Billionaire Mining Asshole/Donor Urges Australia's Right Wing To Keep Things Trumpy And Make Oz Hungary Or Italy

[hatrack]

Gina Rinehart has encouraged the Liberal party to stick with Donald Trump-like policies after the opposition’s electoral thumping on Saturday night in a campaign overshadowed by the controversial US president. The mining billionaire also singled out Italy and Hungary, which are governed by populist rightwing coalitions, as countries Australia could aspire to, where people were “abandoning the myths or untruths of the left” and returning to “common sense and truth”.

Anthony Albanese won a second term as prime minister with a crushing victory against his conservative challenger, Peter Dutton, who failed to brush off comparisons with Trump and ended up losing his own seat.

In a lengthy statement to the Daily Mail on Monday, Australia’s richest person broke her silence following the Coalition’s wipeout on Saturday night. “The left media did a very successful effort, frightening many in the Liberal party from anything Trump, and away from any Trump-like policies,” she wrote. “This has been especially obvious this year, with the Liberals instead becoming known as the ‘me too’ party. Trump-style ‘make Australia great’ policies via cutting government tape, government bureaucracy and wastage, and hence being able to cut taxes, too scarce in Australia this year to rate a mention.

“No doubt the left media will now try to claim that the Liberal loss was because the Liberal party followed Trump and became too right! The two simply don’t add up!” Rinehart urged the Liberals to return to “commonsense and truth” principles as a first port of call while rebuilding the party, which together with the Nationals could be left with as a few as 42 seats. She added voters were “very short on understanding” that new investments create revenue and living standards, leading to jobs and economic prosperity. “It shouldn’t be rocket science, but apparently it is,” Ginehart said.

EDIT

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/05/gina-rinehart-liberal-party-trump-australia-election-ntwnfb

[2naSalit]

1. Somehow...

I suspect he'll be met with little enthusiasm after everyone can see where the 47 regime is heading.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Madow Blog-It's not just Canada: An anti-Trump backlash helps fuel Labor Party win in Australia

Opposition to Trump helped propel a center-left party to victory in Canada. Days later, an eerily similar set of circumstances unfolded in Australia.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/s-not-just-canada-anti-trump-backlash-helps-fuel-labor-party-win-austr-rcna204874

Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, was seen as overtly aligned with Trump, and not only did his party suffer as Liberals held on to power, Poilievre also managed to lose his own seat in Parliament, a seat he had held for over 20 years.

Less than a week later, an eerily similar set of circumstances unfolded nearly 9,000 miles away. Politico reported:

Incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secured a come-from-behind win for his center-left Labor Party in Australia’s election Saturday while his right-wing challenger lost his seat. The Labor landslide came after Albanese’s government spent months trailing the opposition in polling, but gained support rapidly in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s clash with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his “Liberation Day” tariffs.

As was the case in the Canadian elections, the center-left Labor Party was faring poorly in national polls up until quite recently. As was the case in the Canadian elections, Labor started gaining ground as part of an anti-Trump backlash. As was the case in the Canadian elections, the candidate most closely associated with the American Republican — Peter Dutton, the hard-right candidate who “embraced MAGA-style politics” — not only fell short of his goal of becoming prime minister, he also appears to have lost his own seat.

The New York Times reported that there’s a “Trump factor ... shaping global politics,” but it’s not a trend the White House will like.

In major votes in Canada and Australia over the past two weeks, centrists saw their fortunes revived, while parties that had borrowed from the MAGA playbook lost out. President Trump has been back in power for only three months, but already his policies, including imposing tariffs and upending alliances, have rippled into domestic political battles around the world. While it is too soon to say that anti-Trump forces are on the rise globally, it is clear that voters have Mr. Trump somewhere on their mind as they make decisions.

The Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne Jr. noted in his latest column, “The president hoped his dominance of the world stage would inspire an international swing toward the nationalist far right. Instead, Australians — angry and mystified by Trump’s tariffs — gifted their center-left prime minister, Anthony Albanese, whose Labor Party trailed in the polls only a few months ago, a landslide victory few predicted.”

When this happens twice in five days, it’s a safe bet other leaders in democracies around the world took note

[Mickju]

3. I am extremely happy about this.

I lived in Brisbane for several years in the 70s and still have a few friends there. I'm sure they are celebrating. I had permanent resident status and often wish I had stayed there. At 81, I would probably be better off there than here the way things are going.