Ah yes, it's near that time again. For those of us who could've sworn that the last Australian Federal Election happened only yesterday, it may surprise you to hear that we'll be repeating the experience very soon - in 2022 to be exact. While the current state of Australian politics is a divisive topic, one thing we can all agree on is that a lot has been hurtled at us since the last election. Between a global pandemic, the Black Summer bushfires, Australia's own #MeToo reckoning, and the devastating and consistent rise in Aboriginal deaths in police custody, there's a lot to consider as we cast our vote in the next election.

But when will the next election take place and how is Scott Morrison polling? We've covered this and much more, below.

When will the next Australian Federal Election take place?

As of yesterday, it's become clear that the election will take place in 2022. How do we know this? According to Australia's election laws Scott Morrison must call an election 33 days in advance and it must be held on a Saturday. This means that the last possible date to call an election was on November 15, which would have set the election on December 18 (the only viable Saturday left, as Christmas Day lands on the last Saturday of the year).

Apart from that, we know that the election must be held before May 2022. This narrows down the potential election dates to seven. Namely, January 1, January 8, January 15, January 22, January 29, February 5 and April 16.

This being said, there is room for Scott Morrison to call a half election. Although this is fairly unlikely and would only happen if the Prime Minister knew his government had no chance of being reelected. How this would work is that Australians would only need to vote on the Senate by the end of May. Which technically means Scomo could delay calling an election for the House of Representatives until September. For now though, this is still speculation.

Who is Scott Morrison up against?

The Leader of the Opposition is Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese. He is also the Federal Member for the electorate Grayndler - Australia's smallest electorate - that covers suburbs in Sydney's inner west like Marrickville, Balmain, parts of Newtown etc.

At the moment we're not aware of Albanese's official key policies as we face down the election; however he has made comment about renewable energy, Medicare, childcare, sex discrimination in the workplace as well making wage theft a crime. For a more defined outline of what Albanese and Morrison are proposing, watch this space.

How is Scott Morrison polling?

According to the Essential Poll undertaken by The Guardian voter approval is at an all time low for Scott Morrison since the Black Summer bushfires. Conducted while Scomo was attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow, the poll reveals that only 48% of voters approve of him in comparison to the 65% he reached earlier in February.

We can attribute Scott Morrison's decline in popularity to his stance on climate change. This change was most notable in Queensland where The Guardian recorded a 14% drop in approval.

Although, it must be said Scott Morrison is still doing marginally better than Albanese who's approval rating sits at 40%.

When more details on the 2022 Australian Federal Election arrive, we'll be sure to keep you posted.

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