Election 2022

Prime minister calls federal election for 21 May as two leaders outline pitch to voters.

They’re going to have a really difficult month over the next month, because Scott Morrison is running like an opposition leader. A high court challenge against preselections in the NSW branch of the party was dismissed on Friday. A government that reflects the decency and compassion and courage of the Australian people. “It’s a choice between a strong future and an uncertain one. “They’re running a negative campaign. They know that I have a long record of public service. I will restore faith in our political system by getting rid of the waste and rorts, and establishing a strong anti-corruption commission. “No more mistakes. “It’s about the people watching this right now. I will lead a government that repays and rewards your hard work. “They [Australians] know what my record is. He is also painting Albanese, who polling suggests is nudging ahead as preferred prime minister, as an unknown risk.

The contest will pit Prime Minister Scott Morrison against Labor leader Anthony Albanese, with a fierce campaign set to unfold to win over the trust of voters.

The Labor-held seat of Eden-Monaro in southeast NSW is also on a tight 0.8 per cent margin and Cowan in Western Australia is on a 0.9 per cent margin. Members of the House of Representatives are elected to serve a maximum of three-year terms. Those seats with the slimmest margin include the Liberal-held Bass in Tasmania held by 0.4 per cent, the seat of Chisholm in Melbourne’s east on 0.5 per cent and Boothby in South Australia on a margin of 1.4 per cent. This means the poll will be the most expensive in history, predicted to come with a price tag of more than $400 million — about $100 million more than in 2019. The winner of the election would need to win more than half of them to be elected to the government without looking to the crossbench. The Labor-held seat of Eden-Monaro in southeast NSW is also on a tight 0.8 per cent margin and Cowan in Western Australia is on a 0.9 per cent margin. The government also holds a bigger buffer against losing office in this election compared to the last contest. Members of the House of Representatives are elected to serve a maximum of three-year terms. Those seats with the slimmest margin include the Liberal-held Bass in Tasmania held by 0.4 per cent, the seat of Chisholm in Melbourne’s east on 0.5 per cent and Boothby in South Australia on a margin of 1.4 per cent. This means the poll will be the most expensive in history, predicted to come with a price tag of more than $400 million — about $100 million more than in 2019. The winner of the election would need to win more than half of them to be elected to the government without looking to the crossbench. The government also holds a bigger buffer against losing office in this election compared to the last contest.

Follow the latest updates as polls predict a tight first round finish between the president, Emmanuel Macron, and Marine Le Pen, from the far-right National ...

But there will be no certainty about what it all means until the first projections when polls close at 8pm - these are not, by the way, exit polls, but estimations based on actual votes cast in a representative selection of polling stations nationwide. Exactly a month ago, on 10 March, Emmanuel Macron - buoyed by a rally-round-the-flag effect following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - stood at about 30% and Marine Le Pen at about 18%, according to the Guardian’s election tracker. It’s hard to say at this stage who this might benefit. On the other hand, some of the detail in those midday turnout figures could be ringing a few alarm bells in the president’s camp: abstention looks to be higher in the Paris region, which was heavily pro-Macron in the last elections in 2017, whereas turnout in some areas that voted predminantly for Le Pen five years ago seems to be significantly higher. A low turnout is widely believed to be bad news for the far-right leader, because it could be a sign that her supporters, who often fail to show up on voting day in the kind of numbers that the polls predicted, may again be staying away. On average, the latest polls put the two on 26% and 23% respectively, a difference that is equivalent to many polling organisations’ margin of error.

Opinion polls published before a campaign blackout had Mr Macron coming out on top - but showed the far-right leader of National Rally was closing the gap.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Ms Le Pen has been honing in on the day-to-day grievances of average voters. The incumbent centrist president entered late into the campaign, with only one major rally that even his supporters found underwhelming. - Ban on wearing Muslim headscarves in all public spaces, a ban on building big mosques and on foreign financing of the Muslim faith - Keep the minimum retirement age at 62 and raise the minimum pension - Progressively raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 and boost the minimum monthly pension

President Emmanuel Macron is expected to finish first, and may again face the far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round. After a muted campaign, ...

