Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison gestures during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, April 10, 2022. (LUKAS COCH / AAP IMAGE VIA AP)
The Australian polls scheduled on May 21 are already showing signs of being an ugly affair with plenty of mud being thrown by both sides.
The election is a choice between a Liberal National Party Coalition government led by Scott Morrison which has been in power for nine years (three terms) and an untested Labor opposition led by Anthony Albanese.
Michelle Grattan, professorial fellow at the University of Canberra and a long-time observer of Australian politics, said the election is a contest between a “desperate prime minister and an opposition leader who sometimes looks as though he has been promoted beyond his capability”
Morrison is the Coalition’s third prime minister in nine years and is seeking a fourth term based on his government’s economic management during the pandemic, and on national security.
For its part, Labor is putting itself forward as the ‘caring’ party – a party that cares about the individual, childcare, Medicare and aged care.
Michelle Grattan, professorial fellow at the University of Canberra and a long-time observer of Australian politics, said the election is a contest between a “desperate prime minister and an opposition leader who sometimes looks as though he has been promoted beyond his capability”.
She said neither the government nor Labor is putting forward an agenda that will seize the imagination of Australians.
“This is an election that will be fought on the political low ground, not on the heights of competing ambitious blueprints for the country’s future. It’s a battle between a leader who’s lost the confidence of many of the public and one who has yet to gain it,” Grattan said in a commentary for the academic website The Conversation.
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On April 11, barely 12 hours into the six-week campaign, Albanese did little to galvanize that all-important public trust when he was asked a simple question: What is the current unemployment rate? Looking confused, he fumbled an answer of 5.4 percent which was wrong (it is 4 percent) and admitted, “I’m not sure what it is.”
He later apologized for not remembering the number and said it was an error on his part and no one else’s.
Leader of the opposition Labor Party, Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference in Sydney on April 10, 2022. (BIANCE DE MARCHI / AAP IMAGE VIA AP)
Polls show Labor and the Coalition neck and neck, with independents and minor parties holding the balance of power. One opinion poll conducted by the Resolve Political Monitor had Labor ahead of the Coalition on April 11.
Morrison on April 10 said the election is “incredibly important because there is so much at stake for Australia”.
“It’s about our country and our future,” he told journalists after visiting the Governor-General, David Hurley, on April 10 to call the election.
The ruling party has been focusing on fears that China will exploit Australia’s election to secure its security deal with the Solomon Islands and is working on a mid-campaign dash to Honiara by a federal minister, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Paul Kelly, one of Australia’s leading political commentators, writing in The Australian newspaper on April 11, said Morrison’s message to the electorate is clear: “Vote from a hard head not a weak heart, don’t gamble at a time of tough economic challenge and dangerous global instability.”
Whether Australians will be swayed by the Cold War rhetoric and anti-China stance of Morrison and his government remains to be seen.
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The ruling party has been focusing on fears that China will exploit Australia’s election to secure its security deal with the Solomon Islands and is working on a mid-campaign dash to Honiara by a federal minister, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The ABC said on April 12 that the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Zed Seselja, is scheduled to fly into the Solomon Islands capital to discuss Australia’s concerns directly with top officials and political leaders on April 13.
“An overseas trip by a minister during an election ‘caretaker’ period is considered unusual and highlights the growing anxiety in Australia” over the deal between China and Solomon Islands, the ABC said. Under a leaked draft of the document, Beijing could be allowed to station navy ships and defense personnel to protect billions of dollars in Chinese infrastructure investment in the developing country, it said.
A security guard patrols around the Opera House on Oct 11, 2021.
(SAEED KHAN / AFP)
Recent polling suggests voters trust Labor more than the Coalition to manage the relationship with China.
Even so, the Morrison government is “hell-bent” on putting national security and defense front and center in the lead-up to the May election, said Professor Peter Dean, chair of defense studies and director of the defense and security institute at the University of Western Australia.
READ MORE: Australia's government prepares to call election
Social issues will also play a big part on how people vote in May.
The Australian Council of Social Service has urged parties and candidates to choose policies that tackle the big challenges that face the country – poverty, inequality and climate change – to forge a safer, fairer and more equal future.
“Australia is far from finished with this pandemic, and our future challenges are significant,” said Cassandra Goldie, the CEO of ACOSS.
“Poverty and inequality in Australia are not inevitable, they are a policy choice,” she said.
karlwilson@chinadailyapac.com