Australian election polls show the race narrowing in the latest campaign stretch

May 19, 2022: -On Wednesday, Australia’s national election is becoming very close to call, polls showed, as the ruling conservative coalition was checking the gap with the main opposition Labor Party before the country decides on the new government.

Center-left Labor’s lead regarding the Liberal-National coalition has shrunk to 51-49% on a two-party preferred basis from 54-46% before two weeks, and a poll was done for the Sydney Morning Herald. A Guardian poll showed that Labor’s lead had dipped to 48-46% from 49%-45% two weeks ago.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that the pre-polling trends as “encouraging,” while Labor acknowledged the election would be closing soon.

On Saturday, with Australia going to the polls, which rises, living costs have been more than in the last stretches of the campaign, with voters rating it a critical problem in some polls.

Australian growth of wages ticked up by only a fraction in the latest quarter, data out on Wednesday, even as a narrowing labor market and record vacancies increased competition for workers.

But consumer price inflation has surged twice almost faster than the wages, keeping natural income red.

“I have been very candid with Australians about the economic challenges. Labor has no magic bullet on this; they have no magic pen or magic wand,” Morrison told reporters in Victoria.

Anthony Albanese, the opposition leader, is accusing the government of mismanagement for the slow increase in inflation shock and salaries.

“Australian workers are paying the price for the bad policy of almost ten years and economic failures while Scott Morrison said that he should be rewarded with three years extra as he is just getting began,” Albanese said.

Official data showed that almost 6 million voters out of an electorate of 17 million had cast their ballots through postal votes or in-person voting.

Nearly 1.1 million postal votes are gained in the elections of 2019. The Electoral Commission has flagged a clear winner may not emerge on election night if it is a close contest because of the time required to count all postal votes.