Australia Heads to Election in Showdown Over Taxes, Climate

Prime Minister Scott Morrison called Australia’s election for May 18, with polls showing he’s facing an uphill battle to prevent a shift in power to the left-leaning opposition Labor party.

The five-week campaign will be dominated by the stark policy differences between Labor and his Liberal-National coalition, which is vying for a third straight term. They include everything from cutting taxes to boosting wages to reducing emissions in one of the world’s worst per-capita polluters.

“To secure your future, the road ahead depends on a strong economy,” Morrison, 50, told reporters in Canberra Thursday, after asking Governor-General Peter Cosgrove to dissolve both houses of parliament. “And that’s why there is so much at stake at this election.”

The coalition government goes into the contest as the underdog, with its six years in power tainted by policy stagnation and infighting that’s seen it twice switch leaders. While the center-right coalition has presided over an unprecedented hiring boom and is forecasting the nation’s first budget surplus in more than a decade, stagnant wages and spiraling power bills have eroded living standards for many voters.

“It’s taken us more than five years to turn around Labor’s budget mess,” Morrison said. “Now is not the time to turn back.”

Since the 2016 federal election, the government has lost its majority in the lower house after a defeat in a special ballot, compounding its challenge to win another term. Since replacing Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister in August, Morrison has struggled to close Labor’s lead in the polls. The party led by former union leader Bill Shorten, 51, was ahead by four points in the latest Newspoll.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/australia-s-prime-minister-morrison-calls-election-for-may-18