Austria: Chancellor Kurz calls for snap election - Aljazeera.com

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called for fresh elections in the wake of a video sting that forced his scandal-plagued deputy to step down.

In a statement on Saturday, Kurz called for a new vote to held "as soon as possible" hours after Heinz-Christian Strache, the vice chancellor and leader of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) resigned over footage that appeared to show him offering government contracts in exchange for campaign help. 

"After yesterday's video, I must say quite honestly: Enough is enough," Kurz said.

"The serious part of this [video] was the attitude towards abuse of power, towards dealing with taxpayers' money, towards the media in this country," said Kurz, who heads the centre-right People's Party.

The chancellor said he could not reach an agreement with the leadership of Strache's anti-immigrant FPO on carrying forward the coalition with his People's Party.

He also said a possible coalition with the Social Democrats would not permit the Austrian government to carry out its policies of limiting debt and taxes. 

Shortly after Kurz's statement, Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen expressed support for a snap vote and said he would meet with the chancellor again on Sunday to talk over the next steps.

Opposition parties including the Social Democrats, the liberal Neos party and the Greens have also called for fresh elections in the wake of the scandal.

'Dumb, irresponsible, mistake'

In the footage - aired by the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and weekly Der Spiegel newspapers - Strache was seen meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch. 

The meeting took place in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power as part of the FPO-People's Party coalition administration.

In the video, the source of which the publications declined to reveal, Strache and party colleague Johann Gudenus are heard telling the unnamed woman she could expect lucrative construction work if she bought Austria's Kronen Zeitung newspaper and supported the Freedom Party. 

He is also seen discussing rules on party financing and how to work around them, although he also insisted on having to act legally.

Addressing reporters during his resignation speech on Saturday, Strache said: "It was dumb, it was irresponsible and it was a mistake."

He maintained, however, that he had done nothing illegal and described the sting as a "targeted political assassination".

Al Jazeera's Sonia Gallego, reporting from London, described the timing of the scandal as "very bad" for Strache's party with key European Union (EU) elections scheduled for next week.

"This has been quite an extraordinary downfall for the leader of the Freedom Party … just only a week to go until the European elections," Gallego said, adding the incident had raised "a lot of questions" about how the FPO "finances its own coffers".

EU parliamentarian Hans-Olaf Henkel said the FPO "as well as many other right-wing parties in Europe are apparently much-supported by Russia".

"For the first time, with the Austrian far-right party, we have found a smoking gun and that's why Strache had to resign," Henkel told Al Jazeera from the German capital, Berlin.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-05-18 18:45:00Z
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Austrian Leader Calls for Snap Election After Far-Right Vice Chancellor Resigns - The New York Times

BERLIN — Austria’s chancellor called for snap elections after the country’s far-right vice chancellor resigned on Saturday over a secretly filmed video from 2017 that showed him promising government contracts to a woman claiming to be the niece of a Russian oligarch.

The episode renewed questions about whether Russia had a direct line into a government at the heart of the European Union.

“After yesterday’s video, enough is enough,” Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a room packed with reporters on Saturday night in the capital Vienna. He said he had asked Austria’s president to hold a snap election “as soon as possible.”

The video was the worst in a series of missteps that threatened the stability of Austria’s governing coalition. It also raised concerns about whether Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache’s far-right Freedom Party had been actively working to undermine liberal democracy and media freedom in the country while helping conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz govern as the junior party in his coalition.

For weeks, opposition parties had called on Mr. Kurz to end his controversial coalition with the Freedom Party, with its well-documented links to far-right extremists and to Russia that have increasingly worried allies at home and abroad.

The scandal comes at an important political moment in the European Union. Across the Continent, far-right, populist leaders are campaigning hard before next week’s elections for the European Parliament and seem poised to increase their share in the chamber.

Many of Europe’s populists share the intentions of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to widen political divisions and weaken Western institutions.

Not long ago, these far-right parties were on the fringes of European politics. But like Austria’s Freedom Party, several are now part of coalition governments. Some populist leaders, particularly in the Scandinavian countries and Poland, are wary of Russia. But others are outspoken in their desire for closer ties to the Kremlin.

The Freedom Party has longstanding ties with Russia and a formal cooperation agreement with Mr. Putin’s United Russia party.

