Support for Donald Trump is plunged by the leader of the Australian opposition
The incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese assured his centro -leaved labor party victory in the Saturday parliamentary elections in Australia, while his right -wing competitor even lost his deputy's mandate. The victory of the Labor Party occurred despite the fact that the Albanese government for many months lag behind the opposition in the polls, but quickly gained support as a result of the conflict of US President Donald Trump with Volodymyr Zelnski and his duties.
Here are five conclusions from Albanese's triumphal return from electoral stagnation.
1. Trump broke the conservative campaign
Donald Trump may not be on Australian voting cards, but his shadow was very visible in them.
Within three years as the opposition leader Peter Duttonthe right -wing candidate for the prime minister from the Conservative Liberal Party, supported the policy in the style of the Trump Magician (Make America Great Again, i.e. making America again great, which was the slogan of the Trump campaign) and praised Donald Trump himself. For example, in February, Dutton called Trump a “great thinker” and praised his negotiating tactics after the American president called the United States to take over the Gazaus zone and transform it into the Middle East.
Dutton's campaign largely drew from the policy of the American Republican Party under Trump's rule. The liberal leader was in favor of significant cuts in public administration and announced the creation of the inspired Doge Government Efficiency Agency. Dutton also announced (and then abandoned) a policy forcing all state officials in the capital of Australia, Canberra, to return to work in the full -time office.
Dutton's support for Maga's policy, however, brought a spectacular opposite effect to the intended.
Albanese and the Labor Party have successfully argued that the ban on working from home would limit women's access to the labor market, and cuts in public service will lead to a limitation of services and dog -style chaos.
However, the growing unpopularity of the US president in Australia really hurt Dutton's image. Public opinion sharply turned against Trump after at the end of February during a catastrophic meeting in the White House, he was the President of Zełenski, and the moods deteriorated even more after in April Trump imposed duties on many countries, including Australia.
A survey conducted by the Yougov Public Opinion Research Center last month showed that 66 percent Australians believe that the United States cannot be trusted as an ally in security issues, compared to 39 percent. In June last year Yougov called this change a “fundamental change of worldview.” Seven out of ten Australians expressed fear that Trump's policy would lead them to poverty.
The same study showed that 55 percent respondents believe that Albanese is best prepared to take care of the interests of Australia in relations with the US, compared to 45 percent who indicated Dutton.
Referring to the role that Trump played in the election, Albanese said during the speech after the announcement of the election result on Saturday: – Our government will choose the Australian path because we are proud of who we are. We are not looking for inspiration abroad. We find it here in our values and our people.
Albanese's victory was a reflection of the stunning triumph of the liberal party of Marek Carney in Canada, where the leader of conservatives Pierre Pilievre lost both elections and lost his mandate of a deputy, despite the fact that at the end of 2024 he was ahead of the then unpopular prime minister Justin Trudeau by 25 percentage points. The Politico survey conducted among Canadians a few days before the election showed that Trump does not like three quarters of them, and most think that Carney, and not Poilievre, will manage their relations with the US better.
Electoral posters during the campaign in Australia. In the middle, a poster with a photo of the conservative leader of Peter Dutton combined with a photo of Donald Trump (Dutton is actually bald) and the signature: “Dutton Leave at the end”
2. Maintenance costs more important than cultural wars
Australia is struggling with the crisis of maintenance costs, growing inflation, inaccessible prices of apartments and persistent high interest rates that charged households. Albanese focused his campaign on these fears of voters and announced actions to remedy them.
Dutton mainly waged a cultural war.
By drawing inspiration from Trump, Dutton criticized some behaviors of the indigenous people of Australia and said that “we must stop teaching our children that they should be ashamed of being Australians.”
Referring to Trump's attacks on Media, Dutton also called Australian Public Television ABC and the leftist newspaper “Guardian” hate media After the last week of the campaign they announced that Dutton was on the road to losing in the election.
Ultimately, these arguments did not convince Australians that Dutton is a safe candidate or the best solution that would allow their economic interests to ensure.
3. Appealing to the extreme right is at the expense of the center
Why did Dutton focus on cultural wars instead of the economy? The answer to this question should be known to European center -right forces: he wanted to repel the extreme right.
Leader of Australian conservatives Peter Dutton during the election campaign in April 2025.
In the face of growing support in polls for the far -right parties, Dutton tried to weaken their attractiveness, taking over some of their postulates and imitating their language. However, trying to attract these voters, Dutton alienated the headquarters, and his support among younger voters and women fell. This caused the liberation of votes by the Liberal Party to the Labor Party and other centric candidates.
4. Dutton lost his mandate after a nuclear disaster
How did Dutton come from the leader in the polls just a few months ago outside the parliament? The leader of the Liberal Party, who during the election debate refused to say that global warming intensified, conducted a campaign based on the slowdown in the introduction of renewable energy sources and on the introduction of nuclear energy in Australia – despite the federal and state ban on the latter. This plan would cost taxpayers billions of dollars and was widely criticized as expensive, impractical and not very real.
Trying to defend his flagship policy against fierce attacks of the Labor Party and the Australian Green Party, Dutton made a fatal mistake during the last debate of the leaders before the election. He said then that the construction of a nuclear power plant in his Dickson constituency in a traditionally conservative Australian state of Queensland.
Dickson Electoral District in Australia
The Labor Party immediately used this statement, and the Australian Minister of the Treasury Jim Chalmers appealed to voters: – [Kandydatka Partii Pracy w okręgu Dickson] He does not intend to build a nuclear reactor in your community, but Peter Dutton wants. I encourage you to think about it before choosing a local representative.
Voters from the Dickson district thought and did not choose Dutton.
5. A positive attitude wins
Ultimately, Albanese mainly conducted a positive campaign based on the promise to improve the life of voters and the fight for justice and kindness. Dutton presented a darker program, trying to arouse the fear of the next three years of the labor party rule in Australians.
Albanese's kindness policy won.
– Today Australians voted for Australian values … for justice, aspirations and opportunities for everyone – said the prime minister in a speech after the victory on Saturday. During the speech, Albanese even silenced the loudly chanting opponent of Dutton saying: – No. NO. In Australia, we treat people with respect.
Although Dutton during the election campaign took over some of the bombastic styles of Trump and his republican party, you will not hear one from him: questioning the results of the election. In a graceful speech after losing Dutton, he apologized for the campaign, which, as he admitted, “was clearly not good enough” and said: – I take full responsibility for it. Dutton even praised the candidate of the Labor Party who beat him in Dickson, saying that “she would do her work well as a local MP.”
