Prominent conservative commentators and activists might have been wishing for a World Wrestling Entertainment-style smackdown of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy during their only face-to-face debate, hosted by Sky News, before polling day.
However, it was not to be, with Andrews charming 38 of the room’s 100 undecided voters, while Guy snaffled 34, and 28 remained undecided.
The 2022 result is closer than that of the 2018 debate, when Andrews got 49 of the undecided voters on side, while Guy had 33, leaving only 18 undecided.
The evening’s format was built around fielding questions from the undecided voters, selected by research firm Q&A Market Research, with an introductory and concluding statement from the two leaders.
Moderator Kieran Gilbert, chief political reporter for Sky News, also had the two leaders ask each other a question at the end of proceedings.
Topics of concern to audience members ranged across portfolios such as health and transport, integrity issues including the operation of the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), what the government and opposition have planned for military veterans, and the management of debt.
Guy’s efforts against Andrews were not seen as strong enough by some conservative commentators, who expressed disappointment he did not go in harder against the premier following two years of pandemic measures, the high state debt, and the “red shirts” scandal.
Herald Sun columnist and Sky News host Rita Panahi declared it a win for Andrews.
“Don’t know who needs to hear this, but Dan Andrews won last night’s leaders debate and it wasn’t even close,” Panahi said. “Guy did not land a single punch despite having abundant opportunity.”
Commentator Prue MacSween was hoping for some mongrel to emerge from the opposition leader during the debate.
“So frustrating in this debate between @MatthewGuyMP & @DanielAndrewsMP guy [sic] needs to get the mongrel out. He is letting Andrews get off the hook on integrity and corruption,” MacSween tweeted.
The Institute of Public Affairs’ Gideon Rozner threw his two cents in.
“Watching #springst leaders’ debate on Sky. Guy seems to have overcorrected for perceptions last time around of him being too ‘shouty’,” he said on Twitter. “Dan keeps sledging him and Guy just takes it. Guy *can* win — there’s a swing on. But he needed to go for the jugular tonight, and didn’t.”
Even Rebel News’ Avi Yemini had a thing or two to say about the encounter between Andrews and Guy.
“Sad news is Daniel Andrews is wiping the floor with Matthew Guy in the Sky News debate,” Yemini said. “We’re doomed.”
Yemini followed that tweet up with an election prediction: “Matthew Guy is weak. That’s why he’s losing the debate and will lose the election. Hard to watch.”
Is ‘mongrel’ a necessary trait in our politicians? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
It seems Guy did a miserable job, perhaps trying not to appear too negative or shouty. But he is not the problem. The problem is the Kennetts, Panahis, MacSweens and Rozner from the IPA. These people’s view of the world does not accord with what many in the community have in mind as their vision for a better society.
Rita Panahi, Prue MacSween and Avi Yemeni themselves have a lot to answer for the demise of the Liberal Party never mind poor old Matthew Guy trying to look like a half-decent human being. He has been let down repeatedly by some very nasty travelling companions. More to the good that they can’t hide the extremism any more. Victorians don’t like it.
Poor old Matthew Guy? I don’t see it that way. His approach as Planning Minister in the Beaullieu government was transactional, and the transactions tended to in service to vested interests. He appears to stand for nothing much, which is pretty well confirmed by his showbag of promises for this election. Free lunches! Forget infrastructure, neglected entirely by the last government he was a part of, and spend it all on health! Who knew he cared about health? Guy is the right leader for the Liberals at this time, reflecting the depth of their talent pool.
“Who knew he cared about health?”
Watch out – maybe he’s talking about PRIVATE health ?
The level of incompetence in candidate selection was surely enough insight into neocon nincompoop status.
Similar to Peter Dutton’s attempts at a “Nice Guy” makeover, Matthew Guy’s efforts are also falling flat.
It is an unfortunate fact that Politics is often quite adversarial, and if you don’t particpate in it, you’re left behind.
Mercifully, my TV does not receive Sky so I was unable to assess the age of the audience. Just wondering if anyone under 25 was among the 100 guinea pigs.
There were others who praised the civility of the debate.