Electoral systems

Early Voting Begins as Australian Prime Minister Holds Slim Lead

APR 22 2025·Updated APR 28 2025

Story

Above: Voters are seen casting their ballots at a polling center in Melbourne, Victoria State, Australia, on April 22, 2025, during early voting for the 2025 Australian federal election. Image credit: Ye Myo Khant/Contributor/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The Facts

Early voting for Australia's May 3 federal election commenced on Tuesday, with the Australian Electoral Commission expecting approximately half of the country's 18 million registered voters to cast their ballots before the official polling day.
Sky News
ABC
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor Party currently leads the opposition with a two-party preferred split of 52% to 48%, though campaign activities were temporarily subdued following Pope Francis's death.
Sky News
EuroNews
Labor now commands 35% of the female primary vote compared to the Coalition's 33%, a reversal from March when the Coalition led by 38% to Labor's 29%. However, the portion of those who say gender equality is "very important" dropped from 84.9% in April 2022 to 70.3% this year.
Daily Mail
ABC
The opposition Liberal Party, led by Peter Dutton, has planned a major advertising blitz in the final days of the campaign, allocating approximately half of their election campaign budget for the last eight to 10 days before the election.
Sky News
Australian Financial Review
Both major parties have prioritized the cost of living as a key campaign issue, while differing significantly on climate policy, with Labor embracing decarbonization and the Liberal Party proposing a $200 billion nuclear reactor scheme.
Barrons
guardian
The election features a comprehensive preferential voting system, requiring voters to number all boxes on the House of Representatives ballot and at least six boxes above the line or twelve below for the Senate ballot.
ABC
SBS News

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Australian Labor Party narrative

Peter Dutton's Liberals are floundering already, trailing Labor in polls due to a campaign devoid of ideas. Their negative, apocalyptic rhetoric fails to resonate, clashing with Australia's reality. Dutton's unpreparedness and reliance on right-wing media echo a Morrison-esque dysfunction, offering no vision beyond criticism. Labor's coherent agenda contrasts sharply, signaling a likely Liberal defeat as voters reject their uninspired bid for power.

Newpolitics

Liberal Party narrative

The election is far from over, and Australians still have two weeks to change things. All they need to do is watch Anthony Albanese's repeated lies in the news, the most drastic of which has been his fabricated facts about the Liberals' proposed nuclear facility, using figures drummed up by a pro-Labor group. Australians are not better off today than they were before Albanese's regime took power, but they can return to normalcy by voting him out.

Sky News