Australia is no longer lucky
THE LANDSLIDE win on May 3rd for the Australian Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese, the incumbent prime minister, was the party's best election performance since the second world war. It was also the worst faring ever for the main opposition, the (conservative) Liberal-led coalition. By May 8th, ten seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives remained undeclared. But Labor had won at least 90 seats; the coalition had bagged only 40 (see chart).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Groundhog Day as John Swinney tries to justify SNP's failed strategy
Trying to claim defeat in Hamilton as some sort of improvement from the disastrous Westminster election defeat is beyond parody. John Swinney was all over the by-election in Hamilton – he has to take the blame for ignoring the campaign wishes of the local SNP members, and focusing instead on Reform while letting Labour slip through the middle. READ MORE: Activists question John Swinney's independence strategy after by-election loss Let's be clear: Labour had a rubbish candidate and campaign but still out-polled the SNP. Yet again support for independence far outstrips support for the SNP – why? Is it because everyone can see that under Swinney there is no hope for independence with the SNP? Even former MSP/ MP/leadership lackey Anne McLaughlin is claiming online that the SNP can't campaign on independence as the party has no plan on how to achieve it! That should wake up SNP members that this party is going nowhere under Swinney. We are getting a repeat performance of his last failed attempt at leadership. Swinney hasn't learnt the lessons of why he lost in 2003 – so I don't hold out much hope of any review of this latest by-election failure. Until Swinney – or a capable leader – brings forward plans for independence then the SNP is just another centrist party like any of the London-led parties. It's time for a real change in the SNP, not a retread of Swinney's tired old campaigning nonsense. Alex Beckett Paisley DIDN'T Stan Grodynski nail it on the head (Letters, Jun 8)? My only reservation is that I have scant faith this SNP party leadership will heed his message. I hope I'm wrong, because there's still time to kick the necessary action into gear before the 2026 election, which really is the party's last-chance saloon. But we'd need to see the Scottish Government attacking Westminster policy where it acts against Scottish interests. We'd need to see the blame for perceived policy failures in Scotland laid at Westminster's door, where real responsibility lies. Remember that we are where we are after more than 300 years of English rule, not just the 18 years of SNP government that Starmer likes to ram down our throats at PMQs in protection of his establishment exploiting us. READ MORE: Do the SNP no longer have a strategy for gaining independence? We'd need to show the funding limitations of the Barnett formula, which leave us having having to make choices between rather than for Scotland's needs. We'd need to trumpet the party's success areas and remind Scottish voters of the many benefits the party has delivered in their years of government, which are limited by devolution. And we'd need to highly the many areas on which we differ in cultural and political outlook: weapons of mass destruction, nuclear power, the EU, supporting genocide in Gaza, global trade, human rights, immigration, poverty, drugs, equality of opportunity, and equality generally, ambition for future prosperity, and more. There are so many generally held areas of difference. We need to reinforce that none of the three main right-wing Unionist parties can truly serve the interests of Scots, they merely wish to maintain the Union's exploitation of us. READ MORE: What is the rationale behind the SNP's 'wheesht about indy' stance? We need to attack the Union status quo with a vengeance, diligently all the way to the 2026 election. The SNP need to engage with the wider movement and make it the irrefutable de facto referendum that the democracy-denying Starmer-led Labour government denies us, in flagrant breach of our fundamental rights as the historic nation we are, and supposedly in partnership within the UK union, rather than the colonised territory that binds us to England's domination. The clock is ticking. Let's hope Stan's party is settling into its starting blocks, the starting gun poised for firing. Let's get the campaign going with that bang! Jim Taylor Scotland I CALLED it in this paper some time ago. 'Lessons will be learned'. This was the cry from the hapless Angus Robertson, soon followed by others. Well, I know someone who has already learned a lesson. ME. I did not think the result would bother me either way, but after thinking on it I came to a sorry conclusion. The SNP have taken away from me my dream of an independent Scotland in my lifetime. Their performance in this week's vote was lacklustre to say the least. How does it feel to lose to an Invisible Man? To me it feels like a betrayal of all I thought the SNP was. Everybody, including the head yins in the SNP, knows the reason for the defeat. It is the same reason we have had to put up with since 2014. No action on independence. READ MORE: SNP must turn support for independence into 'real political action', says Swinney Before you say 'Old John has thrown his toys out of the pram', let me assure you that is not the case. I have thrown the pram away with the toys in it! I have decided that I will not be banging my head against a brick wall any more. I am doing a Mhairi Black and giving politics a miss. Until there is a change of leadership in the SNP and a rock-solid commitment on independence, I am taking a Sabbatical. I am so upset that I feel the very heart and soul have been ripped from me. If all of you out there are happy just to carry on like this, then I am happy for you! We might as well call an election and get it over with because 2026 is not going to be pretty. A Unionist government awaits us in Holyrood. The SNP are quite happy to trundle along and ask us to vote for them at elections. They just want to play nice politics and hope for a referendum being given to us by Westminster. Well, I've had enough of all their weasel words. The SNP have no desire to make any progress on independence. If they had, then the promise of 2026 being a defining moment would have got us over the line on Thursday. But no, more of the same and look where it got us. Humiliated. I would like to thank The National for all the letters of mine that have been printed and wish all of you who support independence good luck. With this lot in charge of the SNP, you are going to need a lot more than luck! I may return one day when things are different, but at my time of life that is unlikely. I have been worn down by a party that was formed on the bedrock of Scottish independence. It is now a very pale imitation of that! Thank you all. Old John Ayrshire