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Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, right, with Mr. Strache in Vienna last year. For months, opposition parties have called on Mr. Kurz to end his controversial coalition with the Freedom Party.CreditChristian Bruna/EPA, via Shutterstock

Without the Freedom Party, Mr. Kurz’s conservative party does not have a majority in Parliament.

The video of Mr. Strache’s meeting was filmed in a villa on the Spanish island of Ibiza three months before the 2017 Austrian elections in which Mr. Kurz led his conservative Austrian People’s Party to victory. It exposed in a raw fashion Mr. Strache’s apparent eagerness to help Russia with unethical promises for government contracts in exchange for donations to his party.

Apparently filmed without Mr. Strache’s knowledge, the footage was obtained and published on Friday by the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, two respected news outlets. The New York Times could not independently verify the contents of the entire video.

The motive and the timing of the recording’s release remained unknown. Der Spiegel has would not say how it had obtained the video, but confirmed that it knew the identity of its source.

But what is clear from excerpts from the video is the Freedom Party’s willingness to foster close links to Russia, even if in this case the meeting may have been a setup.

“The road to illiberal democracy — for some apparently a synonym for kleptocracy — was long planned,” Pamela Rendi-Wagner, the head of the opposition Social Democrats, said after the video was released. “The video shows everything, says everything and provides deep insight.”

The footage shows Mr. Strache and a Russian-speaking Freedom Party official smoking and drinking while talking to a woman who claims to be the niece of a Russian oligarch. When she offers to support the Freedom Party and invest 250 million euros, around $280 million, in Austria, Mr. Strache offers her road-building contracts in the country in return.

After resigning as vice chancellor and leader of the Freedom Party on Saturday, Mr. Strache played down his comments as “typical alcohol-fueled macho behavior” as he tried to impress the “attractive hostess.”

“I behaved boastfully like a teenager,” he said at a news conference in Vienna on Saturday.

Austria may be back at the center of a battle of ideas between liberal Western democrats and populist forces allied with Mr. Putin, who as a K.G.B. spy based in Communist Germany would go to Austria to ski.

“Vienna plays a key role for Putin and for the far right,” said Peter Pilz, an independent Austrian lawmaker. “Far-right parties all over Europe have become a sort of fifth column for Russia. In Austria, that fifth column has been in government.”

Mr. Strache first met Mr. Putin in May 2007. In 2014, at least two Freedom Party members took part as election observers during the Russian referendum after the annexation of Crimea.

Then in 2016, seven months before the meeting in Ibiza, Mr. Strache traveled to Moscow to sign a formal cooperation agreement between the Freedom Party and Mr. Putin’s United Russia party.

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A demonstration outside the Federal Chancellery after Mr. Strache’s resignation.CreditGetty Images/Getty Images

Last August, Austria’s foreign minister, Karin Kneissl, who is backed by the Freedom Party, invited Mr. Putin to her wedding. And foreign intelligence services have stopped sharing sensitive information with Austria for fear that it may leak to Moscow.

But Chancellor Kurz had said that the links between the Freedom Party and Russia were overstated.

“Regarding the close contacts between Russia and the Freedom Party, I can only smile,” he said in an interview with The New York Times last month. “Every Western foreign minister has more contact with senior Russian officials in one year than the Freedom Party in its entire history.”

Mr. Kurz won in 2017 by giving a youthful repackaging to much of the agenda of the Freedom Party, which he then invited into a coalition government.

At one point, according to the footage, Mr. Strache compared journalists to prostitutes. He also said he would like Austria’s news media landscape to resemble that of neighboring Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban turned the country’s public media into a pro-government propaganda machine while allies have gradually bought up swathes of the private media sector.

“We want to build a media landscape like Orban did,” Mr. Strache says in the video, floating the idea of partly privatizing Austria’s public broadcaster and encouraging a suggestion by his Russian counterpart to take over Austria’s most influential tabloid.

“If she takes over the Krone newspaper three weeks before election and brings us to spot number one, then we can talk about anything,” Mr. Strache says.

Mr. Strache’s dismissive comments about journalists and casual planning to undermine Austria’s media freedom are seen as ominous. Last year, an internal memo circulated by the press chief of the Interior Ministry, which is controlled by the Freedom Party, instructed officials to shut out critical news media and reward those that provided favorable coverage with access.

