Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer the Prime Minister to his 2007 commitment. I quote:

I think it’s far more decent if we have, as I’ve already proposed, something run by the national press gallery, three debates, across the election season …

Does the Prime Minister intend to keep his October 2007 election promise to have three leaders’ debates in the run-up to the federal election, and will he improve his debating style in the interim?

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Surely, given the Leader of the Opposition’s track record, that question is ironic.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The question is in order. The Prime Minister has the call.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I do welcome these questions from the Leader of the Opposition. He has more front than Myer. At the last election there was a certain debate on health. I remember on the eve of the election the shadow minister for health showing up for a debate on time and no-one else was there. I wonder why that was the case? I wonder who the minister for health was at the time? Could it have been the Leader of the Opposition? It was the Leader of the Opposition; my memory does not fail me! There was a debate—I think I was at the National Press Club—and the shadow minister for health was there, ready to go, but no minister for health was there. Instead, he chose to utter unkind remarks—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on a point of order: the question was very simple. Would he debate the Leader of the Opposition three times, or will he scurry away from the debate?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. The Prime Minister is responding to the question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would have thought if the Leader of the Opposition is committed to the principle of transparency in debates he might have shown up for the last one. But let us let that question of consistency slide by. We know that consistency is not his first suit; it is not even his second suit. In fact, it is not even within his political repertoire: make a claim today and forget about it tomorrow.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Seniors) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order: standing order 104 on relevance. Which of the two words does he not understand? ‘Three’ or ‘debates’?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Mackellar will resume her seat.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In fact, on that day when he failed to front for the debate with the shadow minister for health, his recourse was to swear at the shadow minister for health. That is obviously his preferred debating style. I will leave that to him to resolve come the next election. I also seem to recall in that period that the Leader of the Opposition, then the minister for health, had some interesting exchanges with Bernie Banton as well. I seem to remember that it was about that time that he had to apologise for what he had said in relation to Bernie Banton. On the question of transparency, at the last election we asked and asked again whether we could have a debate—more than one, but two or three—with the then Prime Minister, Mr Howard. I welcome debating the Leader of the Opposition—all three occasions I committed to last time, and I look forward to the first of those debates next week on health and hospitals.