Another Poll Repudiation To Trump As Labour Party Wins In Australia

‘America first’ implies, implacably, ‘America alone’. Australian voters could not have pronounced a more emphatic judgement on Saturday, barely days after another strong Canadian poll repudiation of President Donald Trump, handing the opposition conservative Liberal Party its worst drubbing in 80 years. Equally, they have expressed their preference unambiguously for the conciliatory current Labour prime minister, Anthony Albanese, over the bellicose right wing Liberal leader and ex-police officer, Peter Dutton. The former has emerged as the first Australian premier to secure a back-to-back victory in 20 years; the latter was denied a parliamentary seat.

Only a party dangerously out of touch with concerns over rising costs of food, fuel, energy and housing could have sought votes on a platform to slash public spending and crack down on work from home against thousands of government employees. The electorate saw in these steps a copycat imitation of Pesident Donald Trump’s anti-woke agenda and department of government efficiency moves under Elon Musk. Another poll plank under Dutton, who alienated the party’s moderate sections, was the removal of the flags of indigenous communities from public buildings, following on its opposition to the 2023 referendum to accord special protections for indigenous people. The incumbent Labour government’s stance starkly contrasted with that of the Liberals. Generous subsidies were introduced to offset high electricity bills consequent to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, besides reforms to childcare, student debt relief and tax cuts to counter the impact of persistent inflation and high interest rates.

With close to 90 seats in the ruling party’s kitty, well ahead of the 76 seats needed for a majority, the victory in Canberra was far more spectacular than the April 28 verdict in Canada. Such a commanding position should enable Albanese’s government to frontend the pursuit of renewable energy measures while addressing warnings of electricity shortages on the country’s east coast. A difficult balancing act in his second term would be to tread cautiously with Beijing, Canberra’s largest trading partner, and Washington, its longest defence and security ally. Albanese was successful last year in resolving the bilateral trade conflict with Beijing, triggered by Canberra’s demand for an inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to the lifting of tariffs on Australian coal and wine exports. But the security concerns arising from China’s military ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region could prove far more ticklish.

With a strong mandate in Canberra and Ottawa in place, and a new coalition to be sworn in this week in Berlin, it remains to be seen whether a new political configuration could emerge to take on President Trump’s anti-globalisation policies. Such a coalition of the willing is the need of the hour.

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