{"id":7073,"date":"2025-05-01T12:23:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/first-canada-now-australia-conservatives-fear-the-trump-slump-is-spreading\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T12:23:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:23:34","slug":"first-canada-now-australia-conservatives-fear-the-trump-slump-is-spreading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/invest360pro.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/first-canada-now-australia-conservatives-fear-the-trump-slump-is-spreading\/","title":{"rendered":"First Canada, now Australia? Conservatives fear the Trump slump is spreading"},"content":{"rendered":"

The man vying to become Australia\u2019s next prime minister has spent weeks trying to distance himself from comparisons to US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m my own person,\u201d opposition Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton insisted, when asked for his thoughts on \u201cTemu Trump,\u201d the label given to him by critics referring to the Chinese website with a reputation for cheap copies. <\/p>\n

Political analysts say comparisons to Trump have eaten away at any lead Dutton had over incumbent center-left Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is topping opinion polls before Saturday\u2019s vote. <\/p>\n

Ex-police officer Dutton became opposition leader after the center-right Liberal Party was swept from power three years ago, bringing with him a reputation as the uncompromising strongman of the party\u2019s right wing \u2013 a former minister for defense, home affairs and immigration. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s been accused of stoking culture wars, claims Australia takes in too many migrants, and days ago branded the nation\u2019s public broadcaster \u201chate media.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHis instincts are those of a right-wing populist. I have no doubt about that, so they do bear resemblance to the kind of politics and rhetoric we\u2019ve associated with Trump,\u201d said Frank Bongiorno, professor of history at the Australian National University. <\/p>\n

The Trumpian strategy appears to have been encouraged by senior party members and Australia\u2019s richest woman, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who attended the US president\u2019s inauguration and backs his \u201cdrill baby drill\u201d mantra, according to reports from 2024. <\/p>\n

But what sounded like a vote winner backfired when the US president announced global tariffs, turning a prospective Trump bump into a Trump slump \u2013 something Canada\u2019s conservatives also experienced this week when they failed to win the national election. <\/p>\n

Dutton also faces the potential ignominy of losing his own seat in parliament, as happened to Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. Dutton holds Dickson, a constituency in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, by just 1.7% \u2013 and rivals are circling. <\/p>\n

Australia is seeing \u201ca diluted version\u201d of the Canada trend, according to Marija Taflaga, director of the Center for the Study of Australian Politics at the Australian National University. <\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has essentially created a rally around the flag effect,\u201d she said. \u201cIn liberal democracies like Australia and Canada, (he\u2019s) flipped the incumbent from being in a disadvantaged position\u2026 into an advantageous position,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

\u201cBetter the devil you know.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018The election pivoted\u2019<\/h2>\n

The most blatant grab for Trump supporters comes from mining billionaire Clive Palmer, of Titanic II fame, who launched Trump-inspired party the Trumpet of Patriots, vowing to \u201cend the two-party duopoly and make Australia great.\u201d <\/p>\n

For the most part, Australian elections are a competition between Dutton\u2019s Liberal Party and Albanese\u2019s Labor Party. Compulsory voting and a preference system that redistributes votes cast for candidates that fall out of the race mean both parties focus on securing the maximum middle ground. <\/p>\n

The main issue this election has been the cost-of-living crisis, and both major parties have promised to help lower household bills with an array of tax cuts and handouts. <\/p>\n

In a program redolent of Trump\u2019s early moves since returning to the White House, Dutton promised 41,000 federal job cuts, an end to work-from-home privileges and an overhaul of \u201cwoke\u201d school agendas \u2013 some of which he\u2019s had to roll back. <\/p>\n

He also appointed a shadow minister for government efficiency, who told a recent rally the Liberal Party would \u201cmake Australia great again\u201d \u2013 a comment that she later said she didn\u2019t realize she\u2019d made. <\/p>\n

As recently as January, the Liberal leader was on a path to victory, according to Simon Jackman, an honorary professor at the University of Sydney and former chief executive officer of its US Studies Centre. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen along comes Donald Trump\u2026 and the election just pivoted,\u201d Jackman said. <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
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US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on his tariffs in the White House Rose Garden on April 2.<\/span> <\/div>
Brendan Smialowski\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Australians take an avid interest in US politics, so they were watching when the big US pharmaceutical companies complained that the Australian government\u2019s subsidy program was undervaluing US medicines; as US trade advisor Peter Navarro warned that Australian aluminum exports were \u201ckilling\u201d America\u2019s aluminum market; and when Democrat Sen. Mark Warner demanded to know why Australia, \u201can incredibly important national security partner,\u201d had been \u201cwhacked\u201d with 10% tariffs. <\/p>\n