Since then, the party has proposed replacing the broadcast fee that Austrians pay the public broadcaster directly with a tax-funded model that would give the government more control over the outlet.

In recent weeks, a senior Freedom Party official has also demanded the removal of a television news anchor on Austria’s public broadcaster who had challenged him about a campaign poster that many said was reminiscent of Nazi propaganda.

In addition to openly nurturing its ties to Russia, the Interior Ministry has also raided its own intelligence agency, notably the department investigating far-right extremism.

And last month, a Freedom Party official wrote a poem calling immigrants rats.

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2019-05-18 18:00:00Z
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Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison Wins Election - NPR

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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to party supporters flanked by his wife and daughters. Morrison's conservative coalition won a surprise victory in the country's general election. Rick Rycroft/AP hide caption

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Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison won re-election on Saturday, stunning pollsters who had anticipated his defeat for several months. Morrison championed working-class economic stability during his campaign, and his victory is part of a populist trend, which now stretches across the U.S., Brazil, Hungary and Italy.

At his victory party in Sydney, Morrison said, "Tonight is about every single Australian who depends on their government to put them first. And that is exactly what we are going to do."

In his speech, Morrison also paid tribute to "the quiet Australians" who voted for his coalition. "It has been those Australians who have worked hard every day, they have their dreams, they have their aspirations, to get a job, to get an apprenticeship, to start a business, to meet someone amazing," he said. "To start a family, to buy a home, to work hard and provide the best you can for your kids. To save for your retirement. These are the quiet Australians who have won a great victory tonight!"

.@ScottMorrisonMP: We’ve got a lot of work to do. We're going to get to work for the Australians who go to work every day. They are looking for a fair go & they are going to get a go from our govt.

Stream live coverage at https://t.co/DOkPkK1E6M #AusVotes2019 #AustraliaDecides pic.twitter.com/8wWpPJAaRO

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 18, 2019

Top issues in the Australian election included climate change, immigration, jobs and the economy. Morrison's coalition of Liberal and National Parties maintained seats in contested suburbs, while also picking up support across Australia's countryside. In the northeastern state of Queensland, the site of a controversial proposal to build a coal mine, several Liberal Party candidates also won, signifying that jobs are of more importance to Australian voters there than environmental concerns. If the Adani coal mine is built in Queensland, it will be one of the largest in the world.

In a suburb of Sydney, however, the Liberal Party did suffer a setback. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott lost his race there, where voters are demanding action on climate change.

In his concession speech, Abbott said, "It's clear that in what might be described as 'working seats,' we are doing so much better. It's also clear that in at least some of what might be described as 'wealthy seats,' we are doing it tough, and the Green left is doing better."

Morrison is an evangelical Christian, who has professed admiration for President Trump. During his campaign he promised voters he would lower energy prices, and cut costs for first-time homeowners.

In 2013, as immigration minister, Morrison advocated denying asylum seekers arriving by sea the right to apply for settlement in Australia.

Morrison's opponent, Bill Shorten, the leader of the Labor Party, promised "real action" on climate change and the economy. On Saturday night he conceded defeat. "I know you're all hurting," he told supporters in Melbourne. "And I am, too."

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2019-05-18 18:35:00Z
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FM Javad Zarif: We don't want war, and no one can confront Iran - Al Jazeera English

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he does not believe a war will break out in the region as Tehran does not want a conflict and no country has the "illusion it could confront Iran", state news agency IRNA reports.

Concerns about a possible conflict have flared since the White House ordered warships and bombers to the Middle East to counter an alleged, unexplained threat from Iran.

Earlier this week the US also pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"There will be no war because neither we want a war, nor has anyone the idea or illusion that it can confront Iran in the region," Zarif told IRNA before ending his visit to Beijing.

US deployment 

Meanwhile, Saudi media reported that the kingdom and a number of Gulf states have agreed to a request by the US to redeploy its military forces in Gulf waters and territories.

According to the reports, the approval came on the basis of bilateral agreements between Washington and Gulf countries.

The motive for redeployment, according to the Saudi reports, was to deter Iran from any attempt to escalate the situation militarily, not to engage in a war with it.

