bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Voters began casting ballots in a Sydney by-election on Saturday that could determine the future of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is hoping to regain his parliamentary majority and safeguard his leadership.
The election campaign in the blue-ribbon Sydney seat of Bennelong has been bitterly fought between the centre-right government’s candidate, former tennis star John Alexander, and the Labor opposition’s Kristina Keneally, a high-profile former premier of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state.
The outcome of the election could have serious repercussion’s for Turnbull’s conservative coalition. If Alexander loses, the government will again be forced to govern in minority and rely on the support of independent lawmakers.
John Warhurst, a professor of political science at the Australian National University in Canberra, said Turnbull’s position would be untenable should the government lose the by-election.
Turnbull in a China shop: can Beijing bogeyman sway an Australian election?

“Everything would be on the table, including Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership,” Warhurst said.
Alexander is recontesting the seat after he stepped down in early November when he was swept up in a citizenship crisis that has so far seen 10 lawmakers leave parliament, either forced out by court rulings or by their own choice.
He left parliament because he believed he might hold dual British citizenship, which he has since rescinded. Australia’s constitution bars foreign nationals from sitting in parliament to prevent split allegiances.
Turnbull’s coalition has been forced to govern in minority since October, when the citizenship crisis cost him several cabinet members and wiped out his razor-thin majority. Among those forced out was Turnbull’s deputy, Barnaby Joyce, who has since won back his seat.
“People will be casting a judgment on the government, which I lead, of course,” Turnbull told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
Alexander is also favoured to win back his seat, but the comfortable margin of almost 20 percentage points that he won by in 2016 is expected to shrink significantly after a robust campaign by Keneally and Labor, who have urged voters to use the election to punish the government.

The race tightened in recent days amid a diplomatic row between Australia and China, sparked when Turnbull accused Beijing of improper interference in Canberra.
One in five Bennelong voters has Chinese heritage and Turnbull’s Liberal Party fears a backlash in a potentially tight race.
Turnbull, who has lagged in opinion polls all year, and his minority government have already been forced to accept a widespread banking inquiry after independent members in parliament flexed their new-found power.
Results of the by-election may not be announced until Sunday, due to the high number of postal votes made before the election and which are always counted last.


 China accuses Australia of ‘barbaric’ raids of journalists’ homes

Explosive claims of ‘Chinese spy’ seem more fiction than fact

Australian politicians court more than 1.2 million ethnic Chinese citizens ahead of elections

Australia has a fake news problem on WeChat and wants Tencent’s help

Australian politics

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership at stake in crucial Sydney by-election

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s parliamentary majority is to be decided by the by-election of a small, outer Sydney seat. Photo: EPA

epa06392615 Liberal candidate for Bennelong John Alexander (R) with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull campaigning at Gladesville Public School in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 16 December 2017. Polling booths have opened in the Bennelong by-election, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's one-seat majority in the lower house hanging in the balance. EPA-EFE/BEN RUSHTON AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, right, meets with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Manila, Philippines, on November 14, 2017. (Rao Aimin/Xinhua/Sipa USA/TNS)

News

Asia

Australasia

Australia