The Australians vote in the national elections, where Trump’s influence is waving

The Australians vote in national elections this weekend, and it seems that President Trump plays a major role as countries continue to respond to the vision of the American foreign policy he put in The first 100 days From his second term.

The polling stations opened on the eastern coast of the country, which includes Sydney and Melbourne, on Saturday at 8 am local time and near 6 pm (4 am ES US time on Saturday). In western Australia, which includes Perth, the survey is closed at two hours.

Australia’s vote comes just one week after the Canada elections, as Mr. Trump’s influence was also perceived. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney – whose numbers rose while decline Provisions of customs tariffs And Mr. Trump is about Include Canada In the “51st State” – Pierre Boelifer hopes to return the Conservative Party to power after a decade of the rule of the liberal party.

The National Alliance in Australia has led opinion polls for nearly a year and appears to be on the way to forming a government. Since Mr. Trump took office in January, the coalition’s support has decreased, and he is now 4.4 points, according to the Labor Party, according to 4.4 points. Yugov.

The opposition leader, Peter Daton, managed a changing campaign, a correspondent of Mr. Trump, with a focus on the economy. His liberal party, which is his slogan, “Let’s return Australia to the right track,” suggested that government waste and assign federal workers to return to the office.

“It was literal as if Datton was copying what the United States government was doing, and I think this way, it ended until it was very popular,” Alan TedwellProfessor of Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University, told CBS News on Friday.

The economic shrinkage in Australia has threatened in recent years in the wake of the epidemic initially the possibilities of the left -wing Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz to stay in power. But Datton’s similarities with Mr. Trump and the lack of popularity of the increasing American president among the Australian public have strengthened the chances of Albanez.

However, Albaniz adopted a moderate approach to Mr. Trump, and refraining from criticizing him directly. When he was asked during a discussion last month about whether he was trusting in Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Albanz said he had “no reason to” trust in any of the leader and said in a separate radio interview that he would speak with Mr. Trump after the elections, if he wins.

“I assure you that I do not stay awake at night in an attempt to take anyone at the present time,” Albaniz said.

But Tedwell told CBS News that even if the definitions are reversed, Mr. Trump’s popularity in Australia will continue to affect the elections. “It does not provide the Labor Party to the point that they can win an explicit majority, but I think they will win his position with a minority government,” he said.

Australia is among several countries with which the United States does not have a commercial deficit, According to To the American Trade Representative Office. The two countries signed the United States’ Free Trade Agreement in 2004, and began to take place on January 1, 2005. Last month, Senator Mark Warner, Democrat from Virginia, American Trade Actor Jameson Jarir, requested why Australia was included in the List of Mr. Trump’s tariff.

Warner said: “The idea that we will do on a friend and Ado alike is undermining our national security, and frankly, it does not make us a good partner to move forward.”

The United States was the second largest commercial partner in Australia after China in the fiscal year 2023-24, According to To the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Although it is unclear whether the American definitions will demand China to fill the gap, the increasing presence of Beijing in the Indian Pacific Ocean is a threat to national security by Canberra.

Australia security partnership, the United Kingdom and the United States

Australia and the United States, along with the United Kingdom, are also participating in a close security relationship, known as AUKUS, which was added to this in 2021. Triple Security Partnership It also allows Australia to obtain Virginia’s nuclear submarines, which are expected to join the Australian Navy fleet by the early thirties.

Nishank Motoanani, an older colleague and director of the coalition strategy at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Washington, has told CBS News that Oukos is often concerned about the ability of defense in Australia, but it needs to show the Trump administration how Canberra has been a responsible ally when it comes to defensive spending to confront China.

“Through the most influential China, which is more coercive and aggressive in the way its affairs are implemented in the Indian Pacific Ocean, Australia needs to do more as a way to retract China’s ability to transfer its field of influence.”

While the White House is redefining the role of America’s leader abroad and imposing a tariff on allies and opponents alike, only 36 % of Australians expressed any level of confidence in the United States “to act with responsibility in the world” Lowe InstituteSwse in April also indicated that this is a “new depression two decades ago” of its survey.

“The level of lack of confidence has definitely launched the surface,” Tedwell said. “But I believe that Donald Trump’s launch of the trade war and his other comments about Canada and the Panama and Greenland channel have really disturbed the apple cart, and the Australians really ask, what does the future hold?”