While all eyes have been focused on the swift rise of Ms. Le Pen, the far-right candidate, Mr. Mélenchon, 70, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, has witnessed a comeback in recent weeks. All with a view, Mr. Macron said, “to securing a cease-fire and then the total withdrawal of troops.” “The way he advertised himself in 2017 has very little to do with what has been done,” he added. Mr. Zelensky, to judge by a recent interview in The Economist, has been underwhelmed. He has pledged to stop immigration, even rejecting refugees from the war in Ukraine, and also proposed expelling immigrants as part of “remigration.” He failed to reposition himself, especially against his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, and at under 10 percent in most polls, he is unlikely to make it past the first round on Sunday. The first months of the campaign were marked by polarized rhetoric on immigration and security — a characteristic that many residents in Melun deplored. France’s presidents — who have formidable powers at their disposal and set much of the country’s agenda — are elected directly by the people to five-year terms in a two-round voting system. At a time when revived nationalism had produced Brexit and the Trump presidency, he bet on a strong commitment to the European Union — and swept aside his opponents with an incisive panache. “I’m in favor of selective immigration, instead of the current situation where we have immigrants who are seeking to take advantage of the French system,” said Karl, who works in real estate. Many French people feel left out from the economic growth that Mr. Macron has delivered and are anxious about the violence in their neighborhoods. President Biden has repeatedly said the world is at an “inflection point” in the confrontation between autocracy and democracy.

When the counting's done, elections obey the iron laws of arithmetic. Yet, in the lead-up to polling day, psychology also plays its part, writes MARK KENNY.

Of course, the wildcard is the rise of the independents. Yes, if Morrison succeeds in keeping the focus on his ground – the economy and national security – enabling him to retain the seats the Coalition holds in net terms. But that could easily be the extent of damage in the 10-seat central state. In New South Wales, Morrison expects to regain Gilmore via a popular ex-state MP for the area, Andrew Constance. In a best-case scenario, the biggest state would otherwise remain fairly static. The opposition needs to hold what it has and gain seven to govern in its own right. He’ll be hoping that in 2022, his perceived strengths on jobs, economic growth, and national security, will outweigh his low standing personally. As they say in political circles, when a swing is on, it’s on. Labor is optimistically eyeing five seats but if by some strange “miracle” Liberals hang on to all of them, Morrison would be a long way towards retaining government. Hasluck, however, held by the respected Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt, would take a 6% Labor swing to change hands. Yet, in the lead-up to polling day, psychology also plays its part, writes MARK KENNY. This piece is the second in a two-part series. This “build it and they will come” mindset assisted them to beat the odds and ultimately prevail. Expect Albanese to direct the spotlight relentlessly at the prime minister himself.

President Macron and the far-right leader Le Pen ahead after first round of French presidential vote, projections show.

Who next holds the Elysee Palace will depend on how those who backed Macron and Le Pen’s rivals cast their ballots. He acknowledged disagreements with Le Pen, but said Macron was a worse choice. Huski believes the gap between the estimated votes of Le Pen and Macron makes the former a weaker challenger than she imagined for the second round. “I intend without waiting to sew back up the tears that a torn-apart France suffers,” she told supporters, who chanted: “We will win!” The runoff “will be a choice of civilisation,” Le Pen added on stage in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen have come out on top of France’s first-round presidential election, qualifying for the April 24 runoff, according to initial projections. President Emmanuel Macron and the far-right leader Marine Le Pen progress to second round of French presidential election, projections show.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is campaigning on his economic record, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese says Australia needs a better future and military ...

The more people get to know Albo the more they like him. Constance – whose own home was threatened in the fires – won national attention during that crisis when he criticised Morrison’s leadership, and subsequently pushed for greater action on climate change. The more people have got to know Scott Morrison over the last four years, the less they’ve trusted him. This is a guy that goes missing when we need him most, never takes responsibility and tries to divide us. He takes responsibility, tries to bring people together around outcomes and solutions, is looking to fix things and not just fight over things. “I give him credit for chutzpah but nothing more, thanks, because we know with the trillion dollars of debt there is not a real legacy to show for it. “My character, I’m happy to stand by every single day,” the PM said. I’m not stabbing someone in the back to become prime minister.” Up to now, Russia had no central war commander on the ground. Whether it’s responding to victims of the floods, or whether it be ordering enough vaccines. Tudge was negotiating with the states over a new national curriculum before he stood down. This morning, Morrison has repeatedly said Tudge will be education minister if the Coalition wins the May 21 election.

France's incumbent leader Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen are heading for an April 24 presidential election runoff, projections show ...

