LIVE: Election 2025 – Anthony Albanese's bad omen after suspending campaign as he prepares to face off against Peter Dutton in the third leaders' debate on Channel Nine

By MAX AITCHISON, POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 07:58 BST, 22 April 2025 | Updated: 09:36 BST, 22 April 2025

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will go head-to-head for the third time in tonight’s leaders’ debate, hosted by Channel Nine.

It comes after a pause in campaigning following the death of Pope Francis.

The clash, which is grandly-titled ‘The Great Debate — Election 2025: Australia Decides’, will be moderated by A Current Affair’s Ally Langdon and will kick off at 7.30pm (AEST).

The leaders will face questions from Nine’s chief political editor Charles Croucher, 2GB radio’s Deb Knight and Phil Coorey, the respected political editor of the Australian Financial Review.

Follow Daily Mail Australia’s live coverage below.

Albo’s bad omen after campaign suspension

The Prime Minister announced a pause to his election campaigning on Tuesday, as a mark of respect following the death of Pope Francis.

Instead, Mr Albanese attended mass at Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral, while the Opposition Leader also attended a church service, commenting: ‘Today’s not the day for big politicking’.

But the PM will be desperate to avoid a historical parallel involving another Labor leader who was also ahead in the polls but altered his campaign plans late in the day after the death of a major figure.

In 2019, Bill Shorten abandoned his campaign plans after the death of legendary Prime Minister and former Labor leader Bob Hawke.

Mr Shorten spent the last evening of the campaign drinking beer in a Melbourne pub with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and former Premier Steve Bracks.

Meanwhile, his political rival, Scott Morrison, embarked on a whirlwind, last-minute tour of five marginal seats across three states.

And we all know how that turned out.

Mr Albanese will no doubt be keen to avoid his own ‘Hillary moment’ – and will be hoping for another strong showing during tonight’s debate.

Who won the previous debates?

There was no clear winner – and no knockout punches – in the last debate on the ABC, moderated by Insiders host David Speers.

The Prime Minister failed to answer a simple question on power prices four times, while the Opposition Leader cracked a schoolyard taunt and apologised over comments he’d made about Russia’s alleged plans to instal a military base in Indonesia.

However, the first debate did have a winner.

The Sky News/Daily Telegraph People’s Forum heard questions from an audience of 100 undecided voters, picked by an independent polling company.

The majority 44 – judged Mr Albanese the winner, while only 35 were convinced by Mr Dutton.

The remaining 21 were undecided.

Read Peter Van Onselen’s peerless analysis of that first debate below:

Dutton failing with key group of voters

Tony Burke warns against cracking out the popcorn

The Home Affairs Minister said he was grateful there had been a brief pause in campaigning today following the death of Pope Francis.

And he added that those expecting fireworks in tonight’s debate on Channel Nine would likely be disappointed.

‘While the debate still going ahead, the tone of it is certainly, we can expected to be a bit more subdued,’ Mr Burke told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

Host Patricia Karvelas asked him if he thought the gloves might come off.

But Mr Burke rejected the media’s disappointment about a lack of ‘knockout punches’ in the previous two debates.

‘You don’t get knockout punches in these sorts of debates,’ he said.

‘What you get is a chance for the Australian people to get a better sense of where the leaders are coming from and what their plans are at a time when cost of living is such an issue with the Australian community.’

Channel Nine executives will have their fingers crossed that the Home Affairs Minister has his predictions all wrong.

Teal MP’s awkward TV moment

Things have gone from bad to worse for Teal MP Monique Ryan, who bangs on about ‘integrity and transparency’.

First it was the embarrassing episode involving her husband ripping down a rival’s election poster.

Then it was getting publicly rejected by a satirical drag artist poking fun at the Liberal Party – which you can read about here.

Now, it’s refusing to answer questions on live TV. You can watch the full, excruciating exchange below.

So much for transparency, eh?