Australia's centre-left Labor likely to retain power as Trump concerns weigh, polls show
FILE PHOTO: People enter a pre-polling centre in the seat of Warringah, Sydney, Australia, April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's centre-left Labor government is likely to retain power in a close-run national election this weekend, two opinion polls showed on Thursday, with voters ranking U.S. President Donald Trump's policies among their top concerns.
A RedBridge-Accent poll published by News Corp newspapers on Thursday showed Labor leading 53%-47% against the conservative Liberal-National coalition under Australia's two-party preferential voting system, where votes are distributed until a winner is declared.
Labor could win the election in its own right or form a minority government, the RedBridge poll said, marking a reversal of sentiment from February, when voters wanted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese out of office.
The lift in support for Labor late in the campaign is driven by Millennials and Generation Z voters, with one in five saying they had changed their mind, the RedBridge poll said.
Millennials and Generation Z voters make up 43% of the 18 million people enrolled under Australia's mandatory voting system, outnumbering the powerful Baby Boomer bloc.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberals staged a major political comeback to retain power in Canada's election, fuelled by a backlash against Trump's policies and his comments on making Canada the 51st U.S. state.
About 48% of Australian voters picked the uncertainties triggered by Trump as one of their top five concerns, while 42% remained wary of the opposition's plans to build seven nuclear plants across the country to help replace coal-fired power.
The online poll of 1,011 voters was conducted between April 24 and 29.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has campaigned on several policies seen widely as emulating Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) set up by Elon Musk, though he later abandoned a policy that would have required government workers return to office full time.
Comparisons with Trump and his policies have dragged down Dutton's popularity in Australia, where a poll last month showed Australians' faith in the United States had hit an all-time low.
A separate YouGov poll released on Thursday predicted a Labor majority, with the party likely winning up to 85 seats in the 150-seat lower house and the opposition facing a net loss of 11 seats, its worst performance since 1946.
Albanese has been downplaying the poll results, saying it would be a close campaign.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Barnama
32 minutes ago
- Barnama
Gaza-bound Aid Flotilla With 12 Activists On Board Nears Gaza Coast Despite Israeli Warning
A drone view shows the Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen, organised by the international NGO Freedom Flotilla Coalition, anchored off the coast of Catania, Italy, on June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Danilo Arnone ANKARA, June 8 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The aid ship "Madleen" has entered Egyptian waters on its way to Gaza, despite Israel's stated intention to prevent it from docking, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported citing the International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza announced Sunday. The committee, one of the aid flotilla organisers, said in a statement that the ship has passed through Alexandria, northern Egypt, and will "in hours reach Mansoura city... en route to Gaza." "The coming hours will be most critical," the statement read. bootstrap slideshow The ship also has 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Irish actor Liam Cunningham. Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is also on board the vessel, posted a live photo update on her X account. Last week, Israeli state broadcaster KAN reported that Tel Aviv had reversed its initial decision to allow the ship to pass. The approval was withdrawn under the pretext of "setting a precedent" for future humanitarian aid missions. The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women's sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children's prosthetics, according to its organisers. Another ship operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience, was targeted by drones off the coast of Malta on May 2. Israel, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a devastating offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 54,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among the enclave's more than 2 million inhabitants.
