Political pundits believe that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may be forced to call an early election just two years into the Coalition’s three-year term.
Both Liberal and Labor Party electioneers have been told to be ‘campaign ready’ for a mid-2018 election, with August or September the most likely months for Australians to go to the polls.
If the Government were to serve its full term, the next election would be in November 2019. But falling approval ratings and the risk of ‘donation fatigue’ may mean that the PM is better served calling an election sooner rather than later.
The problem is that there is a slew of state elections due in 2018 and early 2019.
The Victorian state election campaign will run from October 2018 through to late November, and New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania are also in line for early 2019 elections.
The feeling among political experst and the Labor Party is that Mr Turnbull will call an early federal election to minimise the risk of ‘donation fatigue’ caused by six consecutive state elections.
One senior Liberal campaigner said that his money was on a mid-2019 election.
“My money would be on everything being ready to go in a year from now. You want the option to go early,” he said.
A Labor source agreed, saying that a likely window for the next federal election would be August/September 2018.
There have been signs that the Coalition is preparing for an early election, including announcements on education funding, the Finkel review and the funding of the NDIS among others.
If the current Newspoll is anything to go by, should an election be held today, the Coalition would be swept from office.
Is the PM wise to call an early election? Or is he signing his own death wish?
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