Community & Business
3 April, 2025
Australians to head to polls
AUSTRALIANS are headed to the polls on 3 May after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a Federal election on Friday morning.
Experts say the election will be a tight race, suggesting that polls show the results could be a minority government, putting the independents and members of minor parties, like Member for Kennedy Bob Katter, in a commanding position.
“This will be a very tight electoral race. Opinion polls have been signalling that Labor has been losing support. Labor can’t afford to lose seats as it won government with a very slim majority in 2022. Losing a couple of electorates may mean Anthony Albanese becomes a one-term prime minister,” Head of Politics and International Relations Discipline at the Monash School of Social Sciences, Dr Zareh Ghazarian, said.
“It’s not all rosy for the opposition either. Peter Dutton is leading the Coalition which lost 18 seats at the last election, including heartland seats in Melbourne and Sydney.
“The Liberal Party in particular must hold onto all its seats and win others, especially metropolitan electorates, if the opposition has any chance of winning majority government.
“The Greens and Independents are also facing challenges. After winning several seats in 2022, the pressure will be on them to retain their electorates within the context of a political debate in which cost of living is prominent.
“While minority governments can occur at the state level, they are rare at the national level. The polls at the moment, however, suggest that we might have the first minority government since Julia Gillard’s government between 2010 and 2013.
“‘If neither major party wins enough seats, the Independent and minor party MPs will ultimately determine who can form government and who will become prime minister.
“With cost of living on everyone’s lips, Labor’s Budget last week becomes a very important background to the campaign. Labor will discuss its tax cuts, while the Coalition will discuss reducing fuel prices.’’
