With election day largely over on the other side of the world, Australia is now eagerly waiting to see if there will actually be a change of power in the capital, Canberra.

Until recently, the polls predicted a defeat for incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his conservative Liberal Party.

But the lead for the Social Democratic Labor Party and its top candidate Anthony Albanese has shrunk in recent days.

So the result could be very close.

Prime Minister Morrison is therefore hoping that he can repeat the "miracle" that brought him into office three years ago, despite predictions to the contrary.

But a lot has happened since then, Australia was hit by devastating bushfires,

Till Fähnders

Political correspondent for Southeast Asia.

  • Follow I follow

Morrison's clumsy way of handling these crises has lost a lot of sympathy from many Australians.

This can be clearly felt in the city of Lismore in the north of the state of New South Wales.

This is the place that was particularly affected by the devastating floods in late February-early April.

To this day, the traces are unmistakable.

Most of the shops in the city center are deserted, some are still stacked with bulky waste left behind by the floods.

"The water was eight feet higher than the worst flood we've ever had," says Kathryne O'Neill, owner of the Dragonfly Café in central Lismore.

In the small building it had even risen to the second floor.

"My coffee shop was a fishbowl," says O'Neill.

But after the devastating flood, the government simply left people hanging, as many say.

When Morrison visited the site nine days after the flood, he met none of those affected personally, only selected members of the media.

In view of the repeated natural disasters, many residents find it incomprehensible that the government is so reticent when it comes to climate policy.

"Climate change is so important because it doesn't just affect us in the future, it affects us now," says Meg Nielsen, 73, who is campaigning as a volunteer for a candidate for the Australian Green Party in front of the polling station in Lismore.

Before the bushfires and floods, there had already been a long-lasting drought in this region.

But the major parties tried to ignore the issue, says Nielsen.

The Social Democrat Albanese and his party have set much more ambitious climate goals than the government.

But he still preferred to focus on classic social democratic issues during the election campaign.

Many Australians are still unsure how to rate "Albo", as he is usually called.

This may even be an advantage compared to the unpopular Morrison.

However, the Prime Minister tries to portray the adversary as an unpredictable unknown.

He also refers to Albanese's past, who grew up in the left wing of his party.

But even Morrison, in a televised debate, expressed respect for Albanese for how the descendant of Italian immigrants, raised by his single mother, worked his way up to his position.

In any case, this election day shows once again what a vibrant democracy Australia is.

On the way to the polling station, Australians have to walk the gauntlet.

Dozens of volunteers have gathered there, handing out leaflets to voters on their favorite candidates for the House of Commons.

Voter turnout is also so high because Australia is just one of about a dozen countries around the world where voting is compulsory.

Anyone who skips the polls has to pay a fine.

In Australia, there is also the option of postal voting, as well as an early voting system, which this time was used by a particularly large number of eligible voters.

As a reward, grilled sausages, the famous "Democracy Sausages", are offered at many polling stations.