Australia's Election, A Campaign Across A Continent

Bowen, Australia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2019 ) :With Constituencies the size of Iran, South Africa and France, Aussie voters have always been a diverse bunch, but the current election campaign has revealed this vast country's politics is fracturing along regional lines.

In just 48 hours on the campaign trail this week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison travelled 8,000 kilometres (4,970 miles) -- the same distance as London to Beijing.

From cosmopolitan Sydney to the dusty Outback, Morrison -- like his Labor rival Bill Shorten -- is jetting around trying to pick up disgruntled voters.

"The Australian electorate is extraordinarily unusual.

It's a vast continent, it's a relatively small population so it's spread out," University of Sydney politics expert Marc Stears told AFP.

Imagine a US presidential race taking place across a country the size of America, but one less populated than Texas.

"It has big cities but then it has very small rural communities, often having very little to do with each other," said Stears. "And the politicians have to go right across this country trying to find votes in every different part of it."For the traditional parties from right and left, campaigning is not just time-consuming, but increasingly fruitless.