Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in two decades, in a dramatic comeback for his Labor Party in a general election dominated by the cost-of-living crisis.
Labor is leading in 85 electorates in the 150-seat lower house as of Monday morning, as vote counting continued, data showed. At least a dozen seats are too close to call, with more than three-quarters of votes tallied.
The Labor Party was on track for an unexpectedly large parliamentary majority, as Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, conceded defeat, having lost his seat.
Australia’s public broadcaster ABC projected that Labor was on track to win 85 seats in the House of Representatives, easily surpassing the 76-seat threshold needed to reach a majority.
In his victory speech, left-leaning Albanese pledged to steer the nation through a rough patch of global uncertainty.
“Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,” he told supporters in Sydney.
“We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here in our values and our people.”
Meanwhile, Dutton of the main opposition Liberal Party accepted full responsibility for the poor election results on what he called a “historic occasion” for the party.
