Facebook And News.com.au To Grill Aussie Political Leaders In Live Election Debate

Facebook And News.com.au To Grill Aussie Political Leaders In Live Election Debate
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



Are you keen to throw your two cents in when it comes to the Federal Election and preferred leaders? Well, here’s your chance, as news.com.au and Facebook join forces to bring you the country’s first online election leader debate.

The Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, will go head-to-head in front of both a live and online audience this coming Friday June 17 at 6pm AEST.

The debate will be streamed in real time via Facebook Live on news.com.au website and Facebook page, as well as Facebook’s own Aussie page, so that the Australian population can voice their opinions and participate.

The debate, to be moderated by News Corp Australia columnist and Studio 10 host Joe Hildebrand, will be hosted at Facebook Australia HQ in Sydney.

The leaders will face off in front of a studio audience that will include undecided voters identified by Galaxy Research, as well as more Australians online via the livestream.

Topics to be covered during the debate will be determined by the issues that Aussies have said are really stirring them up right now, determined via a myriad of online polls, including Facebook data research on the most mentioned topics and terms in connection with the 2016 election.

From today news.com.au and Facebook will be calling on all Australians to submit questions they would like to be asked. Those questions will be put to the leaders by Hildebrand on Friday.

“This debate will be different to any you’ve seen before. It is a chance for millions of everyday Australians to not just watch the debate, but to actively participate – by asking questions and giving their instant reactions,” news.com.au managing director Julian Delany said.

News Corp Australia director of corporate affairs and editorial innovation Campbell Reid added, “Importantly, it will centre around the topics that matter to real Australians, not the political elites.

“With the studio audience coming from marginal seats the debate will give true insight into the likely outcome of the election.”

Facebook ANZ MD Stephen Scheeler put his own two cents in, urging Aussies to get involved in the debate.

“Whether it’s posting questions on the news.com.au Facebook Page or watching and interacting with the livestream, we want to connect as many Australians as possible to one of the most important aspects of any election campaign – a leadership debate.”




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