Irish Examiner view: The ‘Bulldozer’ runs out of road in Oz

Chance to reset as Scott Morrison concedes defeat

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed that he would hand over the leadership of the Liberal Party following his party's election loss to Labor. Picture: AP Photo/Mark Baker

Up to one third of Australia’s population of 26m claim a direct or historical link to Ireland and it is natural, then, that Australian elections are followed with some interest here.

And the lesson in Oz, just as it was in Germany last autumn, is that long-standing coalitions run out of road, to be replaced by other coalitions. For Scott Morrison, the self-styled “bulldozer”, the combinations of unpopular Covid-19 management and a series of ecological disasters, coupled with an abrasive style that spoke to an un-Australian sense of entitlement, have tipped him out of office.