In Australia’s long-awaited general election, incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison suffered a bitter defeat. The opposition Social Democratic Labor Party’s brilliant election victory over leading candidate Anthony Albanese also signifies a clear rejection of the previous Conservative coalition, which ruled for nearly ten years but did little or nothing to tackle the climate crisis. A power shift is imminent Down Under. It remains to be seen whether the future Albanian prime minister will be able to mend the rift between the progressive electorate in the cities and the more conservative electorate in the rural areas, thus bringing the country together. Either way, it won’t be an easy task.
