Australians vote to elect PM in climate-dominated election
Melbourne: Australians on Saturday voted to elect their next parliament and prime minister, in what has been widely referred to as the climate-change election, with the first exit poll showing a victory for the opposition Labor Party.
After five weeks long election campaigning across the country, around 16 million Australians swarmed to the polling booths across the country to elect the nation's prime minister.
A Nine-Galaxy poll released shortly before the voting stations closed in the east of the country showed a victory for the centre-left Labor party and Liberal Party-led coalition losing its bid for a third three-year term.
The poll showed the Labor winning as many as 82 seats in the 151-member House of Representatives, beating the governing Liberal coalition.
To win a majority in the House of Representatives, either major party will need 77 seats. The Coalition currently holds 73 seats, while Labor has 72.
Some 16.5 million Australians were enrolled to vote on Saturday, with more than 4.7 million having already cast ballots in early voting by Friday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison cast his vote at Lilli Pilli Public School in Sydney while Labor party leader Bill Shorten cast his vote in Melbourne.
Morrison said this federal election was a choice about who you want to continue to be the Prime Minister of this country, myself or Bill Shorten .
Tonight the votes will be counted and we will see what the outcome is. I make no assumptions about tonight. I respect this process. It is dear to my heart, the democracy of our country. I don't take anyone's support in this country for granted, Morrison said.
Shorten after casting his vote said, "Today, vote for change, vote for real change, and vote for Labor. Vote to stop the chaos. Today, vote to stop the cuts to schools and hospitals. For a better childcare system for families. Vote to tackle climate change. Vote Labor.
Hitting out on climate change, Shorten said it wasn't the Aussie way to be missing from the big fights. We will convene the parliament as soon as possible to start action on climate change."
Anger over the government's inaction on climate change may prove the real difference between the two parties.
Australia has experienced some of the worst effects of climate change in recent few years, from deadly bush fires to the destruction of natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef.
Concern about climate change is now at a 10-year high among Australians, with 64 per cent believing it should be a top priority for the government, according to an Ipsos poll released in April.
The Labor party is promising to cut Australia's carbon emissions by 45 per cent on 2005 levels, compared to the government's minimum pledge of 26 per cent.
Meanwhile, Labor lodged an official complaint against Liberal for allegedly using Australian Election Commission (AEC) colours and telling voters to use their first choice in front of a Liberal candidate in Melbourne seat of Chisholm.
However, AEC responded that the signs were not a breach of electoral rules because they appeared to be properly authorised and there is nothing in the Electoral Act regarding use of colour.
The poll comes just two days after the death of Bob Hawke, a long-serving former prime minister whose achievements have been hailed across the political spectrum.
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US soldiers were killed in Iranian drone strike on operations centre at Kuwait civilian port
Washington (AP): An operations centre targeted by an Iranian drone strike that killed six American soldiers on Sunday was located in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base, according to satellite images and a US official.
The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the hub was a shipping container-style building and had no defences.
The development, reported earlier by CNN and CBS News, raises questions about the safety precautions that the US military had in place as it, along with Israel, launched an attack on Iran, which has responded with retaliatory strikes against several countries in the region, including Kuwait.
President Donald Trump and top defence leaders say more American casualties are likely.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the six soldiers were killed in a “tactical operations centre” when a projectile made its way past air defences. A day later, the Pentagon confirmed it was a drone strike in Port Shuaiba when announcing the names of four of the soldiers who were slain.
A satellite image taken Monday and reviewed by the AP showed the main building in the complex destroyed, with a trail of black smoke rising from it. It is located in the heart of Port Shuaiba, a working seaport and industrial area just south of Kuwait City. The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter under active investigation, confirmed the image depicted the location of Sunday's attack.
The Army base, Camp Arifjan, is more than 10 miles to the south. The operations centre was just a little over a mile from some of the piers where merchant ships would offload cargo containers and was surrounded by oil storage tanks, refineries and a power plant.
Joey Amor, husband of Sgt 1st Class Nicole Amor, said his wife was moved off-base to what he described as a shipping container-style building a week before the Iranian strike. The 39-year-old from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, was one of the soldiers killed in the attack.
“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked, and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separated places,” he said.
After news reports about the operations centre emerged, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media that the “secure facility was fortified with 6-foot walls.” He said the military has “the most extensive Air Defence umbrella in the world over the Middle East right now and control of the skies is increasing with every wave of airpower.”
Parnell's office did not respond to questions about what role the walls would have played in defending against a drone attack or what air defences were present in range of the command centre at the port.
Capt Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, said “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
