Written by Claire Harrison, Associate, Family Law
Earlier this week, the current Prime Minister, the Liberal Party’s Scott Morison, and the Opposition Leader, Labor’s Bill Shorten, engaged in a leader’s debate in Perth.
Australians are heading to the polling booths on 18 May, and the most recent debate in front of 48 undecided voters addressed varying topics but nothing that would come as a surprise. At the beginning of the debate, the Liberal Party set the scene by focusing on its commitment to strengthening the economy whereas Labor emphasised its focus on putting people first.
At the end the debate, the 48 undecided voters revealed their support. Labor gathered 52% of the votes, the Liberal Party attracted 25%, and 23% were left undecided. Is this the way voters really view current politics? Well, the Australian Electoral Commission recorded that 122,771 people already cast their pre-poll vote. In 2016’s first day of early voting, a little over half of that figure was recorded.
In the lead up to the debate, both political parties pledged significant funding towards the prevention of family violence. The Liberal Party’s new measures are focused on strengthening current front-line services and expanding the no-interest loan scheme to low-income families. Labour confirmed its previous announcement that it will establish a fund which in turn will provide grants for families escaping violence and to provide legal advice to those families, amongst other things.
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