Scott Morrison was not supposed to continue to be Australia’s Prime Minister. Polls had consistently shown his Liberal Party, which is a center-right party,…
Scott Morrison was not supposed to continue to be Australia’s Prime Minister. Polls had consistently shown his Liberal Party, which is a center-right party, trailing the center-left Labor Party for several months. But to everyone’s surprise, the right-leaning party pulled it out. Morrison, who is an evangelical Christian, called it a miracle. From CNN:
In a triumphant speech Saturday night, Morrison said he had “always believed in miracles.”
“And tonight we’ve been delivered another one,” he told jubilant supporters in Sydney who chanted Morrison’s nickname “ScoMo.”
The result will be devastating for the center-left Labor Party, which had been ahead in every opinion poll during the campaign and had expected to easily form a government after Saturday’s vote.
“This was the unlosable election for the Labor Party. That’s how this was considered,” ABC’s Patricia Karvelas said from the Melbourne Labor event.
What may cause concern for progressives both in Australia and here at home is the framing of this election. The Labor Party’s platform was to pursue more dramatic action on climate change and higher taxes on the rich.
