Bill Shorten has conceded defeat to Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the country's general election. Shorten made the announcement to supporters of his opposition Labor party late Saturday night in Melbourne.
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Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison secures a historic win after Labor loses the so-called ‘unlosable election’.
Bookmaker Sportsbet had already paid out all bets on a Labor victory three days before the vote.
A list of proposed ambassadors for Australia’s plum overseas postings had been circulated to political journalists.
But then the pesky voters got in the way.
Labor had been in Opposition for six years. They watched from across the aisle as the governing conservative party tore itself to shreds over leadership.
The Tories were beset with instability and infighting. They had switched leaders in a revolving door style of political assassinations.
First, Tony Abbott was booted for Malcolm Turnbull who was in turn deposed for current leader Scott Morrison.
This happened over a three year period of chaos and calamity. This made for great political theatre but was no way to govern.
All the while Labor licked its lips from the side-lines. The expected the Australian public to punish the in-fighting at the ballot box. But this was not the case.
‘A coronation tour’
In perhaps a measure of just how confident Labor was of its victory, it put forward a bold policy agenda to the electorate.
It proudly boasted of a “redistribution agenda”. It also promised to clamp down on tax loopholes for wealthy retirees and property owners.
Labor Australia said it would use the additional funds to pay for more in health and education.
In wanting to attract the youth vote, they also made climate change a priority. Reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing renewable energy was a key point hammered home in its daily press briefings.
And with hindsight, this is where things started to become unstuck.
With nothing to lose, the Conservatives’ asked the Australian people, “Do you want more jobs or more taxes?”
Labor’s detailed manifesto left it wide open to attack on everything from a “retiree tax” to “higher power bills”.
It hammered Labor’s Bill Shorten as wanting to “put his hand in the pocket” of hardworking families.
Whilst boosting spending on health and education was always an admirable objective, detailing to voters how they were expected to pay for it in advance proved a high risk strategy.
The geography
Australia and the UK share a similar trait when it comes to political maps. Both have a divide between the south and the north.
The southern metropolitan centres of Sydney and Melbourne dominate the national discourse. This is primarily due to their population and the fact the political and media class all reside there.
The problem with that however, is to win an election, you need seats from the north – namely, Queensland. This is the state of coal, cattle and coral. It is a hot, dusty state where you can travel hours before reaching a remote town.
It is also the place where much of Australia’s riches are generated from minerals that are mined and shipped off around the world, particularly China.
So when Labor promised to clamp down on coal use and push climate friendly policies, for many mining workers in the north, that was code for job losses.
When they talked about increasing renewable energy, the Tories managed to make families question whether that meant they would pay more for their power.
In the end, voters in Queensland turned out to be waiting for Labor with baseball bats on polling day. And at that point, the path to victory in Canberra was closed.
It turns out people in the north don’t like being told what’s best for them by people in the south. Sound familiar?
Soul searching
Labor will now begin the humiliating task of searching for a new leader. Meanwhile Prime Minister Scott Morrison revels in his victory.
Labor’s redistribution manifesto has already been thrown on the scrap heap. Its architects will scuttle away in the hope they can secure their careers under new leadership.
But the one thing that all sides down under agree on is that all is that modern polling is under threat.
British journalists may feel a touch of déjà vu reading the reaction of Australia’s 7 News’ Political Reporter to Saturday’s shock election.
“My mea culpa,” she wrote. “Polls are useless.”
“The majority of Australians don’t back further action on climate change – or major tax reform… Twitter is not representative of the wider Australian view… Always listen to family and friends outside the Canberra bubble”
Does any of that sound familiar?
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HeadlineAnalysis: Australia’s shock election – the result nobody predicted
Short HeadlineAnalysis: Australia’s shock election result
StandfirstPollsters once again left scratching their heads as final count shows just how far off their predictions were
Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison secures a historic win after Labor loses the so-called ‘unlosable election’.
Bookmaker Sportsbet had already paid out all bets on a Labor victory three days before the vote.
A list of proposed ambassadors for Australia’s plum overseas postings had been circulated to political journalists.
But then the pesky voters got in the way.
Labor had been in Opposition for six years. They watched from across the aisle as the governing conservative party tore itself to shreds over leadership.
The Tories were beset with instability and infighting. They had switched leaders in a revolving door style of political assassinations.
First, Tony Abbott was booted for Malcolm Turnbull who was in turn deposed for current leader Scott Morrison.
This happened over a three year period of chaos and calamity. This made for great political theatre but was no way to govern.
All the while Labor licked its lips from the side-lines. The expected the Australian public to punish the in-fighting at the ballot box. But this was not the case.
‘A coronation tour’
In perhaps a measure of just how confident Labor was of its victory, it put forward a bold policy agenda to the electorate.
It proudly boasted of a “redistribution agenda”. It also promised to clamp down on tax loopholes for wealthy retirees and property owners.
Labor Australia said it would use the additional funds to pay for more in health and education.
In wanting to attract the youth vote, they also made climate change a priority. Reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing renewable energy was a key point hammered home in its daily press briefings.
And with hindsight, this is where things started to become unstuck.
With nothing to lose, the Conservatives’ asked the Australian people, “Do you want more jobs or more taxes?”
Labor’s detailed manifesto left it wide open to attack on everything from a “retiree tax” to “higher power bills”.
It hammered Labor’s Bill Shorten as wanting to “put his hand in the pocket” of hardworking families.
Whilst boosting spending on health and education was always an admirable objective, detailing to voters how they were expected to pay for it in advance proved a high risk strategy.
The geography
Australia and the UK share a similar trait when it comes to political maps. Both have a divide between the south and the north.
The southern metropolitan centres of Sydney and Melbourne dominate the national discourse. This is primarily due to their population and the fact the political and media class all reside there.
The problem with that however, is to win an election, you need seats from the north – namely, Queensland. This is the state of coal, cattle and coral. It is a hot, dusty state where you can travel hours before reaching a remote town.
It is also the place where much of Australia’s riches are generated from minerals that are mined and shipped off around the world, particularly China.
So when Labor promised to clamp down on coal use and push climate friendly policies, for many mining workers in the north, that was code for job losses.
When they talked about increasing renewable energy, the Tories managed to make families question whether that meant they would pay more for their power.
In the end, voters in Queensland turned out to be waiting for Labor with baseball bats on polling day. And at that point, the path to victory in Canberra was closed.
It turns out people in the north don’t like being told what’s best for them by people in the south. Sound familiar?
Soul searching
Labor will now begin the humiliating task of searching for a new leader. Meanwhile Prime Minister Scott Morrison revels in his victory.
Labor’s redistribution manifesto has already been thrown on the scrap heap. Its architects will scuttle away in the hope they can secure their careers under new leadership.
But the one thing that all sides down under agree on is that all is that modern polling is under threat.
British journalists may feel a touch of déjà vu reading the reaction of Australia’s 7 News’ Political Reporter to Saturday’s shock election.
“My mea culpa,” she wrote. “Polls are useless.”
“The majority of Australians don’t back further action on climate change – or major tax reform… Twitter is not representative of the wider Australian view… Always listen to family and friends outside the Canberra bubble”
