The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, finally made the decision of when Australia will head to the polls, declaring an election on November 24th after his meeting with the Governor General in Canberra on the morning of the 14th October.
The announcement has been delayed as his ruling Liberal Party have remained well behind in the opinion polls to the Opposition Labour Party, headed by Mr Rudd.
The Prime Minister will try and rest on the significant accomplishments of his 11 year term in office that has seen Australia become debt free, operate annual Budget surpluses, record employment and the lowest taxes in our history to carry him back into another term.
It could be his biggest challenge as the electorate seem ready for change, and he will need to call on all of his political skills to regain control in this election.
The latest Morgan Poll showed that the Labour Party held 57.5% of the vote to Liberals 42.5% on a two party preferred system, so there is much work to do to turn these numbers around.
Australia’s 1 million expatriate population could have a significant bearing on this election, and the need to ensure you are registered and make your vote is very important as this could be a very close election, despite the current polls.
The strong influx of migration over the past 4 years, this year reaching a record 160,000 plus, could also be an interesting dilemma for the politicians as it is very hard to predict how the newly arrived may vote, as they have not been exposed to the traditional rivalry of growing up in a 2 party dominated environment.
The Australian property market remains resilient, and is likely to have little negative effect as a result of the poll, except to say that normally when an election comes about, there is usually a shortage of property available on the market, as people adopt a wait and see approach.
This may create some opportunity in the new project market, as developers will still be seen to want to move stock as part of their normal operations.
The significant demand in the market from incoming migration and an increasing population, are likely to continue the current momentum in the property market.
All eyes will now turn to the Reserve Bank, who will be meeting on the 6th November to discuss what strategy to take on interest rates, and then announce the decision on the 7th. A rate rise could be the end for Howard, where a reduction could be just the news that could carry him back into office.
