Political commentator says Donald Trump's 'America First' message did not resonate with voters and led to Peter Dutton's defeat
A political commentator has insisted the "Donald Trump factor" played a major impact on the Australian federal election which saw Liberal Peter Dutton voted out.
The Coalition suffered a crushing defeat, with Labor winning a comfortable majority, however, the final make up of parliament is to be determined with counting still going.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, the ALP has 88 seats while the LNP sit on 40.
With the dust settling, the Liberals are trying to figure out what went wrong in the campaign which led to one of the worst losses for the party in modern history.
Sky News contributor Kristin Tate believes President Trump was part of the reason.
Speaking to host Chris Kenny, she said the Coalition's loss "definitely mirrors" the result in the Canadian election last week which saw the centre-left Liberals victorious.
"You had this once struggling left-leaning party that just soared to victory thanks to an anti-Trump inspired popularity boost," she said on The Kenny Report on Tuesday.
"The way I see it, Trump's America First message doesn't resonate with a lot of people around the globe who see the kind of emergence of this more self-serving America that's been evolving and getting stronger. And without a doubt that hurt Dutton."
Some of President Trump's "America First" priorities included a tough stance on immigration, ending "climate extremism" and the return of federal workers to the office.
Labor, the Greens and Teal independents all seized on the Liberals' policies and Mr Dutton being compared to President Trump throughout the 35-day election campaign.
The Coalition early on introduced a policy to end work from home arrangements and plans to sack 41,000 public service employees which he later walked back on.
The plan proved unpopular particularly for female voters who are mostly mothers juggling their young families while being able to earn a living from home.
The party also wanted to adopt the Trump administration's department of government efficiency, appointing Senator Jacinta Price to take charge if the LNP was elected.
It was also forced to water down a Trump-like phrase from Senator Price who had told a campaign rally in Perth she wanted to "make Australia great again".
"We don't have to adopt all of America's policies," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in one of the many press conferences during Labor's campaign.
Kenny questioned whether there would be any concerns from President Trump and the "exaggeration in attacks" linking politicians to the leader of the free world.
Ms Tate believes it would not "trouble" the Republican.
"I think he's solely concerned with America. He ran on America First. And I will say that I suspect that the anti-Trump sentiment in these other countries has a lot more to do with Trump's personality than his policies," she said on The Kenny Report.
"You have the media around the world, the left-wing media that is constantly insisting Trump was this fascist dictator. So I suspect that's what it's all about. And you know, Trump was very kind to Albanese. He loves being on the side of the winner.
"And I suspect that we (the United States) will continue to have a very strong relationship with Australia moving forward."
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