Prime Minister Scott Morrison finally reveals federal election date
The wait is finally over, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison finally revealing when the nation will be heading to the polls.
Federal Election
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australia will head to the polls for the 2022 federal election on May 21.
Mr Morrison will kick off his official election campaign as the clear underdog, after consistently falling behind in the polls and trailing behind Labor’s two-party preferred lead of 55-46 according to Newspoll.
Meanwhile, Labor starts the campaign on 69 seats and will need to pick up a net seven seats in order to elect a speaker and form government.
The Coalition currently holds 76 seats, and will therefore need to hold onto all of them and also take over some others to counteract any Labor wins if Mr Morrison is to gain a second term.
According to Australian law, there needs to be at least 33 days between an election being called and the day of the poll.
This meant the latest day Mr Morrison could have asked the Governor-General to call the election was April 18.
Australia’s federal government is voted in for three-year terms, which means the latest possible date for the election to take place was Saturday May 21, 2022.
The announcement comes after weeks of speculation over when exactly the election would be called.
Speaking at a pre-budget press conference recently, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg put in a last-minute election pitch for the Coalition, spruiking the government’s economic track record during the course of the pandemic.
“In just a matter of weeks, the Australian people will go to the polls,’’ the Treasurer said.
“They will face a clear choice between a coalition led by Scott Morrison that has delivered one of the fastest economic recoveries anywhere in the world and has a plan for the future, and a Labor Party which puts all those gains at risk.”
Meanwhile, in his budget reply speech, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese pledged a “better future” via an economy with “stronger wages and more secure work”, with an ALP government committed to investing in Australian skills, jobs, and manufacturing, backing clean energy and building new infrastructure across the country, easing cost of living pressures, protecting Medicare and fixing the housing affordability and aged care crises.
While the election date has only just been officially called, both leaders have been ramping up their campaigns and have launched media blitzes in recent weeks, with Mr Morrison playing the ukulele in a 60 Minutes interview with Karl Stefanovic in February.
Mr Albanese followed it up with a 60 Minutes interview of his own in March, after previously showing off his new look in a photo shoot with the Australian Women’s Weekly in late February.
Originally published as Prime Minister Scott Morrison finally reveals federal election date
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