As the current government of Australia and the government which has been in charge for the last 6 years, much of Australia’s current position among the world and in it’s policies are down to the coalition. Many news sites called their win in the election a miracle, and the Liberal Coalition itself had made many promises, from keeping a strong economy, to continuing it’s immigration stance. Have these stances kept Australia strong under Liberal administration, or are we beginning to see the government fumble?
The largest part of the Liberal’s campaign, and the part in which they have campaigned on for the last 6+ years is a strong economy and an economy with a surplus, not debt. However, with the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates for the first time in over three years and an economic slowdown seemingly inevitable, this mantra may turn to dust. On the one hand, while the change in the interest rates is intended to boost the economy, a possible change by another 50 points downwards would be a representation that the economy is nowhere near as strong as the Government continues to tell us. Even further, the change will likely see those who gain money through savings or are looking to buy property falter, as housing prices stabilize and savings interest rates decline. Though home owners and real estate agents will likely see this as a win, as people are able to borrow more and spend more on houses.
At the same time, news of an economic slowdown as Australia’s investments, sales and GDP growth all begin to fall is another sign of the mantra being torn to shreds. This slowdown could be exaggerated further as the China-US trade war continues on in earnest and Australia is locked in a tug of war between it’s largest trade partner and largest ally. With the Liberal government causing dismay between Indonesia and possibly cancelling a free trade agreement between Australia and them, there isn’t much to fall back on should China start becoming protectionist against the USA’s allies. Even moreso, this slowdown will affect Australia’s energy sector and its export prices, which means that the Adani coal mine will be even less profitable than already predicted. Finally, the news of a surplus next year isn’t necessarily good news, as it represents a lack of government spending within Australia. While debt may be bad at a personal level, debt in the terms of companies and countries isn’t always bad, as it can represent money spent within the nation to build it up and provide further growth, something a surplus doesn’t do.
The other mantra of the Coalition government was about stopping immigration and the boats. However, despite this, continued lack of interest for Manus island has angered most Australian’s, as the situation among the immigrants on the island becomes worse and worse without a proper medevac or simply a move to a nation such as New Zealand. At the same time, the government tells the public that its harsh stance has deterred boats from coming towards Australia, and yet one boat of Sri Lankans has already made its way to Australia, with another six apparently incoming. While all the boats will most likely be turned back, these cases represent the ‘deterrent’ rapidly degrading in the face of those who are most desperate. While accepting them all isn’t the solution, the government needs a far more nuanced and effective policy on this type of immigration rather than a blanket ban that is failing as a deterent.
Overall, the government’s ‘mantras’ and its most talked about stances have degraded not even a month into their 3 term. And as the government has been in charge for the last 2 terms, they have no one to blame but themselves for the failure of what they championed most. While it is early days, the early days are not a good omen for what might come.
This is a joint analysis article along with https://buff.politics.blog/2019/05/29/has-the-liberal-coalition-been-truthful-in-its-promises/. If you believe our articles are of high enough quality, please checkout our Patreon and consider donating: https://www.patreon.com/PoliticsBuff
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