Leaders’ debate live updates: Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton face off in first Australian election debate

Prime minister and Coalition leader go head-to-head in debate hosted by Sky News. Follow live

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Dutton makes opening remarks

Peter Dutton is now giving his opening remarks, saying it has been a tough three years for Australians. He says the government has made a number of mistakes, starting with the voice [referendum]":

Almost 30,000 small businesses have gone broke ... when you go to the supermarket now, you're now paying 30% more for groceries, paying about 32% more for your electricity ...

We want to make sure that we can get gas for Australians, so that we can fix up the energy system, which is driving up the cost of everything. And if we can do that, we can get our country back on track.

But what matters is how you respond, and we've responded the Australian way.

Now is not the time to cut. Now is not the time to look backwards. Now is the time to look forward and see the opportunities and build Australia's future.