Hour-long forum on Sky News will give 100 undecided voters the chance to question the rival leaders
Kevin Rudd has accused Tony Abbott of being evasive by pushing for the second leaders' debate to take place on pay-TV Sky News rather than on the prime minister's preferred options of the free-to-air networks Seven, Nine or Ten.
At the weekend Rudd agreed to take part in the Sky News debate on Wednesday evening at the Brisbane Broncos Leagues Club.
The hour-long forum will allow 100 undecided voters, chosen by the polling company Galaxy, to ask questions of the two leaders. It will be moderated by the Sky News press gallery journalist David Speers.
Sky News has offered the live feed to other networks, but it is unclear whether they will show it.
"So now we are on to pay TV with a very small viewing audience," Rudd said on Monday. "I think it's about being a little bit evasive on the part of Mr Abbott, hence the spotlight campaign."
The first debate was held at the National Press Club in Canberra. The winner was disputed by different media outlets and commentators; however, as debates traditionally favour the incumbent, the consensus was probably that Abbott won.
After the first debate, Rudd was criticised for breaking the rules by using notes.
On Monday, asked if he would use notes, the prime minister repeated his assertion that he was unaware of that rule.
"If someone had told me last time that you weren't supposed to bring notes in do you think I would have, in front of X million viewers, said, 'Look here are my notes.' For god's sake, I mean, let's get real about this."
