In this year’s federal election, thousands of new Australians will be casting a vote on the country’s future for the very first time. On this Tuesday’s episode of Insight, SBS will speak to new migrants to see what they make of Australian politics and how they'll be using their first vote.
Here’s a quick recap of the last five years in Australian political history, for those who have missed the whole thing.
Kevin was Prime Minister, then he wasn’t, then he was
Kevin Rudd was one of the Australia's most popular Prime Ministers. But while he was a favourite of the people, he wasn’t popular with his own party. Many colleagues said he was an indecisive micromanager who was a nightmare to work with – so the Labor Party dropped him just three years after he was elected.
In his place they selected then Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who became Australia’s first female Prime Minister. But while Gillard was popular with the party, she was unpopular with the public. After three years opinion polls were so bad that Labor decided to switch again, back to Kevin Rudd, just before the election.
Rudd is perhaps best remembered for his emotional apology on behalf of the nation’s parliament to Indigenous Australians who were forcibly removed from their families as children up until the 1970s.
Tony got called a misogynist
While Julia Gillard was successful in getting a lot of legislation passed, she is perhaps best remembered for her passionate speech condemning Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for misogyny.
The background of the speech is often forgotten. The Gillard government had done a deal with a former Liberal MP to shore up their numbers in parliament.
That MP’s obscene, vulgar text messages to a staffer had just been made public as part of a legal dispute, but the government was still standing by him in an effort to maintain its numbers. The speech was in response to the Opposition Leader’s condemnation of the deal.
Then he got elected
Despite switching back to Kevin Rudd as a more popular leader, it wasn’t enough for the Labor Party to maintain its grip on government. Tony Abbott led the Liberal party to victory and was widely considered one of the most effective opposition leaders in Australia’s history.
Abbott attacked the government relentlessly for failures to prevent boats full of asylum seekers from arriving in Australia and for the implementation of a carbon tax, a climate change mechanism Julia Gillard had previously said she wouldn’t introduce.
Some 'everyday' people got elected too…
It wasn’t only Tony Abbott who won big in the 2013 election, many minor parties also did well after years of political negativity left voters disaffected with the major parties. The result was a number of ‘everyday people’ being elected to the Senate, candidates who would have otherwise never have expected to actually win a seat in parliament.
The cast of characters – from motoring enthusiasts to libertarians – frustrated the Liberal government’s agenda by blocking controversial tax hikes and savings measures in the 2014 budget. The senators will be fighting hard to keep their seats in this year’s double dissolution election.
… and some not-so everyday people
The 2013 election also saw billionaire businessman Clive Palmer elected, along with three senators from his Palmer United party. Only one senator now remains – the other two defected and became independents. Clive Palmer will not be seeking re-election this year.
The unpredictable mining magnate was known for outlandish publicity stunts and walking out of serious interviews when he didn’t like the questions.
We stopped some boats and axed a tax
Tony Abbott proved unpopular as Prime Minister, particularly after a harsh first budget and a series of gaffes. He eventually became even more unpopular than Julia Gillard ever was.
But his government did have some successes. He lived up to his major campaign commitments to reduce asylum seeker boat arrivals and repeal the Gillard government’s carbon tax and mining tax. The government also signed three free trade agreements with Korea, Japan and China.
We threatened to kill Johnny Depp’s dogs
One of the more bizarre moments of Tony Abbott’s government was when Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce publicly threatened to kill Johnny Depp’s dogs, Pistol and Boo. The Yorkshire terriers had been brought in to Australia by Johnny Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, while she was visiting her husband on set in Australia.
Heard didn’t properly declare the animals to Australian quarantine, leading to the Joyce issuing an ultimatum for them to leave the country, followed by a weirdly unsettling apology video from Depp and Heard.
Bronwyn commandeered a helicopter
A close supporter of Tony Abbott was Bronwyn Bishop, the Speaker in the House of Representatives for most of the Abbott government. When it came out that Bishop had spent $5,000 in taxpayer funds to charter a helicopter for a short trip to a Liberal Party fundraiser, it became a national political scandal.
Bishop was eventually forced to withdraw from her role as speaker, but only after days of political pain for the government. Bishop had said she initially wanted to apologise, but that the PM had said she shouldn’t have to and that he would stick by her.
In her final speech to Parliament, Bishop alluded to her disappointment in Abbott and later supported his removal as prime minister. Abbott in turn supported an alternative candidate in her failed battle to retain the Liberal Party’s nomination for her seat.
Tony was Prime Minister… until he wasn’t
After just two years in the job, Tony Abbott was ditched by the Liberal Party as their Prime Minister. It was deeply ironic, with Abbott having previously railed against the instability in the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years.
Ultimately, Tony Abbott’s reign was one of the shortest in Australia's history, with both Rudd and Gillard having spent more time on office. Repeated gaffes also drew the attention of foreign media, with a US late night TV show devoting a four minute segment to the Prime Minister's history of awkward moments.
Malcolm’s PM now
Malcolm Turnbull, the former leader of the opposition who Tony Abbott originally rolled to take his job, ultimately came out on top – seizing the Prime Ministership from Abbott in September last year.
Malcolm Turnbull, who has led the country for less than a year now, was a former journalist, lawyer, merchant banker and businessman. Highly successful and a millionaire before entering parliament, Turnbull is running on a traditional Liberal Party campaign platform of business tax cuts which the government says will spur jobs and growth.
But Bill wants his job
Bill Shorten, current leader of the Labor Party, has campaigned for government by releasing detailed policies with a focus on health and education. The opposition says it will make fairer choices and says that the government’s tax cut is a wasteful giveaway for big business. The government has criticised the opposition for being anti-business and letting loose with unsustainable government spending.
The Labor party is also the first Australian party to release ads in languages other than English for the 2016 election.
So here we are…
That brings us to now, less than two weeks out from a July 2 double dissolution election – with every seat in both houses of parliament up for grabs. If you’ve never voted before, be prepared for sausage sizzles and lamingtons provided by community groups at your local polling booth.
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