Australian Prime Minister Launches Five-Week Election Campaign Focused on Cost-of-Living Concerns
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a national election for May 3, aiming to secure a second three-year term for his Labor Party government. The campaign is expected to be heavily influenced by cost-of-living issues.
On Friday, Albanese framed the election as a choice between his government’s plan to “keep building” and the opposition Liberal Party-led coalition’s proposed cuts to government spending. “What I want is a campaign about policy substance and about hope and optimism for our country,” Albanese told reporters at a press conference. “I’m optimistic about Australia. That’s one of the big distinctions in this campaign.”
Opinion polls indicate that Labor is in a tight race with the Liberal-National Coalition, led by former police detective Peter Dutton. This puts Labor at risk of becoming the first government to serve only one term since 1931. After a decisive victory over the center-right Coalition in the 2022 election, Labor’s popularity has declined due to widespread dissatisfaction with cost-of-living pressures, including a severe shortage of affordable housing.
Australia is one of the world’s least affordable housing markets, with the median price-to-income ratio nearly doubling between 2002 and 2024. A Gallup poll conducted last year found that more than three-quarters of Australians are dissatisfied with the availability of good, affordable housing in their area, a 31-point increase since 2020. Among 13 countries surveyed, only Türkiye had a higher proportion of people dissatisfied with the housing situation.
Upon taking office, Albanese pledged to oversee the construction of 1.2 million new homes by the end of the decade. However, the government’s housing initiative has gotten off to a slow start, with the Urban Development Institute of Australia estimating that the target will fall short by 400,000 dwellings.
Dutton has proposed spending AUD 5 billion ($3.15 billion) to facilitate the construction of 500,000 new homes, along with measures to ease demand, including cuts to immigration and a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents buying property. On Friday, Dutton criticized Albanese, accusing him of focusing on a failed referendum to create an Indigenous advisory body rather than addressing pressing economic concerns. “I don’t believe that we can simply afford to continue down the current path, and that means we can’t afford three more years of Labor,” Dutton said. “Labor’s economic policies and wasteful spending have increased the cost of living for everyday Australians.”
Other key issues in the campaign include healthcare, immigration, energy, and climate change. While Albanese has promised significant investments in green manufacturing and renewable energy, Dutton has advocated for shifting Australia’s energy mix toward nuclear power by building seven nuclear power plants and two small modular reactors.
Although Labor or the Coalition are almost certain to win the largest share of the vote, polling suggests that support for the major parties is at record lows, raising the possibility of a hung parliament. If neither party secures a majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives, they would need to negotiate with the left-leaning Australian Greens or independents to form a minority government. Australia last had a minority government in 2010, when Labor’s Julia Gillard secured the support of the Greens and three independent MPs.
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