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No Movement in Australia’s Political Scene
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - People in Australia continue to express support for the governing party, according to a poll by Newspoll published in The Australian. 44 per cent of respondents would vote for the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the next election to the House of Representatives, down one point since early August.
The Coalition of Liberals and National is second with 38 per cent, followed by the Australian Greens with nine per cent. Australia’s preferential voting system—where electors indicate an order of predilection for each contender, and the ballots from smaller parties are re-distributed—gives the ALP a 10-point lead over the Coalition.
Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the ALP 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Kevin Rudd was officially sworn in as prime minister in December, bringing an end to the 11-year tenure of Liberal leader John Howard as head of Australia’s government.
Howard failed to retain his seat in the Bennelong constituency and stepped down as Liberal leader. Brendan Nelson—a former defence minister—defeated former environment minister Malcolm Turnbull in an internal leadership ballot by just three votes. In September 2008, Turnbull won a new internal leadership race, edging Nelson by four votes.
Earlier this month, as documents from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) revealed that interrogators tortured terror suspects and their family members in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a row about torture erupted in Australia.
Liberal lawmaker Michael Johnson declared: "I think that there is a very limited place for torture and, certainly where that torture takes place, it must be done in an appropriate way, and in an appropriate context." His words prompted a response by ALP lawmaker Mark Dreyfus, who said, "I think we need to resolutely say that there is no place for torture" in Australia.
Polling Data
If a federal election to the House of Representatives were held today, which one of the following would you vote for? If "Uncommitted", to which one of these do you have a leaning?
|
|
Aug. 23 |
Aug. 9 |
Jul. 26 |
|
Australian Labor Party |
44% |
45% |
46% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
38% |
37% |
38% |
|
Australian Greens |
9% |
10% |
9% |
|
Others |
9% |
8% |
7% |
Two-Party Preferred Vote
|
|
Aug. 23 |
Aug. 9 |
Jul. 26 |
|
Australian Labor Party |
55% |
57% |
57% |
|
Coalition (Liberal / National) |
45% |
43% |
43% |
Source: Newspoll / The Australian
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,151 Australian voters, conducted from Aug. 21 to Aug. 23, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.