2. Leadership ‘madness’ may haunt the government<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mr Morrison only became prime minister last August after bitter party infighting ousted his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In doing so, Mr Morrison became Australia’s fifth leader since 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It was a peculiarly Australian form of madness,”<\/a> Mr Turnbull told the BBC in March, speaking about a coup culture which began with Labor in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s likely to harm the government’s standing with voters, predicts Prof Sally Young, a politics expert from the University of Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They’re sick of the sniping and undermining,” she says. “Knifing a leader – it never goes down well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Australia has just endured a year of extreme weather events, including destructive floods, bushfires, cyclones and a severe drought. The past summer was the nation’s hottest on record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has made climate change a key election issue in some seats, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, the government scrapped plans to set an emissions reduction target<\/a>in legislation – prompting fierce criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Australia’s lack of action [on climate change] internationally is becoming more recognised within this country,” says Prof Young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The University of Sydney’s Prof Marc Stears agrees, but says it’s unclear how widely it will affect voting decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prof Stears says the major parties are already talking up their traditional strengths. That’s subjects like jobs and infrastructure for the government, and health and education for Labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They will compete fiercely on economic issues, with both parties promising policies aimed at reducing the cost of living,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Australia’s economy is the envy of many countries, wages growth is flat, and there is a generational split in attitudes to house prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr Morrison is overseeing a minority government, meaning he can ill afford to lose support anywhere in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Political observers say he faces challenges from the left and right – a debate that is often framed in geographical terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the northern state of Queensland, experts say the government fears losing votes to more socially conservative minor parties and independents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in Victoria in the south, the electorate is perceived as more progressive. It delivered a resounding victory to Labor in a state election five months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During past elections, Australia’s major parties have employed tough rhetoric on immigration issues – particularly regarding asylum seekers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has often been used to appear strong on issues such as national security, says Prof Stears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That debate resurfaced in February<\/a>, however, Prof Stears believes that last month’s New Zealand mosque attacks may see politicians tone down such rhetoric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prof Young says there is some public cynicism about the major parties, pointing to possible increases in support for other candidates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High-profile independent candidates have entered key races, and in New South Wales, a recent state election saw rises in minor party support in rural electorates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In February, Mr Morrison said a “state actor” had carried out a cyber attack<\/a> on the parliament and political parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Authorities said there was no evidence of electoral interference, but security experts have urged vigilance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Concerns about alleged foreign interference prompted Australia to introduce new laws last year.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, several MPs were disqualified for unintentionally breaking a rule that lawmakers cannot be dual citizens when elected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifteen parliamentarians were ousted, though six later managed to return after relinquishing their non-Australian citizenships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The saga sparked comprehensive checks of MPs’ statuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opinion polls in recent times have consistently put Labor in front on a two-party preferred basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, those measures also say that Mr Morrison leads Mr Shorten as preferred prime minister. Australians will vote in a general election on 18 May, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced. The poll will decide whether the conservative government wins a third term or is replaced by a Labor administration led by Bill Shorten. All 151 seats in the House of Representatives will be contested, and half of the 76 seats in the Senate. The… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3478,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions\/3478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p06jcbd4.jpg\")
3. Climate change could sway votes – but to what extent?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Farmer](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/789F\/production\/_102797803_mediaitem102797568.jpg\")
4. In many ways, the main battle lines are familiar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/9D6D\/production\/_106310304_gettyimages-1140266939.jpg\")
5. There’s much talk about a north-south divide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Will migration and refugee debates resurface?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/A61C\/production\/_105642524_gettyimages-146655193.jpg\")
7. There are signs of support for minor parties<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
8. Is there a risk of foreign interference?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05rv1gh.jpg\")
9. Citizenship checks should be water-tight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/720x405\/p05l54nc.jpg\")
10. What do the opinion polls say?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"