Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s net approval rating has reached its highest point in 11 months ahead of an election on May 3, as the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s trade war looms over the vote.
Albanese’s center-left Labor government also maintained its narrow lead over the Liberal-National coalition opposition at the campaign mid-point, by 52 percent to 48 percent on a two-party preferred basis, in the latest Newspoll survey published in The Australian newspaper on Sunday.
Trump has loomed large over the five-week election campaign, with Australian markets seeing similar lurches to those worldwide following the US leader’s reciprocal global tariffs. While Australia was subject to a 10 percent levy, its biggest trading partner, China, was eventually hit with 145 percent.
Photo: Reuters
Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton is now trying to distance himself from Trump despite early praise for the US president.
Albanese and his government have worked hard to tie Dutton to Trump, with Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on Sunday accusing the opposition of “trying to copy and paste policies from overseas to try and win an election in Australia.”
The prime minister is seeking to become the first in more than two decades to win consecutive elections in Australia.
The leaders held their campaign launches on Sunday in separate states, with both making big spending promises on housing assistance and tax breaks to capture voter attention.
Labor pledged to allow all first-home buyers to purchase properties with deposits as low as 5 percent, in addition to spending A$10 billion (US$6.3 billion) to build new homes and creating a A$1,000 tax refund for work expenses.
Meanwhile, the coalition promised to allow voters entering the housing market to deduct their mortgage interest from their taxes.
Albanese’s personal approval rating rose to its highest point since May last year, with a net result of minus-4 percent, compared with minus-11 percent the previous week and as low as minus-21 percent in February. In comparison, just 37 percent of Australians surveyed approved of Dutton’s performance, with 56 percent dissatisfied, resulting in a net approval rating of minus-19 percent.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
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