Liberal leader Peter Dutton dropped the ball when answering a classic ‘gotcha’ question during the Channel Seven leaders debate: How much would a dozen eggs set you back?
Mr Dutton guessed a very specific $4.20 but massively undershot the actual cost.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese guessed about $7, which was closest to the $8 that a dozen eggs will cost at either Coles or Woolies.
‘Seven dollars if you can find them, because it’s hard to find them at the moment,’ he said.
Aussies were not impressed with Mr Dutton’s answer.
‘It was really shocking to see how out of touch someone can be with a carton of eggs,’ said one voter in the audience.
Polling throughout the five-week race has consistently shown Mr Albanese cement his lead as preferred prime minister over Mr Dutton as the Coalition has similarly fallen behind in voter surveys.
The latest polling from YouGov, released on Friday, showed Labor ahead of the coalition by 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
However, Mr Dutton declared ‘I have no doubt in my mind we can win this election’ during a speech to cheering Liberal party supporters on Sunday
“Forget about what you have been told by the ABC, in The Guardian and the other hate media,’ he added.
The Coalition needs to gain 21 seats to secure a majority, a figure its leaders insist is still achievable.
Labor has been pitching itself as the better choice to protect government health services, despite the coalition matching its signature multibillion-dollar commitment to bolster bulk-billing.
The party has also been repeatedly accused by the Coalition of running a repeat of the notorious 2016 ‘Mediscare’ campaign, targeting voters with fears of future budget cuts.
The Prime Minister accused Mr Dutton of overseeing costly defence and nuclear energy policies without talking about where the money would come from.
‘He’s going to get it by ripping into health, education and childcare,’ Mr Albanese said.
The opposition leader in turn branded the Prime Minister a liar who had failed to deliver on promises to lower power bills and other living costs.
‘Does anybody believe that our country is better off today than we were?’ Mr Dutton asked the crowd on Sunday, most of whom wore blue Liberal t-shirts.
He warned of the risk Labor would be re-elected with the support of the Greens, which would ‘make it even worse than the worst government in at the moment, the (Victorian Labor) Allan government’.
ns will head to the polls on May 3, while more than 2.4 million votes have already been cast nationwide at pre-poll centres.
Egg Farmers CEO Melinda Hashimoto which is the peak organisation that represents the industry said there are three factors behind the shortage of eggs.
The first is Avian Influenza outbreaks which impacted egg production on some sites in Victoria, NSW and the ACT last year.
Some farms have had to cull tens of thousands of chickens to stop the spread, reducing supply.
‘The disease required laying flocks on infected farms to be destroyed,’ she said.
Feed, fuel, packaging, and labour costs have all gone up, making it more expensive to produce and transport eggs.
The industry is facing a transitional period as some farms transition to barn laid or free-range production systems,’ Ms Hashimoto continued.
‘This is in anticipation of a phase out of conventional caged eggs in many states as a result of changes to ‘s Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry. It takes time and capital expenditure to establish new farming infrastructure.
‘Major supermarkets have put up signs apologising to customers for fewer eggs on their shelves. This is because Woolworths and Coles have a policy to mostly stock barn laid or free-range eggs.’