Australian mainstream politics is generally discussed and praised as being close to the centre of politics. Both major parties have historically been close to the centre, leaning to one side or another with most Australian voters following the same pattern. However, the latest election may have revealed that this centrist paradise may not last, and that mainstream Australian politics could be going the way of American politics. In essence, the left and the right of Aussie politics are becoming more divided than ever.
On one hand, there is the continual lean to the right that the Liberal coalition is going through. Ever since Malcolm Turnbull took over leadership of the party, he had to contend with the Right faction of the party pushing him away from the centre, culminating with his removal as leader of the coalition. And now, with Scott Morrison as leader, the right continues to grow stronger within the party. This is nowhere clearer than when one considers the considerable amount of Liberal voters who preferenced right-wing United Australian Party or One Nation first. The significant amount of voters, enough to give the coalition the win, are now apart of the Liberal fold and represent a slide even further towards the right as the parties voters become disenfranchised with the centre of politics. Even further, the coalitions seeming lack of care for the AFP raids exemplify this slide towards the right, as the coalition and its allies move from centre-right to right wing.
At the same time, the Labor party are not safe from the move away from the centre, though this is slightly less obvious. During the election, the party ran with a quite left-leaning campaign, with policies of wealth distribution and the like being far more left-leaning than the party has ever seen. Despite the loss of the election, the party has not been swayed from the left-leaning platform, choosing Anthony Albanese from the left faction of Labor to be in charge of the party. While the party has not given much indication besides this on how it will run in the future, the hints make it seem certain that the party will continue to utilize environmentalism and refugees as a major policy point.
Between the two sides, it is far clearer that the Liberal coalition, originally representing the centre-right of Australian politics, has begun to slide further right than it ever has. The amount of voters who originate from right-wing parties and with the right-leaning faction having control over the most vital parts of the party, in terms of Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, ensure that this move to the right is likely to only continue to grow. On the other hand, Labor’s move to the left is far less substantial, though the seeds exist for a full move to occur. While the party is being led by the left-wing faction in the form of Anthony Albanese, there have been significant changes away from the economic policies of their election campaign, though much of the other policies seem to remain intact.
In the end, it seems like the divide between the left and right of Australian mainstream politics is occurring at a almost alarming pace. While many may see it as a natural evolution away from centrism as voters begin to sit firmly in one camp or another, the effect of such a divide on American politics should not go unnoticed. Australian politics need not go the way of our American counterparts, and it is far better to vote based on each parties actions and goals rather than a blind adherence to ideology.
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