South Wales Argus
4 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Abergavenny mosque plan could be put on hold at meeting
Monmouthshire council's ruling cabinet agreed in May to grant a 30-year lease to the Monmouthshire Muslim Community Association who plan to use the vacant building as a mosque and cultural centre. It would be the county's first mosque. However three councillors have 'called in' the decision meaning it will be reviewed at a special meeting of the council's place scrutiny committee. The nine member, cross party committee, will have to decide whether to accept the cabinet's original decision to grant the lease or if they agree there were flaws in the decision making process they can ask the cabinet to look at the decision again. The committee also has the power to refer the decision to the full council, which would then have to look at how the decision was made and decide whether to accept it or send it back to the cabinet to reconsider. If the cabinet does have to take the decision again it must do so within ten working days and will be asked to consider the comments made but can stick by its original decision, amend it or overturn it. Conservative councillors Louise Brown and Rachel Buckler, who represent Shirenewton and Devauden in the south of Monmouthshire, and Llanelly Hill independent Simon Howarth called the decision, made by the Labour-led cabinet, in for review. Their request highlights three grounds for doing so which are a claimed 'lack of proper scrutiny/due process and community consultation', how the building was marketed and their concerns over 'best value' at the £6,000 a year lease. When the cabinet agreed to grant the lease it was stated the accepted bid was the highest scoring on the application process that was intended to explore opportunities to maximise social benefit and generate a financial return from an otherwise empty building. The cabinet was also told 30-year leases were common and the cabinet had declared the building, that was last used as a pupil referral unit, as surplus in November when it granted the council's landlord services permission to market the building as available to lease. It was built by Scottish American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, though it closed as a library in 2015 when the service transferred to the town hall. Councillors were also told commercial uses, which could be allowed under the restrictions of the building's covenant, had been considered and the agreed rent was said to be in the context of 'significant investment' required, from the lease holders, in the 120-year-old grade II listed building. The call in also states 'community engagement is required' as no planning permission is needed as there is no change in the use class of the building. The special meeting will take place, at Monmouthshire County Hall in Usk, on Wednesday, June 11 at 5.30pm.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Politics and ‘free media' can meet demands of moment, Albanese to say, after journalist shot with rubber bullet in US
Anthony Albanese says government and democratic institutions 'including a free media' can meet the demands of global uncertainty, despite both facing growing attacks around the world. A day after an Australian journalist was shot with a rubber bullet while covering street protests in Los Angeles, the prime minister will use an address to the National Press Club to argue distrust can be countered through economic stability and keeping election promises. 'It is the more corrosive proposition that politics and government and democratic institutions, including a free media, are incapable of meeting the demands of this moment. 'Some simply dismiss such sentiment. Others cynically seek to harvest it. Our responsibility is to disprove it.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Days ahead of a visit to the US and Canada for the G7 summit and possible face-to-face talks with Trump, Albanese will say Labor's success in improving Medicare, increasing educational attainment and managing the economy matters for trust in democracy. Emboldened by a stronger-than-expected win in the 3 May election, Albanese has spent the subsequent four weeks reshuffling his frontbench and touring disaster areas. As planning for his second term continues, he is expected to outline immediate priorities for the return of parliament on 22 July and speak about his approach to Trump's growing tariff regime. Albanese will say the government plans to offer a stronger and fairer country, with strength in manufacturing, renewable energy and 'urgent necessities', and reduce frustration through better provision of government services. 'To recognise that some of this frustration is drawn from people's real experience with government - be it failures of service delivery, or falling through the cracks of a particular system,' the preview of his speech reads. Albanese is expected to use Australia's critical minerals and rare earths as a bargaining chip with the US, offering preferred access in a bid to secure exemptions from steel and aluminium tariffs from Trump. The UK government has secured an exemption from 50% tariffs introduced by Trump, through a deal signed with the US last month. Albanese's speech highlights Australia has a 'comparative advantage' from space to to co-locate refining and processing, as well as specialist manufacturing and data centres. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Negotiations about a meeting between Albanese and the US president on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Alberta are continuing this week. So far, the pair have only spoken over the phone. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, will address the Press Club on 25 June to outline a new style of Liberal party leadership that is more consultative, inclusive and collaborative. Peter Dutton shunned the traditional forum to speak to journalists in Canberra during his three-year tenure as opposition leader. Ley's speech is expected to reveal how the Coalition will rebuild from its election drubbing, with a focus on the values and priorities that will guide her leadership. 'Aspiration is the thread that connects every single part of Australian society and by focusing on that, the Liberal party can once again earn the trust of communities across the country,' Ley said in a statement.
