Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited Governor- General Sir Peter Cosgrove on Sunday to ask that both houses of parliament be dissolved and a general election called for July 2, media reported.
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In framing the budget Turnbull and Morrison have sought to avoid a “winners and losers” approach, instead claiming the budget set the foundations for a strong economy and a resilient future budget position by encouraging investment and job creation.
Labor’s anaemic primary support is the opposition’s most persistent worry as it languishes at a meagre 33 per cent, which is 7 points lower than its peak in January past year, and equal with the level secured by Labor in 2013 when it lost to Tony Abbott in a landslide.
“These are times for confidence, for optimism, for a clear plan, and we will be seeking a mandate from the Australian people on the 2 July”.
When Malcolm Turnbull deposed Tony Abbott to assume the prime ministership last September, the Coalition government surged to an nearly insurmountable lead in the polls.
But both reports have now been postponed until after the election at the request of the Climate Change Authority itself, it said on its website. The vote would not be legally binding and some conservative lawmakers have said they would vote down a gay marriage bill even if most Australians supported marriage equality.
Turnbull is promising to cut tax rates for companies and high-income earners, and boost infrastructure spending.
“The opportunities for Australia have never been greater”, he told reporters in Canberra. The former union leader is also promising a royal commission into the finance industry after trust in the sector was eroded by poor financial advice offered by banks.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the budget would have been in a better position had Labor not mismanaged it while in government and if the global economy had not weakened.
MetaPoll’s April 19 analysis of the most recent poll data put the coalition on 51.1 per cent of the two-party vote – down 2.4 percentage points on the 2013 election result but enough to retain government. Labour needs 21 seats – or a 4.3% swing – to take power while a 3.4% uniform swing would see the ruling coalition lose its majority. The rare move means that all 150 House of Representatives seats and 76 Senate seats are up for grabs in the first double dissolution election since 1987.
At a normal election, only half of the senators are up for re-election.
Australia’s constitution allows for double dissolution if the Senate twice rejects government legislation, but the mechanism is rarely used. Industrial relations will also be a major issue in the election, with the coalition saying Labor is beholden to its union backers and Shorten arguing the government is against workers’ rights.
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“Mr Turnbull’s pretty quick to brush over the fact that he had to be dragged kicking and screaming to confirm that he’s going to spend $50 billion of budget money over the next 10 years, Australian’s taxpayer money, to give big business a tax break”, he said.
