The Straits Times Reports: Australian Centre-Left Labor Likely to Retain Power as Trump Concerns Weigh, Polls Show
In a development that has significant implications for Australian politics, the centre-left Labor government is likely to retain power in the upcoming national election, according to two opinion polls. The Straits Times cited a RedBridge-Accent poll published by News Corp newspapers, which showed Labor leading 53 per cent to 47 per cent against the conservative Liberal-National coalition under Australia’s two-party preferential voting system.
The poll results, which were released on April 30, suggest that Labor could win the election in its own right or form a minority government. This marks a reversal of sentiment from February, when voters wanted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese out of office. According to The Straits Times, the lift in support for Labor late in the campaign is driven by millennials and Generation Z voters, with one in five saying they had changed their mind.
Notably, millennials and Gen Z voters make up 43 per cent of the 18 million people enrolled under Australia’s mandatory voting system, outnumbering the powerful baby boomer bloc. This demographic shift is seen as a significant factor in Labor’s resurgence in popularity. As reported by The Straits Times, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals staged a major political comeback to retain power in the country’s election, fuelled by a backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies.
The concerns triggered by Trump’s policies are also having an impact on Australian voters. According to The Straits Times, about 48 per cent of Australian voters picked the uncertainties triggered by Trump as one of their top five concerns. In contrast, 42 per cent remained wary of the opposition’s plans to build seven nuclear plants across the country to help replace coal-fired power.
A separate YouGov poll released on May 1 predicted a Labor majority, with the party likely winning up to 85 seats in the 150-seat Lower House and the opposition facing a net loss of 11 seats, its worst performance since 1946. As quoted in The Straits Times, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been downplaying the poll results, saying it would be a close campaign.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has campaigned on several policies seen widely as emulating Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency set up by Elon Musk, though he later abandoned a policy that would have required government workers to return to office full-time. Comparisons with Trump and his policies have dragged down Dutton’s popularity in Australia, where a poll in March showed Australians’ faith in the US had hit an all-time low, as reported by The Straits Times. The online poll of 1,011 voters was conducted between April 24 and April 29.
In conclusion, the centre-left Labor government is likely to retain power in the upcoming national election, driven by the concerns of millennials and Generation Z voters and the perceived uncertainties triggered by Trump’s policies. According to The Straits Times, the final outcome will depend on the voters’ decisions on election day, but the current polls suggest a strong likelihood of Labor retaining power.
Source: The Straits Times – “Australia’s centre-left Labor likely to retain power as Trump concerns weigh, polls show”.
Original article available at: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australias-centre-left-labor-likely-to-retain-power-as-trump-concerns-weigh-polls-show
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