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This all takes root in US President Donald Trump's decision last year to withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and impose wide-reaching sanctions.

The move came even as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified that Tehran has upheld its obligations under the deal. 

Last week, Time magazine quoted Pentagon officials as saying there was no military plan to confront Iran.

On the Iranian side, the Guardian newspaper reported in an exclusive report on Thursday that Tehran had ordered its militias in the Middle East to prepare for a proxy war.

The deputy commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, said on Friday that his country's missiles could easily reach US warships anchored in the Gulf and the rest of the region in case of war.

On the other hand, a senior Iranian legislator, Hashmatullah Falahat Pishe, called for an Iranian-American dialogue in Iraq or Qatar, to de-escalate tensions with Washington.

Amid rising tensions, Bahrain ordered on Saturday all of its citizens to immediately leave Iraq and Iran.

Bahrain's foreign ministry made the announcement via its state-run news agency, citing the "unstable situation in the region and and the grave developments and threats that threaten security and stability".

Secret reports

Inside the US, congressional sources on Saturday said officials from Trump's administration would make secret statements about the situation with Iran this week, after politicians from the Democratic and Republican parties asked for more information.

Members of Congress have complained for weeks that Trump's administration has not given them enough information about the current tension with Iran, and some Republicans say they have not been briefed on the issue.

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Relations between Washington and Tehran have been strained in recent days after Trump issued a resolution to try to stop Iran's oil exports completely, and bolstered the US military presence in the Gulf in response to what officials in its administration said were "imminent" Iranian threats to Washington's interests in the region, without explaining the nature of the alleged threat.

Adding to the rhetoric, US diplomats warned commercial airliners flying over the wider Gulf of the risk of being "misidentified" amid the heightened tensions.

The warning relayed by US diplomatic posts from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) underlined the risks the current tensions pose to a region crucial to global air travel.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-05-18 17:30:00Z
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Austria's Vice Chancellor Quits In The Wake Of A Video Scandal - NPR

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Austria's Vice Chancellor and chairman of the Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, announces his resignation at a press conference in Vienna on Saturday, following a video scandal. Alex Halada/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Austria's vice chancellor has resigned after German media published a video that purportedly showed him offering government contracts to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, in exchange for media coverage and political funding.

Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, who leads Austria's far-right Freedom Party, announced he would step down on Saturday at a press conference in Vienna. Crowds stood outside the chancellor's office in anticipation of Strache's statement.

He described the incident as a "targeted political assassination."

On Friday, German news magazine Der Spiegel and daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published the calamitous video. It shows Strache sitting on a couch in a T-shirt, discussing potential deals with a Russian investor.

She proposes to buy a 50% stake in Austria's Kronen-Zeitung newspaper and Strache promises her construction contracts if she helps his political party. The group also discusses how to disguise a donation to the party through an association. Their meeting was said to have lasted six hours.

It's unclear who orchestrated the recording. The publications did not reveal their source but said a forensic video expert had verified the footage.

The video was reportedly filmed in a villa with hidden cameras on the Spanish island of Ibiza in July 2017 — just months before Austria's national election in October. Strache's party received 26% of the vote and 51 seats.

Strache told the German publications that he had done nothing illegal; that he said to the woman that Austrian laws must be followed. He said he never gave her government contracts or received donations from her.

In November 2018, Austrian retail and real estate company SIGNA bought 49% of a German media company that holds Kronen-Zeitung — marking its first investment in media.

Strache chalked the exchange up to "alcohol-induced macho talk" that was "probably trying to impress the attractive hostess," according to Deutsche Welle.

Austria's 32-year-old chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, now faces mounting calls by the opposition to hold new elections. His conservative Austrian People's Party governs the country in coalition with the Freedom Party.

The video scandal threatens to collapse the coalition government and comes a week before European Parliament elections.

In the past, Kurz has distanced himself from the Freedom Party following reports of anti-Semitism and racism. The Freedom Party was founded and first led in the 1950s by Anton Reinthaller, a former Nazi.

In recent years, the Freedom Party has built a relationship with Russia. According to the New York Times:

"Mr. Strache first met Mr. Putin in May 2007. In 2014, at least two Freedom Party members took part as election observers during the Russian referendum after the annexation of Crimea. Then in 2016, just seven months before the meeting in Ibiza took place, Mr. Strache traveled to Moscow to sign a formal cooperation agreement between the Freedom Party and Mr. Putin's United Russia party."

