Australians voting in national election as Trump's influence looms
CBSN
Australians are voting in a national election this weekend, and President Trump appears to be playing an outsized role as nations continue to respond to the vision of U.S. foreign policy he's put in place in the first 100 days of his second term.
Polling stations on the eastern coast of the country, which includes Sydney and Melbourne, opened Saturday at 8 a.m. local time and close at 6 p.m. (4 a.m. ET on Saturday). In Western Australia, which includes Perth, the poll closing time comes two hours later.
Australia's vote comes just a week after Canada's elections, where Mr. Trump's influence was also felt. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney — whose numbers spiked as he pushed back against tariff threats and Mr. Trump's jibes about annexing Canada into a "51st state" — crushed Pierre Poilievre's hopes to return the Conservative Party to power after a decade of Liberal Party rule.