Malay Mail
2 hours ago
- Malay Mail
Reality TV stars, ex-lawmakers among beneficiaries of Trump's questionable pardons
WASHINGTON, June 8 — Reality TV stars. Former lawmakers. A sheriff. A nursing home executive. A drug kingpin. What do they have in common? They are among the Americans convicted of crimes who have received pardons from President Donald Trump since he took office in January. And while US presidents have doled out questionable pardons in the past, Trump is doing so 'in a bigger, more aggressive way with sort of no sense of shame,' said Kermit Roosevelt, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. 'The pardon power has always been a little bit problematic because it's this completely unconstrained power that the president has,' Roosevelt told AFP. 'Most presidents have issued at least some pardons where people look at them and they say: 'This seems to be self-serving' or 'This seems to be corrupt in some way.'' But Trump is doling out pardons 'that look like they're almost quid pro quo for financial donations,' Roosevelt said. Among those receiving a pardon was Paul Walczak, a nursing home executive convicted of tax crimes and whose mother attended a US$1-million-per-plate fund-raising dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in April. Other beneficiaries of Trump pardons include reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were serving lengthy prison sentences for bank fraud and tax evasion. Their daughter, Savannah, is a prominent Trump supporter and gave a speech at last year's Republican National Convention. More than half a dozen former Republican lawmakers convicted of various crimes have also received pardons along with a Virginia sheriff sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking US$75,000 in bribes. On his first day in office, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 as they sought to prevent congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. The next day, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who had been serving a life sentence for running the 'Silk Road' online marketplace that facilitated millions of dollars of drug sales. 'Just another deal' Barbara McQuade, a former prosecutor who now teaches law at the University of Michigan, said Trump is not the first president to be accused of 'allowing improper factors to influence their pardon decisions.' Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton's pardon of a commodities trader whose wife was a major Democratic donor and Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter, and other family members all drew some criticism. '(But) Trump is in a class by himself in both scope and shamelessness,' McQuade said in a Bloomberg opinion column. 'To him, pardons are just another deal. 'As long as a defendant can provide something of value in return, no crime seems too serious,' she said. Democratic lawmaker Jamie Raskin, in a letter to Ed Martin, Trump's pardon attorney at the Justice Department, asked what criteria are being used to recommend pardons. 'It at least appears that you are using the Office of the Pardon Attorney to dole out pardons as favors to the President's loyal political followers and most generous donors,' Raskin wrote. Martin for his part has made no secret of the partisan nature of the pardons recommended by his office. 'No MAGA left behind,' Martin said on X after the pardon of the bribe-taking Virginia sheriff, a reference to Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan. Lee Kovarsky, a University of Texas law professor, said Trump's 'pardon spree' opens up a 'menacing new frontier of presidential power' that he calls 'patronage pardoning.' By reducing the penalty for misconduct, Trump is making a 'public commitment to protect and reward loyalism, however criminal,' Kovarsky said in a New York Times opinion piece. — AFP
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Thailand cuts border crossing hours with Cambodia over security
FILE PHOTO: A royalist activist holds a Thai flag as he protests in front of the Royal Embassy of Cambodia, following a recent clash at the Thailand-Cambodia border on May 28, 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand, June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand shortened operating hours at 10 border crossings with Cambodia, citing security concerns, as tensions between the two countries simmered after a deadly clash last month. A day earlier, both the Southeast Asian countries reinforced their military presence along disputed border areas, Thailand's defence minister said. The two governments have exchanged statements, saying they were committed to finding a peaceful resolution after a Cambodian soldier was killed during a clash on May 28 in an undemarcated border area. Checkpoints, including the busiest in Thailand's eastern province of Sa Kaeo, halved operating hours to 8 a.m. (0100 GMT) to 4 p.m. local time, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., previously, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters on Sunday. Thailand operates 17 official border crossings with Cambodia, spanning seven provinces along their shared 817-km (508 miles) frontier, government data shows. "These are no immediate closure orders at border checkpoints. Rather, they are gradual and appropriate to the circumstances in specific areas," he said, adding the situation along the border remained calm. Residents near the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing in Sa Kaeo said the atmosphere was calm. "It surprised people a bit, but shops stayed open and most locals crossed back normally," said a staff member at Manue Home Stay, who gave his name only as Rong. Cambodia's Foreign Ministry reiterated a request to bring the border disputes to the International Court of Justice in a letter to Thai officials on June 6. "Given the complexity, historical nature, and sensitivity of these disputes, it is increasingly evident that bilateral dialogue alone may no longer suffice to bring about a comprehensive and lasting solution," Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn said it the note, shared with reporters on Sunday. "A decision rendered by the ICJ, grounded in international law, would offer a fair, impartial, and durable resolution," he said. The Thai government has said it does not recognise the court's jurisdiction and proposed that all boundary-related issues be resolved through bilateral negotiations, with talks scheduled for June 14. Thailand and Cambodia have for more than a century contested sovereignty at undemarcated points along their shared border, which was mapped by France in 1907 when Cambodia was its colony. Tension escalated in 2008 over an 11th-century Hindu temple, leading to skirmishes over several years and at least a dozen deaths, including during a week-long exchange of artillery in 2011. Both governments have enjoyed warm ties, from a close friendship between former leaders, Thaksin Shinawatra from Thailand and Cambodia's Hun Sen. Thaksin's daughter and Hun Sen's son are the incumbent prime ministers of their countries. (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um, Editing by Barbara Lewis)
