Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten taking part in the News.com.au and Facebook debate with Joe Hildebrand hosting. Picture Kym Smith

Australia’s two leaders faced off on issues like housing affordability, NBN and education during the final debate before the election on July 2.

The debate had its heated moments, especially when the two leaders were talking about NBN and whether copper or fibre was the answer, and both leaders argued their policies strongly.

But it seemed Mr Shorten said all the right things.

A live audience of about 30 people at Facebook headquarters for the debate hosted by the social media site and news.com.au decided Shorten came out on top.

Only seven people voted for Mr Turnbull while Mr Shorten received 17 votes from members in the audience.

The majority of Australians who tuned into the debate on Facebook also backed Mr Shorten.

Debra Warren was on Mr Shorten’s side and said he “wiped the Facebook floor” with Mr Turnbull.

A number of other comments followed, saying Mr Shorten won the night.

A supporter of the Prime Minister chimed in and said, “I trust Malcolm 1000 more times than Bill.”

But there haven’t been too many messages of support for Mr Turnbull on social media.

There were still some Australians who were sitting on the fence and one admitted while Mr Shorten performed better than Mr Turnbull in the debate, nothing really won them over.

Bill Shorten asked viewers to press “like” if they preferred fibre to copper. And the likes came pouring in.Source:Facebook

Same sex marriage got a huge response from those who tuned into the debate.

Mr Turnbull said he was in favour of gay marriage and said if he was re-elected there would be a plebiscite.

“I’ll be voting yes,” he said.

“We’ll be urging people to say yes and I am confident it will be carried.”

An Australian voter said a referendum on same-sex marriage would cost $180 million.

“If Malcolm Turnbull is so confident about it passing, why not save the $180 million and legislate through parliament? That’s what parliament is for,” Eddy Jokovich wrote on Facebook.

Mr Turnbull said he made a promise to give every Australian a vote on the issue but it was a pledge Mr Shorten did not agree with.

He said if he was elected he would introduce a bill into parliament to vote on gay marriage in the first 100 days after the election, to make it legal.

“I don’t believe people’s relationships need to be submitted to a public opinion poll,” he said.

Mr Shorten did not want a plebiscite on gay marriage because he did not want it to fuel the “haters” and homophobia.

Some Australians agreed with Mr Shorten on that point.

“Just fix the laws already and give everyone the same rights,” Aniko Laczko posted on Facebook.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten won some fans in tonight’s debate. Picture Kym SmithSource:News Corp Australia

NBN also got people talking, especially when Mr Shorten hijacked the debate and asked viewers to press like if they agreed with his policies.

Many joked about the Facebook live debate format, and said it would be better if people could stream it through the NBN.

Mr Turnbull really came under fire for the lack of NBN, especially because he is the former communications minister.

“I have Telstra and I can’t even watch this as it’s constantly buffering. What sort of garbage speed is this dead duck you sold the Australian people,” David Fyffe posted on Facebook.

Though they weren’t all losses for Mr Turnbull tonight and his answers on penalty rates kept some voters happy.

The Prime Minister promised there would be no changes to penalty rates under his government, but said he would leave that up to independent bodies.

Mr Shorten said he would put a submission in to the Fair Work Commission to ensure penalty rates would be retained.

Voters supported Turnbull and his idea to leave penalty rates up to the independent bodies.

“To Mr Shorten. What is it that you don’t get about penalty rates ruining small business?” Jan Dunstan said.

“You are not looking after workers, you are killing business which results in unemployment.”

Both leaders were strong during the debate and swinging voters will certainly have something to think about going into the election.