Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years.
He said his centre-left Labor Party had won a majority in the nationwide federal election.
He suggested his government has increased its majority in the next parliament by not modelling itself on US president Donald Trump’s administration.
“Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,” Mr Albanese told supporters in a victory speech in Sydney.
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My personality type, he told me, is shared with Mao Zedong, Celine Dion and Satan
“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 in our people,” he added.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton earlier conceded defeat, saying: “We didn’t do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.
“Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It’s an historic occasion for the Labor Party and we recognise that.”
The Australian Electoral Commission’s early projections gave the ruling centre-left Labor Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments.
Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats.
Energy policy and inflation were major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost-of-living crisis.
Mr Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party blames government waste for fuelling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to axe more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.
While both say the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Mr Dutton argues that relying on more nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.
Labor branded the opposition leader “Doge-y Dutton” and accused his party of mimicking US president Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Labor argued Mr Dutton’s administration would slash services to pay for its nuclear ambitions.
“We’ve seen the attempt to run American-style politics here of division and pitting Australians against each other, and I think that’s not the Australian way,” Mr Albanese said.
He noted that his government had improved relations with China, which removed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that had cost Australian exporters Aus$20 billion (€11.4 billion) a year since Labor came to power in 2022. – AP
