By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-27 21:41:28 | Updated at 2025-03-30 22:44:14
3 days ago
Australians will go to the polls on May 3 for general elections with high costs of living and a shortage of housing likely to weigh against the government as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s centre-left Labour 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 while building for the future,” he added.
Many expect opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative 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 Labour holds only 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.
