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Australians will go to the polls on May 3 for general elections with high costs of living and a shortage of housing likely weighing against the government as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‘s center-left Labor Party seeks a second three-year term.
Albanese drove to Governor-General Sam Mostyn’s official residence on Friday to trigger the election and announced the date later at a news conference at Parliament House.
“Over the last few years, the world has thrown a lot at Australia. In uncertain times, we cannot decide the challenges that we will face, but we can determine how we respond,” Albanese said.
“Our government has chosen to face global challenges the Australian way: helping people under cost-of-living pressure while building for the future,” he added.
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Opposition leader Peter Dutton later launched his conservative coalition’s campaign by promising better economic management after 29,000 small businesses had failed across Australia during three years with Labor in charge.
“It’s a choice about who can better manage our economy and, of course, the question that Australians need to ask is are you better off today, is our country better off today, than three years ago?” Dutton said to reporters.
Many expect Dutton’s coalition to pick up seats in the House of Representatives.
An Australian government has not been ousted after a single term since 1931, when the nation was grappling with the Great Depression. But Australian governments almost always lose ground in their second election and Labor only holds 77 of the 151 seats in the House of Representatives, where governments need a majority. Redistributions mean there will be only 150 seats after the next election.
One likely outcome is a minority government supported by independent or minor party legislators.
The 2022 election brought a record 19 lawmakers who were not aligned to either the government or opposition into the Parliament.
