Australia election: Albanese faces headwinds ahead of May vote

A cocktail of global and domestic conditions have complicated the government's run for a second term.

British Broadcasting CorporationWatch LiveHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC InDepthBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsArtsArts in MotionTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingAudioPodcastsRadioAudio FAQsVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureArtsTravelEarthAudioVideoLiveWeatherNewslettersAlbanese faces headwinds ahead of Australian election12 hours agoShareSaveKaty WatsonAustralia correspondentShareSaveGetty ImagesAlbanese's term has been marked by an agenda on climate change, cost of living and Indigenous issuesWhen Cyclone Alfred barrelled over Australia's east coast earlier this month, it also blew the government's election plans off course.

Hoping to capitalise on some rare good news on interest rates, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was on the cusp of announcing an April polling date. Instead he had to pivot and focus on responding to the natural disaster. It was, one Labor Minister told me, a decision taken from him by "an act of God".

You might say that's been a theme of his government: big plans often derailed by unpleasant surprises – trying global economic conditions and a cost-of-living crisis which is battering many countries, foreign wars and tricky geopolitics, post-pandemic fallout and rising national divisions, and now giant storms.

"Global conditions are real," Albanese, who leads the Labor Party, said as he officially announced a 3 May election.

Though, despite those challenges, he says his party has delivered. "Landing where we have is like landing a 747 [jet] on a helicopter pad," he said, pointing to a recent increase in wage growth and falling inflation.