Australia votes today amid uncertainties: Anthony Albanese vs Peter Dutton – key issues, stakes and how election works
A Newspoll published on Friday in The Australian newspaper showed Albanese's Labour party leading 52.5%-47.5% against the Liberal-National coalition
Australia is holding a general election on Saturday, May 3, to choose their next prime minister. The verdict of 18 million eligible voters will be known when results are progressively published by the country's Electoral Commission after counting starts by 6pm Eastern Time (1.30pm in India).
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's ruling centre-left Labour party is seeking to stay in power after winning in 2022 by defeating nine years of conservative Liberal-National coalition, whose current leader is Peter Dutton.
A Newspoll published on Friday in The Australian newspaper showed the Labour party leading 52.5%-47.5% against the Liberal-National coalition, under Australia's two-party preferential voting system.
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Key issues
Soaring inflation, higher interest rates, a shortage of housing, and the global economic uncertainty created by US President Donald Trump's tariff war are major key issues that dominated the campaign discourse.
Inflation - Annual inflation peaked at 7.8% in 2023, a year into the Labour government. Australia's central bank has raised the benchmark interest rate by a dozen times since then, peaking at 4.35% in November 2023, AP reported.
The rate was cut to 4.1% in February, suggesting that the worst was over. The bank's board is set to meet on May 20 to announce further cuts as expected, but the economic uncertainty triggered by Trump's tariffs looms on the horizon.
Tariffs - Albanese (62) has consistently called Trump's tariffs “an act of economic self-harm” and said they affect its relationship with the US, a key security ally. His government has sought talks with the White House to avert the 10% baseline tariff on all exports and a 25% rate on steel and aluminium.
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Housing crisis - Another key issue impacted by inflation is housing affordability, whose rents are already soaring. In a country with compulsory voting above 18, housing is a pressing concern for millennials and Gen Z voters, who will outnumber those aged over 60 during polling.
According to Bloomberg, Sydney’s median house price is at a record A$1.19 million ($760,000), and the average home costs almost 14 times the annual disposable income. This makes it the world’s second-most expensive city to buy property after Hong Kong.
Taxation policies that favour speculation are blamed as a key reason for unaffordable housing. A Bloomberg report said labour shortages, complex approval processes, and land availability around key cities mean homes could not be built fast enough to satisfy demand amid record numbers of migrants.
Stakes
Albanese's ruling centre-left Labour party is holding a narrow majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, the country's lower house, which forms governments. The Liberal-National Coalition holds 53 seats with a record number of 19 members non-aligned to the two major parties.
Monash University political scientist Zareh Ghazarian told AP that the trend of drifting away from major parties will help independent candidates have a greater say when the result produces a minority government.
Watch: Australia PM Albanese falls off stage during election campaign event
How the election works
Registered voters, above 18, who do not cast their ballot are slapped with an “administrative penalty” of around Aus$20 (US$13).
Australians rank local candidates in order of preference on their ballot papers, and an individual who secures more than 50% of such votes wins the seat.
If no candidate manages to pass the threshold, the one with the fewest votes is excluded, and their votes are distributed to the person each of those voters nominated as their second preference. This process continues till a candidate can emerge victorious.
