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03-05-2025
Bureau Report + Agencies
CANBERRA: It’s Election Day in Australia where 18 million voters will determine who the next prime minister will be.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the left-leaning Australian Labor Party is seeking re-election and his challenger is Peter Dutton of the conservative Liberal-National coalition.
Cost of living is the main election issue. Voters are also concerned about the affordability of health care and housing.
Donald Trump also looms over the vote as Australia, whose people value “mateship” of friendship and loyalty, is not spared from the US president’s tariffs.
Official results can take days or even weeks to come, but as soon as polls close, the Australian Electoral Commission will start releasing unofficial preliminary results, which historically indicates who will form the next government.
Where can you get a democracy sausage?
The democracy sausage is such a significant part of Australian culture it was named word of the year in 2016.
It’s defined as “a barbecued sausage served on a slice of bread, bought at a polling booth sausage sizzle on Election Day”.
To help Aussies ensure they can get their fix, there are mapping websites, external which show more than 2,600 stalls across the country.
And for those who may not be able to turn up in person, you can now pay for either a ‘classic’ or ‘vego’ version to be delivered directly to you.
Why immigration is a looming flashpoint?
With a third of its population born abroad, Australia has long prided itself as a “migration nation”, a place that promises immigrants a fair go and a fresh start.
But frustration is building over growing migration numbers, with concerns around housing affordability and infrastructure strain.
Peter Dutton has seized on record migration numbers to accuse Labor of exacerbating the housing crisis.
He’s also claimed Labor is fast-tracking citizenship so that migrants can vote.
The Coalition has pledged to slash migrant numbers by 100,000 if elected, which Labor has denounced as a “savage” move, noting it will adversely affect crucial industries like aged care and construction.
Last year, Albanese’s government had sought to limit the number of international students here but the proposal was not passed.
Will Peter Dutton hold onto his seat?
I am here in Dickson, the most marginal electorate in Queensland and one that Peter Dutton has held for the last 25 years.
It’s bright and sunny today in this area north-west of Brisbane. Polling is underway outside Pine Rivers High School, among a dozen other stations in the electorate.
There are suggestions the opposition leader, who is clinging to the seat with a slim 1.7% margin, is in danger of losing his home base to Labor’s Ali France. Dutton on Friday dismissed these polls as “notoriously inaccurate”.
“I’m confident of our position but I’d never take it for granted,” the vast electorate covers 724 square kilometres including large parts of the Moreton Bay region and several rural districts. It is home to nearly 120,000 voters.
It seems like mining billionaire Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots Party is everywhere this election from their unsolicited spam texts, to their TV ads and giant billboards.
I spotted one of the latter while heading out to vote this morning, in the very safe Labor seat of Sydney.
