Hello everyone, happy Thursday! Ryan here, once again to give you the latest roundup on all the latest political news both here in Australia and around the world to help you make sense of it all during these crazy times and the election campaign. Its been a busy week so lets dive in.
Campaign launches and a leaders debate define the third week of the campaign.
It doesn’t seem like it but here in Australia, we are halfway through the election campaign already! The campaign is five weeks long, taking up the entire month of April, and we are three weeks in. What usually happens at this point in the campaign is the two major parties hold what are called “campaign launches.” That sounds confusing when the campaign has been underway for awhile now, but think of the launches as a big meeting to garner support and rally party faithful. Former Prime Ministers show up and the Party Leaders usually announce key policies during a speech as well.
The Labor Party held their launch in Perth, signifying the importance of winning seats in Western Australia, specifically in suburban Perth where there are battleground electorates. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke about how a lot has been thrown at Australia but that Labor was helping get the country through the storm. He talked about Labor’s energy subsidies and the fact that inflation had gone down under his government. He also emphasised that Labor had a plan to help people buy homes, combat climate change, and fund Medicare; claiming Peter Dutton and the Coalition would cut programs and jobs. The Prime Minister also compared the Coalition’s campaign of cuts to the political situation in the United States with Elon Musk and DOGE.
Over in Western Sydney, the Coalition launched their campaign with Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, asking voters, “Are you better off today than you were three years ago?” He spoke about the need to “get Australia back on track,” and that the Coalition would bring down gas prices and build nuclear power plants. He discussed the need to fight crime and the growing housing crisis, all under the theme of saying the Albanese government had failed in its three years in power.
Overall, the two party launches were basically “love fests” for the party faithful of speeches, policy discussions, and rallying to build momentum into the later half of the campaign. We’ll see if that energy propels the parties forward or backwards in the coming weeks.
Immigration and the Supreme Court take centre-stage in the US
Across the Pacific in the US, the political situation is getting more serious by the day. As I’m sure you’re all aware, the administration of Donald Trump has been cracking down on illegal immigration since he took office in January. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting raids and at times, taking people as they’re walking down the street or out shopping and taking them into custody to be deported on suspicion they are illegal. During these series of raids, an El Salvadorian man who was a legal resident of the US, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was wrongfully detained and deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador where harsh conditions are rampant.
It was later revealed through court documents that Garcia was wrongfully detained and deported through an “error” admitted to by the Trump Administration. Garcia’s family and lawyers have been fighting to get him back with a Judge in Washington, D.C. ordering the Trump administration to bring Garcia home and with the Supreme Court ruling 9-0 against the Trump Administration when they tried to appeal the ruling.
Over the past week the Trump Administration has refused to bring Garcia home and the President of El Salvador has refused to release Garcia from the prison. The Trump Administration violating a court order is uncharted political territory for the US, and could plunge the country into a constitutional crisis if one branch of Government ignores the checks and balances of the other branches. This is unprecedented in the US and we have to wait and see what will happen if the courts double-down on the President to follow their orders. President Trump as also heard saying he wants to deport “homegrown criminals” (US citizens) to El Salvadorian prisons as well. Something which is against the law and a citizen’s right to due process. We will see if the checks and balances of the US Constitution hold firm.
Housing policies announced by both major parties:
During the campaign launches, the major parties announced their major campaign policies to help Australians buy homes. As we all know, there is a housing crisis in Australia with housing being out of reach for many because of high prices and low supply. Labor announced that the Government would help first-time home buyers by setting aside thousands of home specifically for them; and that the Government would lower the down-payment for a house from 20% to 5% for first time buyers. Albanese noted this was significant because the last time percentages were like that was back in the early 2000s. He emphasised this would significantly help young people and people saving up to finally achieve home ownership.
Peter Dutton and the Coalition announced that they would halt foreign buyers from buying homes in Australia for up to two years and allow Australians to take up to $50,000 from their superannuation to buy their first home. That money would eventually be put back into their super, but the Coalition hopes this will ease pressure on the markets. The Coalition also promised to bring down rates of immigration by significant numbers to, what they believe, will bring relief for Australians competing against new migrants in buying and renting housing.
How the Australian public will react to these policies is yet to be seen but both are pretty audacious attempts to try to tackle a crisis that has been decades in the making.
Well there you have it, those are the main stories this week. I’ll see you next week for more news roundups. You can also listen to my show, The Final Tally under the podcast tab here on the Eastside website. Have a good weekend everyone!