Australians vote in election with their sights on cost of living, Trump

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Australians voted connected Saturday successful a nationalist predetermination that polls amusement volition apt favour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor Party implicit the blimpish opposition, arsenic worries astir U.S. President Donald Trump's volatile policies overshadowed calls for change.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had led successful sentiment polls arsenic precocious arsenic February

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: May 03, 2025 5:51 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Voters, seen from behind, enactment     up   astatine  cardboard booths successful  beforehand   of ample  curtained windows.

Voters marque their prime astatine Old Parliament House successful Canberra, Australia. This predetermination is particularly consequential owed to a tightly contested race, with cost-of-living pressures, affordable housing, and vigor argumentation dominating the campaign, on with the question of who is champion positioned to woody with the U.S. president. (Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images)

Australians voted connected Saturday successful a nationalist predetermination that polls amusement volition apt favour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor Party implicit the blimpish opposition, arsenic worries astir U.S. President Donald Trump's volatile policies overshadowed calls for change.

Both of Australia's large parties person focused connected assuaging cost-of-living concerns but sentiment polls amusement that planetary uncertainty driven by Trump's stop-start tariffs rapidly became a apical contented for voters during the campaign.

Albanese said successful televised comments from Melbourne that his centre-left authorities had "built truly beardown foundations."

"We person existent wages going up, we person ostentation going down," the premier curate said, earlier travelling to his location territory successful Sydney to formed his vote.

Albanese, ending a five-week election campaign, has pledged to amended lodging affordability and fortify Australia's cosmopolitan health-care strategy during his 2nd term.

A antheral   dumps ballots onto a counting table.

Australian Electoral Commission unit hole to number ballots during the 2025 national predetermination astatine OPC successful Brisbane, Australia, connected Saturday. (Jason O'Brien/AAP Image/Reuters)

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton besides started his time successful Melbourne, a cardinal battleground, wherever helium urged voters to take his Liberal-National coalition "to get our state backmost connected track," earlier heading to his location authorities of Queensland.

"I deliberation a batch of quiet Australians have travel retired contiguous to enactment the coalition," Dutton said aft lodging his vote in his Brisbane district, which helium narrowly holds for the Liberal Party.

The election comes little than a week aft Canada's Liberal Party returned to power in a large governmental comeback, powered by a backlash against Trump's tariffs and his remarks connected making Canada the 51st U.S. state.

Labor has tried to formed ex-policeman Dutton, who has pledged to sharply trim migration and chopped thousands of nationalist work jobs, arsenic a Trump-lite conservative, hoping immoderate of Australians' antagonistic sentiment toward the U.S. president volition hitch disconnected connected the absorption leader.

Dutton has sought to region himself from comparisons with Trump advisor Elon Musk's agency-cutting fervour, but fell down Labor aft the U.S. placed tariffs connected Australia. Dutton had led successful sentiment polls arsenic precocious arsenic February.

A radical  of voters, immoderate   successful  swimsuits, basal   astatine  cardboard voting booths.

People ballot astatine a polling presumption astatine Bondi Surf lifesaving nine connected the time of the Australian national predetermination successful Sydney. (Hollie Adams/Reuters)

Australia is simply a adjacent U.S. information state and mostly runs a commercialized shortage with the United States. Even so, it was not spared Trump's tariffs, with a 10 per cent duty imposed connected Australian exports.

Polling booths successful Australia — among the fewer democracies with mandatory voting — opened astatine 8 a.m., though a grounds eight million retired of 18 cardinal eligible voters had already formed ballots earlier Saturday. 

Trump effect?

Volunteers astatine section polling centres fired up barbecues and immoderate beachside voters arrived to formed their ballots wearing tight-fit aquatics trunks.

In the Sydney suburb of Bondi, voter Ben McCluskey said helium felt upbeat astir Labor winning a 2nd term.

"I'm somewhat positive. Hopefully, it's gonna beryllium a number authorities and the Greens get a equilibrium of power," the engineer, 41, said.

Nearby, Lucy Tonagh, a 28-year-old child-care worker, said rising surviving costs were beforehand of caput for her astatine the ballot box.

"I consciousness similar the outgo of surviving and besides kid attraction due to the fact that that's a cardinal contented I find. There request to beryllium much teachers," Tonagh said.

Political strategists said Trump was not apt to beryllium the decisive origin successful the election — Albanese has tally a beardown run and Dutton made mistakes, including a short-lived connection to prohibition nationalist servants moving from home. But the Trump effect, they said, has added to reservations for voters who became risk-averse.

In the superior Canberra, Matthew Smith, 49, said helium has been a wide each his beingness but this time voted independent.

"I felt that implicit the past mates of years Dutton has taken a crook wherever he's go precise populist. I bash spot him arsenic a spot Trump-like," Smith said.

"I deliberation he's taken the wide marque distant from wherever it should be," helium added.

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