Cyclone Alfred Blows Away an April Election: PM Confirms May Poll Date
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had several possible dates for the 2025 federal election. While dates in March, April or May were all possible, 12 April was highly favoured as the most probable.
An election on 12 April required the Prime Minister to call the election no later than last night (Monday, 10 March).
With that deadline now passed, the election can only be held on May 3, 10, or 17.
Cyclone Alfred Blows Away an April Election
An election on 12 April was favourable for the government because it would not have needed to hand down its fourth budget. But now its budget is set to be released on 25 March.
In addition, voting in mid-April would have avoided campaigning during Easter (18–21 April) and ANZAC Day (25 April), when Australians tend to focus on family, faith and national remembrance rather than politics.
However, the looming threat of Cyclone Alfred made an April election announcement impossible, as millions in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales braced for destructive winds and flooding.
Speaking on the ABC’s 7:30 on Friday, 7 March, the Prime Minister confirmed that an April election was off the table.
When ABC host Sarah Ferguson asked Albanese if he was “categorically” ruling out calling the election that weekend, the PM affirmed, “That’s correct”.
“I have no intention of doing anything that distracts from what we need to do.
“And what we need to do is look after each other at this difficult time.”
Thanks @AlboMP. This is the right call and very important. Our focus is on millions of Australians in harm’s way in Queensland and northern NSW, not on the election. We’ll be ready to deliver our fourth responsible budget on 25 March. #auspol #ausecon #alfred https://t.co/ssEW6MwW4M
— Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) March 7, 2025
Cyclone Alfred was to be called Cyclone Anthony. However, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) changed the name to the next scheduled ‘A’ name: Alfred.
Had the bureau not changed the name, it would have been Cyclone Anthony disrupting Albanese’s plans for the election date.
A BOM spokesperson revealed the reason for the name change, saying, “When a name matches a prominent person of the time, we reorder to the next name starting with that same letter to avoid any confusion.”
Answers to Prayer for Cyclone Alfred
Cyclone Alfred initially approached Australia’s coast as a category two system, with sustained winds of 89–117 km/h and gusts typically reaching 164 km/h.
The Canberra Declaration issued an urgent call for 24 hours of prayer on Wednesday, 5 March. With the potential for damaging winds and thumping rain, the situation looked severe for approximately four million Australians who live in this area.
But when Alfred finally crossed onto the mainland, the Bureau of Meteorology had downgraded the cyclone to a tropical low.
While extensive damage occurred, and one person tragically lost his life, the impact could have been far more severe.
While we will never know the extent to which prayer changed the outcome of the cyclone on this side of eternity, we can be extremely thankful that the cyclone’s impact was significantly less severe than originally feared.
Anticipating a May Election
A May election (as opposed to an April one) has a significant advantage for Christians running ‘Meet the Candidate Forums’ in their electorates. There is now more time to organise these events.
Groups such as the Canberra Declaration, Freedom for Faith, the Australian Christian Lobby, Church and State, FamilyVoice Australia, the Australian Family Coalition and the Australian Christians and Family First parties have been actively promoting these forums through the Christians in Politics Digital Summit.
The Canberra Declaration has also previously indicated that it will hold a dedicated prayer time during the lead-up to the federal election. Tennis champion and pastor Margaret Court has called for 21 days of prayer and fasting.
The exact way the prayer campaign will unfold will depend on which weekend in May the Prime Minister calls for the federal poll.
But this is certain: during May, prayer will intensify for Australia (and the world).
God knows our nation and world are in desperate need of it.
___
Photo via NASA/Wikimedia Commons.
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Yes indeed, we desperately need God’s intervention in our nation. Thank you so much Daily Declaration for encouraging us to pray. As we have seen in America the faithful prayers of the saints there have helped changed the course of that nation.
Albo’s comments about “serving the people” is a cop-out. I don’t think he rushed to SESA because they have an (unofficial) drought. He hasn’t visited regional areas in Vic for the same reason. (The locals don’t know what a drought is. A Govt agency has to test for one). Did Albo go to Gramps during the bush fires? He certainly didn’t come to Ballarat when we had our 2 fires. There were huge lightening strikes in SESA and SW Vic the other night. Blowen has proposed more wind farms at Nelson , Vic- against the peoples wishes. Bendigo is in the midst of a crime rage (? I didn’t think machetes were used in that region for farming purposes. Albo where are you? “The answer my friend is blowen in the wind…”
The relative minor damage that resulted from Cyclobne Alfred is a staggering miracle of answered prayer. Massive thanks to all those who prayed. The last Cyclone to hit Brisbane was Cyclone Wanda in 1974 with massive damage and severe flooding across a wide area with 16 deaths in the wake of a category 1 Cyclone. In 2025 Cyclone Alfred was a category 2 level cyclone but only cased moderate flooding (Some areas were severe) although the rainfall was just behind 1974 and neither the Brisbane River (Remember that Brisbane was built on a flood plain) nor the Wilson River at Lismore, NSW flooded. So far, we only have one fatality. We know many suffered because of Cyclone Alfred so let us continue to pray for these dear ones. Considering the size and ferocity of the Cyclone it should have been 10 times worse. This is a miracle of answered prayer. Thank you for your prayers. God is good! Soli Dei Gloria!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Alfred_(2025)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973%E2%80%9374_Australian_region_cyclone_season#Tropical_Cyclone_Wanda