The victory of the Labor Party in the legislative elections, Saturday May 21, ends nine years of conservative government, but it is not guaranteed to obtain an absolute majority in Parliament.
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The Australians clearly gave their leave to the Conservatives. After nine years in power, the liberal-national coalition suffered a bitter defeat in the legislative elections on Saturday May 21. The outgoing head of government, Scott Morrison, has given way to the Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese, officially invested Prime Minister Monday, May 23.
“That said a lot of our big country that the son of a single mother who touched a invalidity pension, having grown up in social housing (…), can stand before you as Prime Minister, a- he declared on the evening of his victory, visibly moved. My mother dreamed of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey will encourage Australians to target the stars. “
In front of his cheering supporters, the elected representative of 59 years first promised “an economy in the service of the people”, while the country’s annual inflation rate reached 5.1 % during the first quarter 2022, a record for twenty years. This context had imposed purchasing power as one of the main themes of the electoral campaign. To support the population, Mr. Albanese intends to index the minimum wage on inflation, but also lower the cost of crèches, drugs or even education. MP since 1996, he also committed to access one of the main claims of the Aborigines: organize a constitutional referendum in order to establish a representative body to advise Parliament on laws affecting indigenous peoples. Finally, on the front of climate change, he intends to end a decade of immobility.
“Environmental questions have not been at the heart of the debates, but they played a decisive role in the result of these elections. The conservatives have lost several constituencies in large urban centers, where voters have turned them Back to the favor of independent candidates very mobilized on these subjects “, analyzes Haydon Manning, professor in political science at Flinders University, in Adelaide.
Because more than a victory of the Labor Party, which is not guaranteed to obtain the absolute majority in the House of Representatives when all the votes have been deducted – a process usually long because of the votes by correspondence -, this ballot marks the unprecedented success of “small” candidates, and more particularly of a group nicknamed the “Teal Independents” (in reference to the color “Sarcelle blue” of their electoral material), essentially women, highly qualified, advocating the defense of the environment, gender equality and the fight against corruption. In the wealthy constituencies where the majority of voters are liberal and progressive, they have been acclaimed. “I have the impression that these deputies are closer to us and our concerns,” said Nick Shaw, a Sydney train driver, at the exit of a polling station in the metropolis. A few steps from him, Sean Nimmo, a trader, gave his voice to the Greens, also in strong progression. “I no longer want new coal mines, I no longer want us to show the wrong example in terms of fighting warming,” asserts the thirty -something.
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