Saturday, 21 May, 2022 will see Australians go to the polls to vote on keeping the current government in power or voting for a change of direction. A direction change would see the election of a Labor government headed by Anthony Albanese or a minority government; that is a government that has to rely on a power-sharing deal with The Greens or Independents to form a government.
The last election was the one that Labor couldn’t lose, and here we are again with the same expectation. So perhaps with one unlosable election under their belts Labor shouldn’t get too cocky about moving into government.
What is interesting is that the impact of Independents running in conservative seats and winning, such as Zali Steggall did the last election, has not abated. In fact, there are now more than 20 ‘teal independents’ running and challenging sitting conservative candidates including Hanabeth Luke in the seat of Page.
They have based their campaigns on the principle of integrity and being pro-climate action. In the ‘six Liberal-held seats of Wentworth, North Sydney, Kooyong, Goldstein and Curtin – they appear to be the main opposition, and in others they hope to at least attract a significant primary vote and potentially influence the outcome through preferences,’ according to The Guardian Australia.
The real question is, who will you vote for?