Australian Voters Want Australia First Policies
As the dust settles on the Albanese Labor Government’s re-election with an increased House of Representatives majority, the analysis begins on why the voters rejected the other parties. I’m not just talking about the Liberal National Coalition but also the Greens. Like or loathe the Labor Government and their policies, they campaigned on matters that affected Australians: healthcare, housing, education and cost of living relief.
What did the Liberal Party focus on from the beginning of the year? An antisemitism crisis, the crux of which the arson attacks and vandalism in Sydney turned out to be an organised crime hoax. They spoke endlessly about their support for Israel and Zionism. The Greens put themselves on the frontline of the Free Palestine movement in Australia with their state and federal MPs attending Parliament in the Palestinian keffiyeh.
Since Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack in Southern Israel, followed by Israel’s military war against Hamas-controlled Gaza every Sunday in Melbourne and Sydney featured Free Palestine rallies where Greens MPs were regular featured speakers. Usually, there were small pro-Israel counter rallies attended by some Liberal state MPs and supporters. These competing rallies and the violence that sometimes broke out affected CBD traders’ business, and members of the public who just wanted a day out in the city on a weekend.
The amount of media coverage the Israel-Hamas war itself received, the protests in the CBD and the Liberals and Greens politicians’ media commentary alienated the rest of the Australian public. Australians of all ages have grown up with the Israel-Palestine conflict ongoing and doubt that there will ever be peace in that region. They are also glad they don’t live there, and for this conflict to be imported into our streets and dominate the political discourse was the last thing most Australians wanted.
The Liberal Party put maximum political pressure on the Albanese Government to pass extreme hate crime laws. This position was a complete repudiation of the Liberals’ long support for free speech.
The Liberals pledged millions of taxpayers money to various Jewish organisations. Yet are only 4 seats out of the 150 House of Representatives seats that have substantial Jewish populations, 3 in Melbourne: Goldstein, McNamara, Kooyong and 1 in Sydney: Wentworth. For all of the political capital the Liberals spent appealing to Jewish voters and interests, they only won 2 of those seats. Did the other 146 seats the Liberals contested received the same amount of campaign interest and promises?
The failed Greens candidate for Wills Samantha Ratnam who resigned from the Victorian Parliament to run for the seat told a pro-Palestine rally to vote for Gaza this election. Federal NSW Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi told a rally let’s make this a Palestine election. Faruqi also led a walkout of the Greens in the Senate after the Albanese Government abstained from a UN vote calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt who lost his seat of Melbourne famously shoved the Australian flag to one side at a press conference, ashamed to stand in front of it. Bandt pivoted too late to campaigning on the Greens’ most appealing domestic policy of dental in Medicare.
The lesson from this federal election is that Australians vote on Australian issues. They will vote for parties that put Australians First. Albanese in his victory speech spoke about Australian values and doing things the Australian way. Albo’s definition of Australian values you can disagree with but this is how he engaged the Australian public.
The Freedom parties many of them were also sucked into spending too much time discussing this conflict halfway around the world. This election Labor won the battle for Australia’s soul. Political parties need to appeal to Australians on the issues that matter to them in their daily lives. Provide a counter definition of Australian values and campaign on what you will do to make Australians’ lives better. That is the lesson that other less successful parties should take going into future elections.
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