We know that the Albanese Government must hold an election before May next year, the budget has been brought forward to March 2025, and there are whisperings from the inside that the election may be declared before we put the Christmas decorations out, but in my career across politics and media, I don’t believe it has ever been this interesting, with the Greens and Independents looking to change the game from a two party preferred race to create a Parliament never before seen in the history of this nation.
Recent polls suggest Labor is in front, but not by much – 50.5% preferred party compared to the Coalition currently sitting at 49.5%. Where it get interesting is that in many marginal seats, Independents are beginning to make their mark, and could take power from these preferred parties.
The recent Roy Morgan polls suggest that the Independents have risen from 0.5% support to a massive 10%. The results are derived from surveying randomly selected Australians across the country interviewed during the week of 9-15 September 2024.
As it stands, Australia is a unique political system, in electing independents at all, let alone in large numbers. According to The Australia Institute, more independents are elected to the Australian House of Representatives than elected to the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand Parliaments.
Climate 200, the fundraising giant that helped to fund the Teals at the last election has set its sights on nine Coalition held seats, seed-funding candidates up to $50,000, provided their campaign meets the criteria of focusing on climate action and restoring integrity in politics. The seats include the Queensland electorates of McPherson, Moncrief, Fisher and Fairfax as well as the New South Wales electorates Cowper and Bradfield, and Casey, Monash and Wannon in Victoria.
Whilst Labor and Coalition are hoping for an election focusing on cost of living and the economy, climate change remains a priority for Australians, and this is the playing field for the Greens and Teals, which may see a repeat or increase of their 2022 election dominance.
If you plan to approach the government in the lead up to the 2025 election, we’d love to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to jo@fiftyacres.com.
