: Turnbull and Shorten to go head-to-head in first leader's debate". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Australian Associated Press (9 May 2016). "First leaders' debate in Sydney on Friday". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  10. ↑ Australian Associated Press (13 May 2016). "Turnbull, Shorten prepare for People's Forum". Sky News . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  11. ↑ Karp, Paul (13 May 2016). "The five moments that mattered at the Turnbull-Shorten people's forum". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  12. ↑ Chan, Gabrielle (13 May 2016). "Bill Shorten wins audience vote at leaders' debate with Malcolm Turnbull". Guardian Australia . Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Kenny, Mark (13 May 2016). "Election 2016: It's no accident we have a debate on a night when voters love to switch off". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  14. ↑ Atkins, Dennis (13 May 2016). "Australians tuning into Friday night political forum the biggest ask of the election campaign". The Courier-Mail . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Coorey, Phillip (13 May 2016). "Federal election 2016: Labor will attack, and Coalition will defend". The Australian Financial Review . Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Robin, Myriam (16 May 2016). "Few tune in for first debate". Crikey . Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Gleeson, Ashleigh (13 May 2016). "Leaders' Debate: Turnbull and Shorten go head-to-head". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "Election 2016: Leaders debate was gaffe free".
  19. ↑ "Australia Votes: Leaders' Debate". Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  20. ↑ "Federal election 2016: The third election debate was the best of the bunch". 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 23 July 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  21. ↑ "News.com.au to host Facebook livestream election debate". Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  22. ↑ Sinclair, Paul (19 May 2016). "Environment debate fails to ignite confidence". The Age . Archived from the original on 22 May 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Bettles, Colin (13 May 2016). "Ag leaders rumble over election debate". Farm Weekly . Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  24. ↑ Murphy, Brittany (16 May 2016). "Live and local debate". Goulburn Post . Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  25. ↑ "Election 2016: Live exports and milk prices on agenda in Regional Leaders' Debate". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 25 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  26. ↑ "Marise Payne and Stephen Conroy debate Defence policy at the National Press Club". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 16 June 2016. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.