Morrison government drops major hint about upcoming election date

The federal government has made a shock announcement, dropping one big hint about the date of the upcoming election.

The federal government has made a shock announcement about the 2022 parliamentary schedule, dropping one big hint about the date of the upcoming federal election.

According to the 2022 parliamentary calendar released on Monday, the 2022-23 budget will be brought forward to March 29.

Budgets are almost always delivered in May.

This suggests the upcoming federal election is likely to be held in May 2022, which would delay parliament’s return until August.

The newly released 2022 parliamentary calendar suggests the upcoming federal election will be held in May. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The new parliamentary calendar has also scheduled far fewer sitting days for the first half of next year. Just 10 days have been set aside for parliament to meet from January-March of 2022. This is a significant reduction from the 19 sitting days that occurred from January-March 2021.

This reduction suggests Scott Morrison will be campaigning heavily over the first half of the year in the lead-up to a May election.

A May vote will be cutting it tight for the Prime Minister, who is required by law to call an election before May 22.

A May election will delay parliament’s return until August 2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Morrison and the Coalition are struggling to win back support form Aussie voters, with the latest Newspoll suggesting Labor would win if an election was held today.

The Prime Minister has already begun campaigning, travelling to Adelaide last Friday to meet with locals and show off his footy skills.

Australians can expect the campaign machine of both major parties to go into overdrive as 2022 rolls around and voting day looms closer.

Scott Morrison show off his footy skills. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Originally published as Morrison government drops major hint about upcoming election date