Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and anti-tax campaigner Joseph Daoud have accused each other of telling porkies over the score of their charity tennis match.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese claimed he defeated Mr Daoud in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0, while Mr Daoud has disputed the Prime Minister\u2019s version of events.<\/p>\n
Mr Daoud told News24.com.au that while the Prime Minister won the opening set 6-0, the second set was locked at 2-2 before Mr Albanese took a 15-minute break.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Daoud, the Prime Minister then returned to the court to win the match, but he denied claims the PM won every game.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese then doubled down on his version of events, maintaining the triple bagel scoreline was accurate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe match went pretty well. It was very successful,\u201d Mr Albanese told the ABC on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Asked to clarify the score, the Prime Minister said: \u201cIt was for charity, that\u2019s the main thing… 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was what it was, but for me, the main point was that it was raising funds for charity,\u201d Mr Albanese said.<\/p>\n
He also took a dig at Mr Daoud \u2013 who had paid for skywriting \u201cStop the Tax\u201d in Canberra \u2013 saying the money would have been better spent on charity.<\/p>\n
Mr Daoud, however, has publicly questioned how the Prime Minister arrived at that score.<\/p>\n
\u201cMate, how can you call the score for a rigged match? That’s all I want to say,\u201d he told News24.com.au on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
Mr Daoud also questioned some of the calls made during the match, accusing Mr Albanese of awarding himself a point after a double fault.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not making any allegations. I’m just very, very confused as to how somebody could hit the net and then I turn around to the umpire and go, \u2018was that in or out?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The businessman also suggested the Prime Minister took a 15-minute break in the middle of the match, which Mr Albanese disputed, saying it was \u201cabout two minutes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Daoud, the founder of mortgage broker\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0Simple Finance, paid $16,500 at the Midwinter Ball auction in August for the chance to play the Prime Minister.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The match was billed as a charity event but for Mr Daoud, it also became an opportunity to take his anti-tax campaign directly to Mr Albanese.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He leads the \u201cStop the Ambition Tax\u201d campaign, which argues Labor\u2019s CGT changes will hit small business owners and young investors.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n