Australia election: A simple guide

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Australia election: A simple guide
By Zubaidah Abdul Jalil & Jay Savage
BBC News

Australians go to the polls on 21 May, for the country's first election since 2019.
It will decide who serves as Australia's next prime minister and which political group is in power.

Who is being elected?

Australians will vote for all the seats in the House of Representatives, and just over half the seats in the Senate.
The result in the House of Representatives - where the prime minister sits - will decide which party forms the next government.
One party needs to win at least 76 of the 151 seats there to form a majority government.
If it cannot do that, it must try to win support from independent MPs, or those from minor parties.

Voting is mandatory for over-18s. More than 17.2 million people - 96% of eligible voters - are enrolled for the 2022 election.
Australia does not have a set date for national elections, but the maximum term for the House of Representatives is three years.

Who is currently in power?

The Liberal-National Coalition holds 76 seats in the House of Representatives, which makes it the ruling political group.
Labor holds 68, and the seven other seats are held by minor parties and independents.
In the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, the Coalition has 35 seats and Labor has 26. Forty Senate seats are up for election.

Who is in the running to be prime minister?

Scott Morrison has been the prime minister since 2018, having taken over from Malcolm Turnbull.
He has been taking credit for adopting a tough closed-borders approach to Covid, which helped Australia achieve one of the lowest death rates globally.

But the prime minister is facing public perception problems, after criticisms of his character from senior members of his own party and others.
Government senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells accused him of being "an autocrat" and "a bully with no moral compass" during a row over internal party processes.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce wrote that Mr Morrison was a "hypocrite and a liar" in a text message before he took the post.

Scott Morrison: Australia's conservative pragmatist

Mr Morrison is being challenged by Labor leader Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese is one of Australia's longest-serving politicians and was briefly deputy prime minister under Kevin Rudd in 2013.
Mr Albanese has recently edged from the political left to the centre, and is basing his campaign on "small targets" - modest policy proposals.

Anthony Albanese: Who is the challenger to be PM?

What are the key issues?

Australia's economy grew strongly throughout the pandemic, and is projected to grow a further 4.25% this year.
The unemployment rate has fallen to 4% - its lowest level since 2008.
However, many people are concerned about the rising costs of fuel, electricity and other goods.
Added to this, Australia has just raised interest rates for the first time in a decade - putting pressure on borrowers and those with mortgages.

Climate change is an increasing worry because Australia has recently seen some its its worst ever bushfires and floods.
Both major parties have committed to net zero emissions by 2050. However, both of them have also pledged support to Australia's coal mining industry.
This may push environmentally aware voters towards parties such as the Greens.

Why Australia's election is big for the planet

Last year, hundreds of thousands of Australians took part in protests over the treatment of women.
A recent review has suggested that one in three staff working in parliamentary offices have experienced sexual harassment.
Mr Morrison made a formal apology on behalf of the parliament, but his party has been criticised for its response to misconduct allegations.
Labor says it wants to reduce the "boys' club" culture of parliament, but the party has also faced accusations of bullying.

China recently signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, a nation 2,000km (1,400 miles) north-east of Australia.
Labor has accused Mr Morrison of letting China potentially expand its military presence in the region, saying this was "worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific" in 80 years.
The prime minister has defended Australia's ties with its "Pacific family".

Australia defends Solomons ties after PM's tirade

Trust in leaders, healthcare and education are also big concerns.

When will we know the results?

Most likely late on election day, but it might take longer if the contest is close.
If a major party has to form a pact with minor parties or independent MPs, then the negotiations could take several days. In 2010, it took Julia Gillard two weeks to receive support to put Labor in power.
Opinion polls suggest Labor will win by a narrow majority this time around. However, the polls were wildly inaccurate in the last election.

Anthony Albanese will be Australia's next prime minister, with the Coalition bleeding a wave of seats to lose its narrow majority.

Neither major party has been granted a resounding wave of support from voters, with the Greens and the "teal" independents picking up seats from both.

But results from Western Australia appear set to push Labor into a position where it might even be able to seize an outright majority in parliament.

There is a great deal of the vote to count yet, but on current projections, Scott Morrison's government will be forced out of office.

Morrison conceded defeat after the crushing loss, congratulating Albanese on his win.

"In this country, at a time like this when we look around the world, and in particular when we see those in the Ukraine fighting for their very freedom and liberty, I think on a night like tonight we can reflect on the greatness of our democracy," Morrison said.

...

Scott Morrison this week launched an attack on Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party for being too soft on China.
The Prime Minister went so far as to call deputy Labor leader Richard Marles "a Manchurian candidate" in parliament.

Anthony Albanese tells PM he’s the real ‘Manchurian candidate’ for weaponising national security

More broadly, I'd be curious to know what Chinese-Australians think of Australia's relationship with China. It's been an election issue to some extent, but not as prominently as cost-of-living issues or even climate change. Still, Chinese-Australians are a sizeable demographic in Australia and the major parties haven't neglected to appeal to them as well – whilst also talking up concerns with China's foreign policy to the electorate at large.

In other words, the differences between Chinese communities are huge.
Traditional Chinese, especially those who came in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, still have expectations for the Liberal Party to defend traditional values (anti-abortion, immigration restrictions, anti-gay).
The Chinese immigrants after the new millennium were relatively more pragmatic. Labour wants our money and the Liberals want to kill us, let's vote first to get rid of the one who wants to kill.

Two other traditional Liberal positions with a majority of new Chinese immigrants: North Sydney(With Chatwood, which accounts for more than 40% of the Chinese population, as the core, the Liberal Party has only lost twice in the past 50 years) and Bennelong (With Epping, Eastwood, Ryde, and MQ Park, where Chinese account for more than 30% of the core, the Liberal Party has only lost once in 50 years), there has been a substantial defection rate, which is the embodiment of this political mentality.

Of course, there is no need to be optimistic about the subsequent Labour Party coming to power.
First, don't overestimate the role of Chinese votes. There are many betrayals, but the rest are betraying too, not only the Chinese community.
Second, in Australia's attitude towards China, the locals still basically regard us as aliens. One or two elections won't change much. Strengthening China-Australia ties will do a lot to improve the public opinion base of ordinary local people towards us. But it still takes process, and constant effort, even struggle.

My sources of information are mainly from Chinese of mainland Chinese background and cannot represent the opinions of all Chinese-Australians.

It aint gonna be easy under Albanese

That's the best Scomo could come up with, Pathetic.

A large percentage of Chinese in Australia are from South East Asia (Vietnam, Philippines. Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore). The mainland Chinese population in Australia has increased exponentially since the 1990s when migration was allowed by the CCP.

My impression is that Chinese immigration seekers see Australia as the next option to Scandinavia (extremely difficult but best), but warn locals(especially white teens) of discrimination against Chinese.

The important question now is: Will history prove him correct or not?

This is interesting. This reminds of the mid 2000s when the Indian government issued warnings to Indian students about studying in Australia due to a rash of attacks on Indian students. Ironically they could have also warned Indian students about Ukraine as well.

Hmm...I remember the government did issue a warning after 2020. Because of the anti-Chinese ideology caused by COVID.
But the news circulating among ordinary Chinese is not necessarily related to that. It existed before that.
A guide to travelling to Australia will advise against approaching white teens in non-urban areas.

Indeed. As the dust settles from this victoria barely a few hours in Albanese has already promised to settle illegal refugees in Australia. Should be interesting what he says next.

I hope Labor gets a clear majority.
The idea that they will have to work with the greens is too horrendous to contemplate.