Labor and Coalition Won’t Form Government With Independents

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during question time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on March 30, 2022. Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese have said they will not do a deal with independent candidates in the event that their parties fail to win majority government at the May election.

According to the latest Newspoll, nearly one third of voters are likely to vote for independent candidates or minor parties in the upcoming election, with 36 percent saying they'd pick Labor for their primary vote, while that figure for the Coalition is 35 percent.

The combined support for the major parties (36 percent for Labor, 35 percent for the Coalition) is the lowest that Newspoll has ever recorded during an election campaign.

But a hung parliament won’t fly for Morrison, who said the livelihoods of small businesses during difficult times would be at risk because of the uncertainty brought by independents.

“A vote for an independent is a vote for chaos in the parliament,” Morrison told Perth radio station 6PR on April 19.

“I would appeal to [voters], don’t hand over the parliament to the uncertainty and instability and chaos of independents who don’t know which way they'll go.”

Australian Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese reacts as Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during the question time at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Aug. 23, 2021. Rohan Thomson/Getty Images

When speaking to a Brisbane radio station earlier, Albanese also rejected the idea of working with independents and the left-wing minor Greens party, saying the centre-left Labor would seek to establish a government in its own right.

“There will be no deal with the independents and crossbenches,” he told 4BC.

The second week of the election campaign has seen Labor and the Coalition allege that the other party is using fear and misrepresentations to get more votes.

“My opponent is running on fear and scare. He did that in 2019, and the truth is he got elected without an agenda,” Albanese told reporters in Brisbane.

“My agenda is about optimism, is about creating opportunity, is about backing Australian science, is about backing Australian industry and backing Australian jobs.”

On his ninth day of campaigning, the Labor leader has pledged to provide $38 million over three years to Disaster Relief Australia, a charity organisation consisting of military veterans.

He has also criticised the prime minister for the way the federal government handled the Black Summer bushfires and the flood crisis in Queensland and northern NSW.

“Over the last three years, Australia has watched Scott Morrison refuse to take responsibility and go missing in action when natural disasters have struck,” he said.

Nevertheless, Defence Minister Peter Dutton refuted the allegations that Queensland flood victims did not receive as much support as their counterparts in Lismore in northern NSW.