The prime minister calls an election for May 21
Federal elections will be held in Australia on May 21, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday April 10.
Scott Morrison has been strongly criticized for the slowness of the Covid vaccination campaign.
AFP
Australians will vote on May 21 to renew their parliament, Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday, struggling after a term marked by his criticized management of the pandemic and repeated natural disasters.
The 17 million Australian voters are called to the polls, like every three years, to designate their federal parliament. Voting is compulsory and according to current practice, the leader of the party that comes first will then be designated Prime Minister. “This election is about you and no one else. This is about our country and its future,” said Scott Morrison, who is seeking a third term but who is so far lagging behind in the polls, during a press conference. “I know Australians have been through a very difficult time. I also know that Australia will continue to face very difficult challenges in the years to come.
A vacation in Hawaii that goes wrong
According to the latest Newspoll poll, his coalition led by the Liberal Party, in power for nine years, is given as being well ahead (46%-54%) of Labor led by Anthony Albanese. Despite an unemployment rate at its lowest in thirteen years and a rebound in the economy, Scott Morrison has been strongly criticized for the slowness of the vaccination campaign against Covid, and for his management of the forest fires and floods of these last years.
During the catastrophic fires of the 2019-2020 austral summer, which had killed more than thirty people, the Prime Minister had thus gone on Christmas vacation with his family in Hawaii. The effect on public opinion had been disastrous, even if he had cut short his holidays. Scott Morrison, 53, came to power in 2018 as leader of the Liberal Party. He had won a second term after the 2019 elections.
The cantor of coal
He describes himself as a typical Australian family man, and does not hesitate to flaunt his Pentecostal Christian faith. A fervent defender of the mining industry, he brushed aside calls to reduce his country’s dependence on coal and natural gas. He thus promised to exploit the coal as long as people will buy it. While he was Minister of Finance in 2017, he did not hesitate to brandish a piece of coal in the middle of parliament.
“This is coal, don’t be afraid,” he told the Labor opposition. According to the Newspoll survey, Labor Anthony Albanese, 59, is favored by more than 60% of 18-49 year olds. Many young voters are put off by the current government’s pro-coal stance, even as global warming is blamed for the country’s repeated floods and fires.
Scott Morrison is also struggling to convince the female electorate after a rape scandal within political institutions. The rise in the cost of living, and in particular the soaring fuel prices, is also a major concern for voters. But the current Prime Minister has already managed to come back, winning the last election three years ago, which he said was a “miracle”. His government presented a budget in late March full of freebies for voters, including sweeping tax and fuel tax cuts.
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