Early voting started around Australia on Tuesday in advance of the May 3 federal election, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labor Party was enjoying a slim advantage over the conservative opposition.
According to the Australian Electoral Commission, early and postal voting is forecast to represent close to half of total votes cast, a continued drift away from election-day voting.
Labor’s advantage occurs during a slump in popularity for opposition leader Peter Dutton, who has battled to detach himself from ideological perceptions of alignment with US former President Donald Trump.
Dutton recently ditched a contentious plan to require full-time office returns for federal employees and reduce thousands of public sector workers, a plan widely said to have been drawn from Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), linked to Elon Musk.
This turnaround has been accompanied by a significant shift in public opinion. Albanese, who had been six points behind Dutton in January, now has the lead by as many as nine points based on polls taken early this month.
A Newspoll survey conducted earlier this month with the Australia system of preferential voting placed Labor four points in front. Based on this voting system, votes are ranked for candidates and are redistributed until they reach a majority.
Albanese, addressing journalists on Monday, emphasized that his campaign is not assuming anything. “There’s no complacency from my camp, I assure you of that,” he said, referring to the surprise result of the 2019 election when early betting had Labor in front, but the Liberals ended up winning.
The two leaders will confront each other in a third and last televised debate Tuesday night.
On the day of campaigning, things were low-key as news of Pope Francis’ passing overshadowed political activity with mourning and tributes.
