For the second time in a week, the voters of an important ally of the United States, angry by President Donald Trump, They punished the conservatives and re -elected a president of a leftist trend.
The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, was aimed at achieving the greatest victory for his Labor Party, of Centroiz left, since 1946, both in terms of bipartisan preference and total seat count. He is the first Australian leader to win consecutive elections in more than two decades, and the only one who has increased the percentage of votes of his party after a single mandate since World War II.
“We do not need to beg or borrow, or copy any other place,” said Albanese in his victory speech on Saturday night. “We do not seek inspiration abroad. We find it right here, in our values and in our people.”
As in the Canadian elections of last week, the result in Australia would have been difficult to predict just a few months before. Both rulers were against the strings, and the conservatives of both countries sought to take advantage of the impulse of Trump’s solid electoral victory in November.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited X on Saturday to congratulate Albanese for his victory. “In an increasingly divided world, Canada and Australia are close partners and trusted friends,” said the newly re -elected prime minister.
The surprising changes of the course of recent months gave rise to important electoral victories for the presidents in exercise in both countries. These results will surely have an impact worldwide, while the governments of Asia, Europe and Latin America deal with the struggle to resist Trump tariffs and other threats.
This raises a particular dilemma for conservatives, who must decide whether to support Trump or flee from him. While the Nigel Farage reform party enjoys great support, suggesting that Trump -style populism remains attractive in some places, conservatives in Australia felt injured after electoral defeat.
“It would be dangerous for my party, and I speak as a republican of Ronald Reagan and George Bush, talk about Donald Trump’s positions,” said James McGrath, Senator of the Dutton Liberal Party, in the ABC chain of Australia on Saturday night.
“We are a Pro-Libre Commerce and Pro-Ukraine party, and we must remain of a center-right,” he added. “We must resist that path.”
Trump fished a threat on Australia’s campaign, with his decision to impose “reciprocal” tariffs of 10% in early April Just when the country’s main political parties began to look for votes.
Albanese’s party persistently accused the opposition leader Peter Dutton of copying Trump’s policies, which led him to distance himself from the US president in recent weeks. On Saturday night, Dutton followed the Canadian conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and lost his seat of Dickson against the Labor Party.
‘Great thinker’
Dutton made the mistake of trying to appear as someone closer to Trump in the early stages of the campaign. He praised the US president as “cunning” and “thinker of ideas”, while promoting policies similar to Trump, such as the reduction of government size, reinstatement to the work of federal employees and the end of progressive social policies.
Dutton’s choice of Maga -style policies, a broader resistance against conservatives and a turn towards stability by voters were evidence of how Trump influenced the choice of Australiaaccording to Steven Hamilton, an attached professor at Economy at the George Washington University.
“Without the Trump factor, I think the Labor Party would still have achieved the majority, but I think Trump contributed to the wide margin that Albanese has achieved,” said Hamilton. “It worsened.”
Trump was deeply unpopular in Australia even before imposing broad exports tariffs in the country. A survey conducted by Redbridge in March revealed that 59% of the voters surveyed had an unfavorable opinion of the US president.
But it was not simply the comparisons between Trump and Dutton that promoted voters to support Albanese for a second mandate.
For Australians, chaotic international events often cause a turn to the rulers, even after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. This time, the voters were nervous about the disturbing oscillations of the world markets following Trump’s tariff announcements.
A key question now is whether the solid victory will change the way Albanese deals with Trump. The Australian leader, from a public home, is in a delicate situation when dealing with an American president who clings to opulence: although their citizens do not sympathize with Trump, they also want to maintain the US security alliance.
In commercial matters, Albanese now has a more advantageous position when sitting at the Trump negotiation table, a meeting that is expected soon. The Australian leader has already ruled out yield to US demands in biosafety or pharmaceutical products.
While negotiating on tariffs, Trump and Albanese also prepare to negotiate the future of the Aukus submarines, and the first US nuclear submarines are expected to begin circulating through Australia in 2027.
In a Saturday statement, the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said he congratulated Albanese “on behalf of the United States.”
“Australia is a valuable ally, partner and friend of the United States. Our shared values and democratic traditions constitute the basis of a lasting alliance and the deep ties between our peoples,” said Rubio.
Ties with China
A possible friction point is China. Albanese’s turn towards the reconstruction of relations with Beijing has come to stay, and his government has frequently proclaimed his efforts to stabilize ties with Australia’s main trading partner.
But the act of juggling will be difficult in the second mandate of Government of Albanese, since both the United States and China try to persuade it to adopt a tougher line with respect to the other.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Sunday morning congratulating Albanese and promoting a “integral strategic association between China and Australia more mature, stable and fruitful.”
Anyway, Albanese will be happy to have returned in an even better position, along with other games in power worldwide. That same night, the Singapore Popular Action Party extended its sixth decade of government with a stronger performance.
The last electoral results show that the 2024 trend of reacting against governments in power had ended, according to Jill SheppardPolitical expert of the Australian National University.
“We had votes in favor of the presidents in exercise during the pandemic, votes against the presidents in exercise after the pandemic,” said Sheppard. “And now, votes in favor of the presidents in exercise in the era of the commercial war.”
