Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have faced a grilling on the first morning of the election campaign, with both leaders putting their biggest weaknesses on the record.
Mr Morrison, who started the day in Nowra in the electorate of Gilmore on the NSW south coast – held by Labor with a margin of 2.6 per cent – did a wide-ranging media blitz on Monday morning.
He was thrown a left-of-field question from Channel 7’s David Koch, who asked him to admit to his “biggest weakness”.
Mr Morrison said his default “fixer” mode sometimes rubbed people the wrong way and came across as unempathetic.
“I tend to go straight into problem-solving mode,” Mr Morrison said.
“I think when I do that, people sometimes don’t think that I have really understood how they are feeling, I assure them that I do.
“My father was a policeman and my brother is a paramedic – when we see a problem, we want to fix it.
“My passion is to ensure that we do deal with these problems that we face … I am really focused on trying to solve the problems that they are facing.”
Mr Albanese, who is in Launceston in the ultra-marginal seat of Bass – held by the Liberals by 0.4 per cent – said one key aspect of his character was his biggest weakness.
“I have found my biggest weakness is my loyalty, ” Mr Albanese said.
“I am very loyal to people and sometimes that makes me a bit predictable and that sometimes can hurt me politically.
“I make no apologies for that. That is just who I am.”
Earlier in the morning, Mr Morrison faced a handful of curly questions from the Nine Network’s Karl Stefanovic.
Stefanovic asked the Prime Minister: “If this election is based on character … You lose, don’t you?”
When Mr Morrison sought to steer the question back to his government’s plans and policies, Stefanovic drilled down.
“The question was more about your own character. You can’t run from it, can you?”
Mr Morrison said he was “happy to stand by” his character “every single day”.
“Not everybody agrees with everything I’ve done and not everybody will necessarily like me,” Mr Morrison said.
Stefanovic picked up on Mr Morrison’s admission he had made mistakes, posing the question: “That’s not exactly an inspiring pitch for the public’s vote is it?”
Mr Morrison said he knew the past few years had been tough, but his government had done the best it could.
“No government has got everything right through this crisis, but when you look objectively at what we’ve been able to achieve together, my plan has been backing Australians in … That’s an investment in them,” Mr Morrison said.
The final question from Stefanovic took aim at Mr Morrison’s religiouxjmtzyws background.
“(Political editor) Chris Uhlmann described the campaign as 40 days and 40 nights, a biblical curse on the nation. You’re a New Testament fella, remind me, how does it all end again?”
Mr Morrison replied he knew how that story ends, but added the story was up to the Australian people.
“This is a choice,” he said.
The federal election will be held on May 21.
