Anthony Albanese has secured a stunning federal election win while delivering a devastating result for the Coalition that cost Peter Dutton his own seat.
As counting continued on Saturday (3) night, Labour was set to form majority government with Albanese becoming the first Prime Minister to win a second term since John Howard in 2004.
As of 9pm, the ABC had Labour on 77 seats – enough to retain its majority in Parliament. The Treasurer, Jum Chalmers, declared the victory “a win for the ages”.
The opposition leader was the biggest casualty of what some Liberal MPs were calling a “bloodbath”. Dutton lost his marginal Brisbane seat of Dickson to Labour’s Ali France.
Liberal frontbenchers Michael Sukkar and David Coleman and outspoken backbencher Bridget Archer were also set to lose their seats as Labour secured swings across the country. Queensland – traditionally one of Labour’s weakest states – swung heavily behind the government which was set to pick up the seats of Bonner, Leichhardt and Forde.
The feared backlash in Victoria never eventuated, with Labour picking up Menzies as well as Sukkar’s seat of Deakin.
Albanese reached polling day optimistic of retaining majority government after outperforming Dutton during the five-week campaign.
Ahead in the polls just months ago, the Coalition suffered a collapse in support amid policy confusion, damaging comparisons with the US President, Donald Trump, and Labour’s attacks on its proposed nuclear reactors and supposed plan to gut Medicare.
Albanese, 62, has pitched himself as a steady hand to guide Australia through a period of global turbulence turbocharged by Trump’s tariff war.
(The Guardian)