During the next two weeks, he [Mr Macron] will have to pay more attention to what is happening in France, take a diplomatic break," said Adrien Thierry, a 23-year old supporter. To the cheers of supporters chanting, "We will win! We will win!" While Ms Le Pen has ditched past ambitions for a "Frexit" or to haul France out of the eurozone's single currency, she envisages the EU as a mere alliance of sovereign states. "So that France does not fall into hatred of all against all, I solemnly call on you to vote on April 24 against the far-right of Marine Le Pen," said Ms Hidalgo. Ifop pollsters predicted a tight runoff, with 51 per cent for Mr Macron and 49 per cent for Ms Le Pen. The gap is so tight that victory either way is within the margin of error.

Who is running? The election will be a battle between Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who leads a Coalition government made of the Liberal Party and the ...

Casting an informal vote means it will not be included in the count, and you will not have a say in who governs the country. The AEC is still working through options for voters who catch COVID-19 and are forced to isolate after the cut-off date for postal voting, to ensure they can still cast a ballot on voting day. Workers who are staffing voting booths will be required to be vaccinated, but you do not need to be vaccinated to enter a voting place nor to cast your vote. You can vote early, either in person or by post for a whole range of reasons, including if you will be out of the electorate you are enrolled to vote in on voting day, are further than 8 kilometres from a voting booth, are seriously ill or about to give birth (or caring for someone who is), in hospital or prison, travelling or unable to leave work, or if you are a silent elector. The sausage sizzle — you may know it as a "democracy sausage" — will be back on, but you can probably expect a delay at the voting booth due to the COVID-19 measures that will be in place on voting day, the AEC says. The government enters the election holding 76 of the 150 seats, meaning it will need to keep the same number of seats to form a majority government.

The Australian Electoral Commission, the independent body that runs elections, says there are 17 million people enrolled to vote in the 2022 federal election – ...

You must number every box in order of your preference for your vote to be valid. In some countries you may be able to access an overseas voting centre – a list will be posted on the AEC website. Those who test positive or who are close contacts of someone who tests positive between Wednesday and Saturday should contact the AEC to arrange a vote by phone. These must be completed by close of polling on election day and returned to the AEC, which allows 13 days after that for the ballots to arrive. You can find your electorate by entering your address on this page on the AEC website. A list of these will be published on the AEC website.

Covid will change how people vote at this year's federal election with delays expected at polling booths and those who are sick allowed to phone in their ...

In order to vote you must be enrolled, you can check your details at the AEC website. Certain polling booths will be open two weeks ahead of election day to allow people to vote early. You can apply online or fill in a form available from any AEC office. More details will be released ahead of election day. Pencils will be sanitised after use, and there could also be QR check-in codes, venue capacity limits and masks required, depending on the rules in place at the time. At the last election 89,830 people voted through special hospital teams.

Scott Morrison has started his re-election bid along the NSW South Coast - and perhaps with an extra spring in his step.

The prime minister flew to Nowra on Sunday afternoon after announcing the election in Canberra, targeting the marginal seat of Gilmore which is held by Labor on a slim 2.6 per cent margin. Labor will use the first full day of the campaign to announce better care for children with hearing loss, pledging $1.5 million to fund the development of the digital HearHub platform, an online service that will deliver hearing tests and support for families. The shift in underlying support for Labor has resulted in a one-point gain for the coalition on a two-party-preferred basis with Labor ahead 53-47. Morrison has pulled ahead of the Labor leader as the better prime minister, the Newspoll shows. The Newspoll conducted for The Australian on the eve of the election campaign shows Labor’s primary vote has dropped a point to 37 per cent on top of a three-point fall last week. Scott Morrison has pulled ahead of Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister but Labor remains in poll position despite a further fall in popular support, the latest Newspoll shows.

If well-funded independent candidates get their way this election, the Liberal Party could move significantly to the right.

A triumph for one of these independents would match the pattern of the recent past. A triumph for the group would mess with the old political model. In the Victorian seat of Nicholls, centred around Shepparton, local business owner Rob Priestly is trying to defeat Sam Birrell from the Nationals without taking money from Climate 200 because he wants to run a local campaign. In a big test in Western Australia, Kate Chaney is challenging Celia Hammond, the sitting MP in Curtin. Another independent, Despi O’Connor, is running against Zoe McKenzie, the new Liberal candidate for Flinders where Hunt is departing after 21 years representing the seat on the Mornington Peninsula. The campaign against Frydenberg is especially interesting because the Treasurer is one of the contenders to lead the Liberals if they lose. The principal targets are all Liberals who support action on climate change and support marriage equality, the social issue that is the ultimate test for moderates against conservatives.

