Jennifer Curtin, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The success of independents at the Australian election is a sign the political culture has shifted in Canberra, with potential benefits for expat New Zealanders and trans-Tasman relations in general.
Now that Labor has won and the Liberal Party has been severely wounded, its enemies will be baying for blood, so a first order of business will be to make Australian voters glad they elected them.
He is only the fifth Labor leader to win government from opposition since the first world war, and there’s every indication he will be a consensus prime minister.
Intellectual and a talented communicator, Chalmers may turn out to be a far more innovative politician than his current cautious election rhetoric suggests.
Scott Morrison’s pitch to voters that the election is about “you” is a potentially powerful one. But Labor has one available that is even better: it’s about “us”.
There are many factors at play including outdated preselection processes at local levels and a lack of targeted efforts by major parties beyond tokenism.
Scott Morrison has had his integrity questioned in a recent interview with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell when he was asked whether he had “ever told a lie in public life?”
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Chris Bowen says Labor’s climate policy will be ‘realistic and ambitious’
Michelle Grattan speaks with shadow minister Chris Bowen on Labor's "realistic and ambitious" climate policy and Australia's yet to be released renewable future
Elections are often close in Australia. Landslides are rare. Labor and the Greens would be very unwise to assume they already know the outcome of the next one.
Recent elections in Australia, the US and the UK have seen left-leaning parties lose votes among non-university educated whites. One way to win them back might be to disassociate from ‘elite’ opinion.
Labor has long been seen as the party of bold policy platforms, while the Coalition has played more of a consolidating role. The next election will determine if those characterisations still hold.