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24-02-2025
SYDNEY: Australia’s Labor government on Saturday promised an extra AU$8.5 billion ($5.4 billion) for the country’s universal healthcare system if re-elected at a national election due by May, amid sagging popularity for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Centre-left Labor traditionally sees its protection of Australia’s cherished Medicare universal healthcare scheme as a key differentiator between it and the conservative Liberal-National opposition, which bills itself as superior on economic management and border protection.
“A re-elected Albanese Labor government will make the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago,” the government said in a statement late on Saturday.
The funding boost would enable 18 million more subsidized general practitioner visits each year, hundreds of nursing scholarships, and thousands more training places for doctors, according to the statement.
Medicare guarantees all Australians and some overseas visitors’ access to a wide range of health and hospital services at low or no cost. It was established by Labor in 1984.
The funding pledge comes after a widely-watched poll this week showed most Australian voters wanted the Labor government out of office. In the poll, Albanese’s approval rating hit its lowest point since he was elected to office, opens new tab in May 2022.
The Albanese-led government is struggling to lift support despite a slew of measures aimed at pleasing families and businesses grappling with high living costs and boosting jobs.
The majority of Australian voters want the current Labor government out of office, posing a threat to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s re-election plans just months ahead of a national election as his approval rating hit its lowest point, a widely watched poll showed on Monday.
A Newspoll conducted for The Australian newspaper said a hung parliament would be the most likely outcome if the poll numbers were to be replicated at an election due by May.
Some 53% of 1,244 voters surveyed said they did not believe the Labor government deserved to be re-elected with Albanese’s approval rating hitting a record low of minus 21, his worst as prime minister. A total of 34% said Labor should be re-elected.
The Albanese-led Labor government is struggling to lift support despite a slew of measures aimed at pleasing families and businesses grappling with high living costs and boosting jobs.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has held its monetary policy restrictive, keeping rates steady at 4.35% for more than a year as it looks to bring inflation to its target band of 2%-3% while preserving employment gains but core inflation is now almost back in the RBA’s target band and markets widely expect the central bank on Tuesday to cut rates for the first time since late 2020.
The latest Newspoll survey showed the opposition Liberal-National Coalition has maintained its 51-49 lead on a two-party-preferred basis under Australia’s preferential voting system, where votes from minor parties are redistributed until a winner is elected.
Labor’s primary vote remained stuck on 31% compared to its 2022 election result of 32.6%, indicating Labor could lose up to eight seats preventing Albanese from forming a majority government, the survey said. (Int’l News Desk)