Emmanuel Macron wins the first round, but the run-off against his far-right rival may be far closer.

She has built her campaign around the cost-of-living crunch facing much of Europe, promising to cut taxes and waive income tax for under-30s. But in the end, the spring sunshine meant turnout was not as low as feared, at almost 75%. Mr Macron's team is already planning a series of big rallies and major TV appearances. Ifop pollster François Dabi said his company's 51%-49% estimate was the closest they had ever predicted. Later in the evening, Mélenchon activists gathered outside his campaign HQ thinking he might even come second, but it was not to be. The battle for votes now starts in earnest.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has been forced to admit he didn't serve as Acting Prime Minister “that many days” after earlier touting his experience in the ...

“The difference is when I was acting Prime Minister, I knew I was acting Prime Minister. “But I’ve also been the deputy Prime Minister, I’ve been the leader of the government in the house for six years. On Sunday after Scott Morrison called the election, Mr Albanese told reporters: “My experience is I’ve been acting Prime Minister, I’ve been deputy Prime Minister, I chaired the Parliamentary Business Committee for six years”.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus made it clear that the Union movement will be campaigning hard to see Scott Morrison handing back the keys to the Lodge. Living ...

“It’s also the reason why a record number of people are now forced to work more than one job. The Prime Minister could take steps to create wage growth tomorrow. “As with too many issues that affect working Australians: Prime Minister Scott Morrison is missing in action when it comes to secure jobs. “Insecure work doesn’t just strip workers of their wage and conditions. The reality is that a re-elected Morrison Government will turn its back on any attempt to stop the spread of insecure work and the slide in real wages for workers. The federal election on Saturday, May 21 will be judgment day.

The party leaders stared straight down the barrel of our cameras to tell voters why they should be the next prime minister.

Where’s the big social policy reform? Where’s the big economic reform? Where’s the big environmental agenda that they have?” he asks. “He has the energy of a 21-year-old, is driven by deep-rooted principles and some of the best gut instincts I’ve seen on either side of politics in my time”. With the political focus on the COVID-19 response, he has had to juggle being positive about Australia’s future with an effective attack on the coalition’s handling of the vaccination and quarantine programs. Heading into 2021, Morrison’s stocks began to fall, and he reshuffled his cabinet with a focus on women’s safety and economic security - seen as a weak point for his government and a counter to media attention on the poor treatment of women in politics. “And we have an economic plan to keep that going in the future to ensure that we can keep pressures down on cost of living and ensure Australians can keep more of what they earn and plan for their future with confidence.” The MP for the Sydney seat of Grayndler also points to aged care as a priority for Labor soon after coming to office. But he professed a deep belief in the righteousness of crushing the evil people-smuggling trade and preserving the safety of those on board rickety boats. After the defeat of the Labor government in 2013, he rose to prominence by spearheading Operation Sovereign Borders as immigration minister to then-prime minister Tony Abbott. He was elected to federal parliament in 2007 for the NSW seat of Cook. He put the narrow victory down to “quiet Australians” endorsing the Liberal-National coalition’s economic and national security record.

Will it be the first re-election of a president in 20 years, or third time lucky for his far-right opponent?

She would remove the right of children born in France to foreign parents to obtain French nationality in their teenage years. In 2018 Le Pen renamed the party the National Rally, seeking to get rid of the martial imagery and broaden its appeal. She has promised to renationalise motorways, scrap the TV licence fee and privatise public service broadcasting. During the Covid pandemic, he turned to state interventionism and vast public spending to protect companies and households, boasting of “nationalising wages”, which the public backed. He has promised to gradually raise the pension age from 62 to 65, an unpopular measure. He says that for the first time in 30 years, France is opening more factories that it is closing.

When is the enrolment deadline? All Australian citizens who are eligible to vote must be correctly enrolled by 8pm local time on Monday, April 18.

To be eligible to enrol from overseas, you must be: If you would like to add a temporary postal address to your enrolment record, however, you mustupdate your details onlineor contact a member from the AEC office. If you are overseas and intending to return to Australia within six years, you canregister as an overseas electorand general postal voter. If you have moved, you are eligible to enrol at your new address only if you have lived there for at least one month. If you have been temporarily displaced from your enrolled address due to floods or other natural disasters, the option to remain enrolled at that address is available. If you are 16 or 17 years old there is also an option to enrol now in preparation for when you turn 18.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has failed to answer two important, yet simple questions on the first morning of the six week election campaign, ...