Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanis during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on 28 March 2025.
Mike Bovers | AFP | Getty images
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanis called a national election for May 3 on Friday, as the country struggles with a high cost of living and growing American tariffs.
This stopped the five-week campaign in the lead till Bellet Day as the Central-Vam government took a second term of three years.
Albanis said in a press conference after triggering the election, “Our government has chosen Australian way to face global challenges-which is helping people during the construction for the future.”
He said, “Australia is beating the corner due to the strength and flexibility that our people have shown. Now on 3 May, you choose the way forward,” he said.
The Labor Party won by a majority in the last federal election in 2022, with nine-year-old Liberal-national coalition rule. Referendum surveys indicate that the Labor Party is currently running the neck-and-neck with the conservative Liberal-National Alliance led by Peter Datton.
The cost has increased since Albanis came to the office. This is despite a pile of measures aimed at reducing the cost of staying houses including a new round of tax deduction in Tuesday’s budget.
The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the benchmark cash rate for the first time in four years in February, indicating that inflation pressure could be the worst performance.
Among the top issues for voters, how to handle relations with US President Donald Trump, who has so far denied exemption for any country on steel and aluminum tariffs.
Albanis said that he would continue to advocate the US administration. During Trump’s first presidential post, Australia was exempted from American tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Earlier this week, Trump announced 25% auto tariff for “not made in the US” for all cars and is expected to unveil another round of tariffs on business partners next week.
The US trade surplus with Australia in 2024 was $ 17.9 billion, an increase of 1.6% in 2023, the US Census Bureau data revealed.
