Australia PM Albanese signals election to come in May

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out calling an election over the coming weekend, ending the chances of a national vote before May as a cyclone bearing down on the country disrupted the centre-left Labor government’s planning.

Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Friday (Mar 7) night that he would not be kicking off an election campaign on Sunday or Monday, ensuring that the 2025 vote would be held on May 3, May 10 or May 17.

“I have no intention of doing anything that distracts from what we need to do, and what we need to do is to look after each other at this difficult time,” Albanese said, speaking less than 24 hours before Cyclone Alfred is due to make landfall.

Australian elections are usually called on a Sunday and run for a minimum of 33 days with the vote taking place on a Saturday. The vote must be held by May 17. 

The Labor government had been widely expected to call an election this weekend for April 12, off the back of strong economic news and the first rate cut in four years. 

However, Albanese’s announcement Friday rules out an election on that date, and with April 19 and 26 both unavailable due to national public holidays, the government is left with no choice but to head to an election in May.

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It also means that Labor will now have to hand down a national budget in just under three weeks on March 25. Albanese said on the ABC that it had always been his intention to run his government to the end of its term in May. 

“Certainly, my sole focus is not calling an election. My sole focus is on the needs of Australians,” he said. BLOOMBERG