Australian Opposition Backtracks on Remote Work, Job Cuts Amid Falling Poll Numbers

Australia’s main opposition party, the Liberal Party, has reversed its election pledges to eliminate remote work arrangements for public servants and cut tens of thousands of government jobs after facing declining support in recent polls, as per Al Jazeera.

Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton acknowledged on Monday that the proposals were a “mistake.”

“I think it’s important that we say that and recognize it, and our intention was to make sure that where taxpayers are working hard and their money is being spent to pay wages, that it’s being spent efficiently,” Dutton said in a television interview.

Dutton, a former police detective, had previously promised to mandate in-office work five days a week for government employees and eliminate 41,000 positions from the public sector payroll.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the center-left Labor Party, who recently called a national election for May 3, expressed skepticism about Dutton’s change of heart.

“Peter Dutton wants to undermine work rights and, in particular, doesn’t understand modern families, doesn’t understand the important role that women and men play in organizing their families,” Albanese told reporters.

The Labor Party has been gaining ground on Dutton’s Liberal-led coalition in recent polls, although the election is expected to be closely contested.

The latest Newspoll survey, released on Sunday, showed Labor leading the Coalition by 52-48 in a head-to-head match-up, a one percentage point increase from the previous poll.

The election campaign has been dominated by cost-of-living issues, including a severe housing affordability crisis.

While it is almost certain that either the Labor Party or the Coalition will win the largest share of the vote, opinion polls suggest a strong possibility of a hung parliament.

Australia last experienced a hung parliament in 2010, when former Prime Minister Julia Gillard formed a minority government with the support of the Australian Greens and three independent members of parliament.