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Aussie leaders to go head to head in first election debate

Xinhua, May 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The first week of a drawn out Australian election campaign is set to culminate with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull going head to head against opposition leader Bill Shorten in a "people's forum" debate in Western Sydney on Friday night.

Both candidates will take questions from 100 carefully selected undecided voters, and the questions will range from local issues to national ones involving the economic outlook and tax reform that have featured heavily in local media.

The biggest issue Australian voters are considering in the 2016 Australian election is the nation's economic outlook, according to a poll from Australia's national broadcaster, with industrial relations - the reason for calling the July 2 double dissolution election - ranking close to the bottom.

The online survey of 250,000 people by the ABC saw education ranked 2nd priority, with healthcare and the environment, two issues that have plagued the Abbott/Turnbull government, equal third.

Abbott was elected Prime Minister in 2013, however a backroom party coup in September 2015 saw Turnbull installed as leader. Endit