Johann Gudenus, another prominent Freedom Party member, was secretly filmed in the Ibiza villa meeting with Strache. That prompted calls for his resignation.

Strache said he would step down from his party leadership position, with Transport Minister Norbert Hofer to replace him.

He also vowed to take legal steps to address the video.

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2019-05-18 16:27:00Z
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Australia Election Results: Prime Minister Scott Morrison Seizes a Stunning Win - The New York Times

SYDNEY, Australia — Scott Morrison, Australia’s conservative prime minister, scored a surprise victory in federal elections on Saturday, propelled by a populist wave — the “quiet Australians,” he termed it — resembling the force that has upended politics in the United States, Britain and beyond.

The win stunned Australian election analysts — polls had pointed to a loss for Mr. Morrison’s coalition for months. But in the end, the prime minister confounded expectations suggesting that the country was ready for a change in course after six years of tumultuous leadership under the conservative political coalition.

“I have always believed in miracles,” Mr. Morrison said at his victory party in Sydney, adding, “Tonight is about every single Australian who depends on their government to put them first. And that is exactly what we are going to do.”

The election had presented Australia, a vital American ally in the Asia-Pacific, with a crucial question: Would it remain on a rightward path and stick with a political coalition that promised economic stability, jobs and cuts to immigration or choose greater action on climate change and income inequality?

By granting Mr. Morrison his first full term, Australians signaled their reluctance to bet on a new leader, choosing to stay the course with a hardworking rugby lover at a time when the economy has not suffered a recession in nearly 28 years.

“Australians are just deeply conservative — wherever possible, we cling to the status quo,” said Jill Sheppard, a lecturer in politics at the Australian National University. “While we want progress on certain issues, we don’t like major upheavals.”

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Supporters of Mr. Morrison’s center-right Liberal Party during a results-counting event in Sydney.CreditMick Tsikas/EPA, via Shutterstock

The triumph by Mr. Morrison, an evangelical Christian who has expressed admiration for President Trump, comes at a time of rising tension in the Asia-Pacific region. A trade war between the United States and China has forced longtime American allies like Australia to weigh security ties with Washington against trade ties with Beijing.

The conservative victory also adds Australia to a growing list of countries that have shifted rightward through the politics of grievance, including Brazil, Hungary and Italy. Mr. Morrison’s pitch mixed smiles and scaremongering, warning older voters and rural voters in particular that a government of the left would leave them behind and favor condescending elites.

[Read more about the right’s role in Australian politics.]

The candidate Mr. Morrison defeated, Bill Shorten, the leader of the center-left Labor Party, offered an alternative path for Australia: a return to more government intervention on climate change and the economy, and intensified skepticism about the United States and Mr. Trump.

Mr. Shorten, despite being the face of the political opposition for six years, was not an easy sell to the public. His personal approval ratings never matched Mr. Morrison’s, and he relied on the more popular and diverse members of his party to score points with the public.

On Saturday night, he conceded defeat and said he would no longer serve as opposition leader. “I know you’re all hurting,” he told supporters in Melbourne. “And I am, too.”

Mr. Morrison, who kept policy proposals to a minimum during the campaign, rode a singular message to victory: that the Labor Party’s plans to raise spending to bolster public health programs, education and wages would blow up the budget and end Australia’s generation-long run of economic growth.

Ignoring the turmoil that has led his coalition to churn through three prime ministers in six years, he promoted his center-right Liberal Party as a steady hand on the tiller, and made promises of cheaper energy and help for first-time homeowners.

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Outside a Melbourne polling station. Mr. Morrison portrayed the opposition Labor Party as a threat to economic growth.CreditAsanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times

[For more Australia news with global context, sign up for the weekly Australia Letter.]

The intraparty tumult came to a head last year when the Liberals’ right flank ousted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He was toppled in August after his moderate plan to address carbon emissions was rejected by his coalition’s right wing as going too far.

The party coup soured many Australians on the country’s political system and helped contribute to a degree of voter apathy and anger that colored Saturday’s election.

