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World News See other World News Articles Title: ‘Complete shock’: Australia’s prime minister holds onto power, defying election predictions ‘Complete shock’: Australia’s prime minister holds onto power, defying election predictions A. Odysseus Patrick 19 hrs ago Morrison casts vote in Australian election SYDNEY —The center-right government of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison held onto power Saturday after a surprise surge in national elections that left some pundits making comparisons to President Trump’s poll-defying win in 2016. The apparent upset victory was the latest election to trample predictions by polling firms, which all showed Morrison’s political bloc trailing the opposition Labor Party. It also carried other uncanny parallels with Trump’s rise. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post In Australia’s coal country, Morrison was seen as an ally to protect jobs against a push for more renewal energy and greater efforts to battle climate change. Morrison draw further support with promises of tax cuts and a tough line on immigration, contrasting with Labor’s call for more social programs and less-stringent migrant policies. The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, conceded defeat as election returns tipped the scales against him. Morrison’s Liberal-National coalition was two seats short of a parliamentary majority after about 60 percent of the vote had been counted, according to election officials. But political analysts said the pattern of voting made it likely the coalition would emerge with more than half the seats in parliament. “This is a complete shock,” said Zareh Ghazarian, a political science lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne. “We have completely expected an opposite thing for two years. Voters rejected the big picture. They have endorsed a government that has run on a very presidential campaign and on its management of the economy.” © Provided by WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post The reelection of Morrison’s government will mean that Australia was be much less ambitious in cutting emissions of greenhouse gases. It will also be firmly supportive of U.S.-led efforts to curtain the influence of China and blocking Chinese technology giant Huawei from government contracts. Morrison was one of the architects of Australia’s tough approach on asylum seekers, which has confined thousands to Pacific Island camps, and is expected to continue with the approach that has been condemned by human rights groups around the world. In the end, Morrison’s regular-guy political persona — he was the first Australian prime minister to campaign in baseball caps — and promises to cut taxes proved unexpectedly effective. Not long after Shorten’s concession speech, Morrison appeared on a stage in Sydney with his grade-school-aged daughters, Lily and Abbey, and wife Jenny. An evangelical Christian, Morrison said: “I have always believed in miracles. I am standing with the three biggest miracles in my life and tonight we have been delivered another one.” Morrison thanked who he called the “quiet Australians” for the victory. Morrison’s government has placed restrictions on some Chinese investments and effectively banned Huawei from Australia’s 5G telecommunications network. But Labor leader Shorten has suggested Australia needs to recalibrate its relationship with China, saying Australia must take a more rounded approach in its dealings with Beijing and not only view it “through the prism of strategic risk.” Poster Comment: It seems the Australians also fear the Chinese and their tendency to plunder technology. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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