Australia’s embattled prime minister has officially launched his conservative party’s campaign less than a week before elections, highlighting the nation’s early success in containing the pandemic and its strong economic recovery.
Australia’s economic recovery from the pandemic had been faster and stronger than the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan, a government minister boasted at the campaign launch.
The contentious policy could lead to an increase in housing prices, which soared 24% last year and are a significant driver of inflation.Morrison’s diminished personal popularity since Australia’s vaccine rollout fell months behind schedule last year is increasingly regarded as hampering his government’s reelection chances.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese responded that “even Scott Morrison is distancing himself from Scott Morrison.”Albanese attended a Labor rally in Brisbane, the same Queensland state city where Morrison launched his party’s campaign.