The campaign was short — just over a month, as is the standard in Australia. And Mr. Morrison’s effort was defined mainly by energy, with folksy events and handshakes for voters, coupled with stiff criticism of Mr. Shorten and a determination not to take no for an answer.

His combative style was especially clear during the second of three televised leadership debates, when he stepped close to Mr. Shorten, who accused him of being a “space invader.”

To those who opposed Mr. Morrison, it was a sign of his bullying tendencies; to those who supported him, it was seen as evidence of passion and conviction.

He portrayed himself “as the good bloke, the good father, the buddy, the mate that Australians would like to have,” said Patrick Dumont, a professor of political science at the Australian National University.

Mr. Morrison, 51, is a veteran politician who has occasionally sought out a provocative role on hot-button issues.

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Labor Party supporters watching news of the results at an election-night event in Melbourne.CreditAsanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times

He entered Parliament in 2007, representing a suburb of Sydney. As immigration minister in 2013, he proudly embraced a “stop the boats” policy that denied asylum seekers arriving by sea the right to apply for settlement in Australia.

Under his predecessor, Mr. Turnbull, he served as treasurer, appearing in Parliament at one point with a lump of coal to deliver a message to those demanding stronger action on climate change.

“Don’t be afraid,” he told lawmakers, without mentioning that the coal had been shellacked to keep his hands from getting dirty. “Don’t be scared.”

Though he has an image as a political brawler, Mr. Morrison has proved adept at the insider politics of Canberra, Australia’s capital. He was a loyal foot soldier under Mr. Turnbull until the party pushed to oust the prime minister, at which point Mr. Morrison successfully offered himself up as an alternative.

In August, he became Australia’s fifth prime minister in five years — a sign of how volatile the country’s politics has been over the past few years.

The fact that he escaped punishment from Australian voters for his actions during the party coup surprised many experts.

“I think we’re just getting used to the politics of the absurd,” said Susan Harris-Rimmer, a law professor at Griffith University in Queensland. “It just seems like it’s been a long time since politics was normal anywhere.”

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Polling booths in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill on Saturday.CreditAsanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times

Mr. Morrison, however, rode a wave of conservative support. The coalition of the Liberal and National Parties maintained seats in closely contested suburbs from Perth to Melbourne, and picked up support across rural areas.

In the northeastern state of Queensland, which stretches from Brisbane to the tropics near the Great Barrier Reef, several Liberal Party candidates won handily. That suggested that in the battle over the proposed Adani coal mine, which would be among the largest in the world if it receives final government approval, voters favored immediate concerns about jobs over the risks of climate change.

The Liberal Party did suffer some setbacks. Tony Abbott, the divisive former prime minister, lost his race in a Sydney suburb, where voters demanded more action on climate change. He was one of several conservatives who had argued that most Australians were not willing to trade immediate needs for more distant global concerns.

“It’s clear that in what might be described as ‘working seats,’ we are doing so much better,” he said in his concession speech. “It’s also clear that in at least some of what might be described as ‘wealthy seats,’ we are doing it tough, and the Green left is doing better.”

Mr. Morrison, who has been cautious on climate change, arguing that current policy is enough, can now claim that his mix of enthusiasm and his appeal to working-class economic stability — focused on “a fair go” for all — is what Australians wanted.

Australian voters ultimately stuck with what they knew, while also tilting toward personality. They rejected policies that would have altered the financial status quo, including efforts to cut back on tax perks for older and wealthier voters, and went along with the more energetic politician.

As Mr. Morrison said at his campaign launch, “When I get determined, I get very determined.”

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2019-05-18 15:00:00Z
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Australia election: Shorten concedes defeat - CNN

Former Australia leader John Howard was full of praise for Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the Liberal Party function in Sydney on Saturday night.

"It's very clear that Scott Morrison has waged an incredibly successful campaign," Howard told CNN affiliate Seven News, describing the incumbent leader as "magnificent."

"He's waged a relentless campaign, he's been direct, he's been clear, he's been cogent and he's argued the case incredibly well."

Howard is Australia's second-longest serving prime minister, leading the country between 1996 and 2007.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission, the Liberal National coalition is predicted to win 74 seats -- just short of the 76 needed to form a majority.

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2019-05-18 13:50:00Z
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