Conservative losses reveal effect of Trump's global politics

AUSTRALIA'S federal election, held less than a week after Canada’s, has produced a shockingly similar outcome.

- DAVID SMITH

Commentators all over the world have pointed out the parallels.

In both countries, centre-left governments looked like they were in serious trouble not long ago.

On February 23, a Resolve Strategic poll found the Coalition leading Labor 55-45% on a two-party-preferred basis. An Angus Reid poll in December found voting intention for Canada’s Liberals dropping to just 16%, compared to 45% for the Conservatives.

Yet both governments are now celebrating historic victories. And in both countries, the conservative opposition leaders, Pierre Poilievre and Peter Dutton, lost their own seats.

US President Donald Trump was undoubtedly a factor in both elections.

Even Trump’s most ardent Australian fans admit the reversal of the Coalition’s fortunes in the polls seems to have been precipitated by Trump’s actions, particularly his chaotic tariff announcements and his White House humiliation of Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

In Canada, Trump cheerfully presented himself as an existential threat to the country.

But if anything, Labor’s landslide win in the Australian election on Saturday highlights just how poorly the Coalition fared under Dutton compared to Canada’s Conservatives.

The Coalition bottomed out, while the Tories fared reasonably well in the face of difficult circumstances.

So why the huge difference between the two parties?

This is largely because of the differences between the Canadian and Australian electoral systems.