Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labour Party has been re-elected for the second year in a row.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton led the conservative Liberal Party, who lost his parliamentary seat in Saturday’s election but admitted defeat. He said, “It didn’t go well enough during this campaign, that’s a lot tonight and I’ll accept full responsibility for it.”
Anthony Albanese will become the first Australian leader to win consecutive elections since John Howard in 2004.
An early forecast from the Australian Election Commission will give 70 left Labour seats in the Control Centre and 24 conservative opposition coalition seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives. Unorganized minor parties and independent candidates could have won 13 seats.
It is not yet clear whether labour will hold enough seats to form a majority government. Prior to this election, Labour had the majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives.
Once more than two seats are met, they could try to form lawmakers and minority governments that are not organized by the Labour Party.
Key Election Issues
The main issues of the campaign are energy policy and inflation, with both major political parties agreeing that the country faces the cost of a living crisis.
The conservative liberals have condemned government waste inflation and increased interest rates and pledged to scrap one or more in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.
This led to Labour, which brands opposition leaders “Doge-y Dutton,” in connection with the similar stance held by US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk-led government efficiency (DOGE).
The parties agreed that the country would reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but Dutton supports relying on nuclear power over renewable energy sources, leading to reduced electricity costs.
The Albanese government notes that relations with China have improved during its tenure, removing many trade barriers that cost Australian exporters an estimated $20 billion (€11.37 billion) a year.
