Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese showed up at Governor-General David Hurley’s official residence on Friday to formally request permission to call an election for May 3, local reports say. The prime minister is required, under Australia’s constitution, to get the Governor-General’s approval, as he is the representative of Britain’s King Charles, before announcing an election date.
Albanese had indicated on Thursday that an election call was coming soon, as his center-left coalition forced through a bill for new tax cuts in a desperate attempt to win back voters. The nation needs to have its next federal election by May 17 because it has a three-year parliamentary term.
Over the past few months, the Labor government has rolled out a series of policies to try to ease economic burdens on families and businesses, such as tax relief policies announced in Tuesday’s budget. But with cost-of-living issues dominating the headlines, Albanese has a tough campaign in front of him.
The governing Labor Party swept to parliamentary power in 2022 but new opinion polling reveals a fierce battleground with opposition Liberal-National Coalition. When none of the dominant parties controls an outright majority in the election, smaller political forces could come together to make and break new government.
Albanese, a working-class Labor politician from boyhood in public housing, initially had high approval ratings but has been battling voter discontent with rising living expenses and increased interest rates. Despite inflation slowing and the Reserve Bank of Australia cutting rates in February after a five-year pause, his popularity is still under threat.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, a ex-police officer and interior minister, has campaigned on law-and-order policies and a contentious campaign for nuclear energy pitted against Labor’s renewable energy plan. Both leaders have committed an extra A$8.5 billion ($5.42 billion) over four years to reinforce Australia’s public health system.
