Albo’s landslide’ for the history books

Overnight, the ABC was projecting that the Prime Minister will start his “new chapter” with a majority of 86 seats in the 150-seat parliament but that number could rise to 90 seats.

The Labor Party needed 76 seats to win the election. Going into Saturday’s election, Labor held a notional 78 seats in Australia’s 150-seat parliament and the Coalition a notional 57 seats.

On current projections, the Liberal Party has been decimated and is currently on 41 seats, however that count is not final and is expected to rise. There are 14 seats undecided and at least 10 Greens and independents on the crossbench.

By way of comparison, when Kevin Rudd was elected in 2007, he won the election with 83 seats and the Liberals were reduced to 65 seats.

In doing so, the Prime Minister has joined the pantheon of Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam as a Labor leader who has been elected twice.

This is an honour that Mr Rudd and Julia Gillard failed to achieve. He’s also the first Australian prime minister elected twice since John Howard.

The Liberal Party now begins the search for a new leader with the frontrunner, treasury spokesman Angus Taylor described as an “absolute disaster” by one Liberal MP over his failure to develop a coherent tax policy.

Winners and losers

Labor is expected to gain the seats of Banks in New South Wales, Deakin in Victoria, Bass and Braddon in Tasmania, Bonner, Forde, Hughes, Leichhardt, Menzies, Petrie and Peter Dutton’s own seat of Dickson in Queensland, as well as Sturt in South Australia, a seat that has not returned a Labor MP since 1969.

It is also ahead in the seat of Longman in Queensland.

Against the odds, Labor also looks set to hold the seat of Aston, Bennelong, Boothby, Chisholm, Dunkley, Gilmore, Lyons, McEwen, Paterson and Werriwa in NSW.

Emotional PM pledges to govern for all

Choked with emotion, the Prime Minister told Australians that the work to “build Australia’s future” will begin tomorrow.

“Tomorrow, we dedicate ourselves to your service,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“We renew the great responsibility and the opportunity of government and with pride and purpose, optimism and determination, with faith in the fair go and faith in each other, we return to the work of building Australia’s future.”

He also acknowledged the impact of inflation and the cost of living.

“I know the world has thrown a lot at our country over the past three years. I know there is still much more to do to help people under pressure,’’ he said.

“Labor will govern for every Australian.”

Medicare card waved again

Waving a Medicare card one more time, Mr Albanese said that healthcare was part of Australia’s values.

“This card is not Labor red or Liberal blue, it is green and gold. It is a declaration of our national values in our national colours. Medicare belongs to all Australians,’’ he said.

Trump sledge

Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, Mr Albanese subtly referenced his claim that the Liberals had stolen policies from the Republicans.

“Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,’’ he said.

“We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else.

“We do not seek our inspiration from overseas.”

Penny Wong introduces the PM

Foreign minister Penny Wong also delivered a subtle sledge over the Americanisation of politics.

“Some might want to mimic the worst of other countries,” she said, a reference to Labor’s charge that Peter Dutton sought to copy US President Donald Trump. “Albo always backs what’s best about our country”.

Welcome to Country

After Liberal leader Peter Dutton criticised the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country ceremonies as “overdone”, Mr Albanese pointedly said the following words in his election night speech.

“And I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging today and every day,’’ he said.

“Today, the Australian people have voted for Australian values. For fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all. For the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness.”

“We will be a government that supports reconciliation with First Nations people. Because we will be a stronger nation when we close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians,’’ he said.

PM underestimated

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said that Mr Albanese has been “underestimated all his life”.

“Three quarters of incumbent governments across the democratic world since the pandemic have lost. So, to be able to win and win in such an emphatic way in this circumstance I think is an enormous credit to our government, but particularly Anthony Albanese,’’ Mr Marles said.

“He’s been underestimated throughout his life. He is now (part of) history in terms of being a Labor leader who has been elected twice. You’ve got Whitlam and Hawke and Albo.”

The PM said he had spoken to Peter Dutton and thanked him for “his generous words at the end of what has been a very hard-fought campaign.

Peter Dutton concedes defeat

An emotional Peter Dutton said he accepted “full responsibility” for the outcome.

“We didn’t do well enough in this campaign, that much is obvious tonight,’’ he said.

“It is a historic occasion for the Labor Party and we recognise that. I congratulated the Prime Minister and wished him, Jodie and Nathan all the very best and I said to the Prime Minister that his mother would be incredibly proud of his achievement tonight and he should be proud of what he has achieved,” he said.

Mr Dutton also paid tribute to Harry the son of the Laboor candidate who beat him Ali France who died earlier this year after battling cancer.

“Her son Henry would be incredibly proud of her tonight and she will do a good job as a local member for Dickson and I wish her all the best,’’ he said.

A win for the ages

Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ABC the victory was “a win from the ages, if it happens as we’re expecting, given where Labor was six months ago, given what the expectations were for tonight, given what the expectations were before the budget, and so he has every right to feel proud”.

“He has pulled off one of the great political victories since Federation, that is what we are seeing tonight.”

Mr Chalmers admitted that he had wept during the Prime Minister’s acceptance speech because he was “proud of him”.

Liberal blame game

The frontrunners emerging to fight for the Liberal leadership include opposition treasury spokesman Angus Taylor, former SAS soldier Andrew Hastie, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley and Dan Tehan, who is facing a challenge from an independent in Wannon.

Mr Chalmers said that Mr Taylor “shouldn’t escape the blame” for the result.

“It is hard to think of a worse performer at an election campaign than Angus,’’ he said arguing the “dumbest” move in the election was the Liberals opposing tax cuts.

What happened to the Greens?

The Greens lost two seats in Queensland, including Griffiths Held by Max Chandler-Mather and the seat of Brisbane held by Stephen Bates and suffered a swing against them in Adam Bandt’s seat of Melbourne.

In a statement, Greens leader Adam Bandt took some credit for Mr Dutton losing his own seat.

“Tonight, millions of people across the country have voted for the Greens – more than ever before in history,’’ he said.

“There’s never been a first term MP who has had the impact Max Chandler-Mather has, putting the rental crisis in the spotlight, winning $3.5 billion for social housing, and feeding thousands out of his own pocket. This is not the last we’ve seen of him.”

What happened to the independents

The teal independents also defied predictions that they would lose support.

In Tony Abbot’s old seat, Zali Steggall has been re-elected with “no difficulty” and has increased her margin.

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender was also returned with a 4 per cent swing.

Sophie Scamps won the seat of Mackellar for a second time.

In Victoria, Zoe Daniel is continuing to fight a threat from former Goldstein MP and challenger, Tim Wilson, who is ahead on first preferences.

In Western Australia, Kate Chaney has also increased her vote, and “preferences suggest that she will go on to win that seat as well”.