Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Australia Ousts ScoMo, Elects Albo
Australians went to the polls on Saturday and ousted conservative Scott Morrison [ScoMo in the press] of the National Liberal Coalition. In his stead, Labor's Anthony Albanese [Albo] will lead the country. Whether he has an outright majority remains to be seen. There are a few seats yet to be decided, but Labor holds 74 seats now. A majority is 76. Even if he doesn't win a majority, support from the Greens and independents should give him a good start. The change is a big deal not just for Australia, but for the southwest Pacific, and even the world.
The big change is going to be Australian climate policy. ScoMo was to bring Australia to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The nation has a great deal of coal, both for domestic use and export, and the shift to other forms of energy in that time appears to have been predicated on the needs of business rather than the needs of the planet.
Under Labor with help from both the Greens and the eco-friendly independents (labeled “teal” by the pundits), the Albanese government is aiming to achieve that by 2030. That would definitely be better for the planet. It will also set up a fight with business and quite possibly some labor union that backed Mr. Albanese. Any date earlier than 2050 is an improvement. Mr. Albanese should be willing to make a deal on the timeline if he must.
The other big challenge he has is the relationship with the People's Republic of China. The ChiComs in Beijing have been using their military to undermine the security arrangements of the South China Sea, in particular, and the western Pacific in general. While it is a big export market for Australian natural resources, Chinese ambitions pose a security risk to all of its neighbors including Australia. Mr. Albanese right now is headed to a meeting of The Quad, whose members are Australia, Japan, India and the US. Here, the new government is likely to be just as steady in its alliances as the previous one was.
Meanwhile, the defeat of the Coalition has brought some-soul searching from the Australian right. Mike Foley writing in the Sydney Morning Herald observed, "The Liberals' election wipeout is sending shockwaves through the Coalition and reigniting the climate wars, with moderate Liberals calling for more ambitious policies and the Nationals warning they could break from the alliance and ditch their commitment to net zero emissions."
Fueling the problems of the Coalition, and to a lesser extent Labor, is the success of the smaller parties. The Coalition's total vote was down 3.14%, Labor's 0.51%. The Greens were up 1.45%, the teal independents up 2.15%, the rightist One Nation up 1.81% and the also rightist United Australia Party gained 0.72%. It is clear that both main blocs lost support to the smaller parties. This kind of electorate fragmentation has occurred in almost every major parliamentary democracy. It will remain a problem for them to solve for some time to come.
Adding to the changes are the results from the Senate elections held at the same time. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that the 76 seat Senate has 36 seats up for election this time around (as in the US, Australia's Senate is not elected all at once). That means a majority is 39. Labor has 25, and two more are likely to go Labor's way. The Greens won 5 to bring their total to 6, and they could get one more as the count continues. This means the Senate is not where legislation will go to die, but rather where the government will make sure it gets its way.
Mr. Albanese has a lot on his plate to be sure. He also appears to have the votes to address it all.
© Copyright 2022 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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