Rosalind Dixon on election battle lines
So the question really will be; can the government succeed in making people see Dutton as Trump-lite in the worst sense, or can Dutton borrow from Trump's playbook and win in the best sense?
Housing remains topical, prices are soaring, and climate remains a key concern. With major parties under pressure, the independents gaining ground and US-style tactics in play this election could really shake things up.
UNSW Professor of Law Rosalind Dixon unpacks what’s at stake in the 2025 Australian federal election and the key battle lines swaying your vote.
Transcript
Rosalind Dixon: Cost of living is going to be a big issue in this election. When you think about what actually fixes [the] cost of living, the answers are really complex. The policy solutions are hard. Everyone agrees we've got to do something. What they think the answers are will have a big impact on how they vote.
Housing is going to be a big issue for younger voters. All of the policy solutions on the table are not short to medium term solutions, they're medium to long run. And if you're a young person the sense of despair that that brings about is really significant.
Young people care a lot about climate and neither of the major parties have done enough for many young voters to answer that challenge. That's where the teals are going to still remain strong in a lot of key urban electorates. The Greens should do well out of that and I think that when that intersects with concerns around the Middle East there's going to be a strong showing for the Greens and independents.
So what's going to decide this election? Clearly cost of living, national security, foreign affairs and immigration.
I think this election will have a lot of the US in it. So the question really will be; can the government succeed in making people see Dutton as Trump-lite in the worst sense or can Dutton borrow from Trump's playbook and win in the best sense?
Rosalind Dixon
Rosalind Dixon is a Professor of Law and Director of the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law at UNSW Sydney. She is a graduate of UNSW and Harvard, and has taught at law schools around the world – including Harvard, Columbia, the University of Chicago and the National University Singapore, and is the author of the book, with Richard Holden, From Free to Fair Markets: Liberalism after COVID. She is passionate about law and politics, and currently Director of the Pathways to Politics for Women Program at UNSW.