Friday, March 28

The Australian elections are coming up in May-- let's take a look at the candidates, parties, and what issues will dominate the field in 2025.

Australian elections take place every three years, with the incumbent Prime Minister making the call on the exact date of the next election. Elections are always held on Saturdays, but the incumbent party is always able to decide when the election will be-- usually, they choose a time that benefits them politically in some way. Another thing to note is that in Australia, citizens 18 and above are required by law to vote, leaving them with a true representation of the country's opinion.

The frontrunner for this election is incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, leader of the Labor Party. The Labor Party is center-left, meaning that they lean slightly towards the liberal side. Also, Australia has no maximum tenure for a Prime Minister, meaning that parties often end up winning elections for many years in a row. However, if the Labor Party loses this election, they could become the first party in almost a century to have a prime minister in office for just one term.

Meanwhile, his biggest opponents are the Liberal-National Coalition, a team of two right-wing parties that are working together to defeat Albanese. The Liberal National Party, as it is now called, was formed with the merger of the Liberal Party and the National Party in 2008, and they are led by Peter Dutton.

Several major issues are sure to make the headlines during this year's elections, but the most important of them all is cost of living. Cost of living prices across Australia have skyrocketed over the past few years, with three cities making the top 10 most unaffordable cities in a recent study. Other issues include immigration, climate change, and crime.

Albanese has promised to stimulate growth, denouncing Dutton's ideas and stating that he only had plans to cut. Albanese has promised additions to free healthcare, tax cuts, and to cut student debt.

Meanwhile, Dutton has argued that Albanese has ruined the country over the last three years, and he plans to cut government spending, slow down immigration, and make energy cheaper for consumers.

While these two parties are at the front, as of right now, it does not seem that either has enough support to win a majority-- parties need at least 76 of the Parliament's 150 seats to take power. In the scenario that neither party receives enough votes to win this majority, they would need to form a coalition with another party, such as the Green Party, to win the extra seats required.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Contrary to popular belief, gum does not sit in your stomach for seven years if ingested. Instead, the chewy base of gum, which is indigestible, goes straight through your digestive system and is excreted as waste.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Take a deep breath, relax and imagine yourself exactly as you wish to be. (Brian Tracy)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Archetype (noun, AHR-kih-type) - Archetype refers to someone or something that is seen to be a perfect example. It is also a word for the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies.

In a Sentence: The college’s most popular philosophy professor is the archetype of the preoccupied academic, complete with the messy desk, disheveled hair, and brilliant theories.