Sydney, Australia. The Australian electorate must think they live in a strange world, where suddenly their political leaders are trying to copy Donald Trump as Malcolm Turnbull rides a way of populism.
Last week, Australia’s PM Turnbull abolished a temporary work visa popular with foreigners, replacing it with a new programme, in a move critics described as political grandstanding.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has seen a rise in voter support just days after tightening rules for foreigners seeking work and citizenship under an “Australia first” policy, a newspaper poll showed on Monday.
PM Turnbull has struggled to stop a loss of voter support with far right parties including Pauline Hanson’s One Nation on the rise and with his conservative government lagging behind opposition Labour in opinion polls.
The change to Australian immigration and citizenship rules last week under the banner “Australia first”, similar to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America first”, boosted Turnbull’s personal rating four percent from early April, said a Newspoll by The Australian newspaper.
Turnbull’s poll numbers are taking off with Australian voters the more he adopts Trump-esque policies. Australian voters can only hope he does not abandon the positions as Trump has, once in key moments of judgement.
Turnbull’s move towards more conservative politics may have won some support, but his position as leader remains cloudy with poor poll numbers a trigger for leadership loss in Australian politics.