But it was the post-tariff selling on international markets that really caught their attention, and older voters watched in horror as their retirement savings tracked south, Jackman said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe narrative flipped from being sort of looking backwards at Labor\u2019s economic performance to looking forward and (saying), \u2018Oh my goodness, the world is very different and dangerous and insecure, and our closest ally and strategic partner is saying all these horrible things about us. I thought the Americans liked us. What\u2019s going on?\u2019\u201d said Jackman. <\/p>\n

The Trump backlash presented an issue for Dutton. So, in mid-April, when asked by the moderator during a leaders\u2019 debate if he trusted the US president, he seemed keen to put some distance between them. \u201cI don\u2019t know Donald Trump; I\u2019ve never met him,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Easing off the China threat<\/h2>\n

During the last election in 2022, China was seen as the bigger issue. <\/p>\n

Relations had suffered under the previous Liberal Party leader Scott Morrison, who led a Coalition government with the National Party and suggested China be investigated for its role in the spread of the Covid pandemic. In response, China slapped tariffs on key Australian exports. While Labor touted its desire to improve relations, the Liberal Party talked up China\u2019s military threat and subsequently lost the votes of Chinese-Australians. <\/p>\n

So, this election, despite the unprecedented circumnavigation by Chinese warships of Australia in February and March \u2013 complete with unannounced live-fire drills \u2013 discussion of China\u2019s threat to Australia\u2019s national security has been relatively subdued. <\/p>\n

\u201cFunnily enough, Trump is probably seen as a bigger threat to the global order than China,\u201d said Jackman. <\/p>\n

The US president\u2019s unpredictability, transactional approach to foreign affairs, and readiness to rip up past agreements has focused attention on whether Australia can trust the US under Trump. <\/p>\n

Critics of AUKUS, Australia\u2019s key security deal with the US and United Kingdom, have cited the president\u2019s recent behavior as proof that it\u2019s too dangerous to outsource the country\u2019s national security. <\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump is a dangerous demagogue and is a threat to peace, a threat to democracy, and is also a threat to Australia,\u201d said Adam Bandt, leader of the Greens, Australia\u2019s third-largest party, which is pushing for more housing, support for renters and stronger climate action. <\/p>\n

Both Albanese and Dutton signed up to AUKUS and have defended the defense agreement. <\/p>\n

A possible minority government<\/h2>\n

While polling suggests Albanese will win the election, it\u2019s unclear if he\u2019ll gain enough votes for a majority government, and analysts say it\u2019s possible he\u2019ll have to form a minority government with smaller parties or independents. <\/p>\n

This year, for the first time, Millennial and Gen Z voters will outnumber older demographics, and they\u2019re expected to cast a more progressive, anti-establishment vote that could cost Labor seats. <\/p>\n

\u201cYoung renters who earn more than their parents but cannot afford to buy the house they grew up in have little reason to preserve the existing political order and appear happy to roll the dice on a minority government,\u201d Shaun Ratcliff, a political scientist from research firm Accent Research, told the National Press Club last week. <\/p>\n

Bongiorno from the Australian National University says that, if Dutton loses, he can\u2019t blame the loss entirely on Trump. The Liberal campaign was ill-prepared and relied on voters being angry enough with Labor to want change, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been a disastrous government, and I think it was probably a mistake for the Coalition to imagine that it could simply wait around and watch it fall over,\u201d Bongiorno said. <\/p>\n

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A sign supporting Peter Dutton and the LNP on a fence in the suburb of Samford, Brisbane on April 23.<\/span> <\/div>
Dan Peled\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As for Dutton\u2019s challenge in Dickson, the seat he\u2019s held for more than 20 years, Bongiorno said the demographics of the area seem to be changing, and that may steer votes towards Labor\u2019s Ali France or progressive independent Ellie Smith. \u201cI suspect he\u2019ll hold on,\u201d Bongiorno said. <\/p>\n

The last of 18 million registered voters are expected to go to the polls on Saturday after a record turnout at early-voting centers. <\/p>\n

Jackman said he didn\u2019t get the feeling that people were voting with \u201cgusto\u201d to remove the government, as they did three years ago to oust Morrison. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it signals, \u2018Oh, I can\u2019t wait to get rid of this government,\u2019\u201d Jackman said. \u201cI don\u2019t get that same vibe this time,\u201d he added. \u201cI suspect it\u2019s more just people want to get it over with.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew Trump mark two was going to be different,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody counted on just how different.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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