Sky News election analyst Tom Connell says Labor will win, after securing a swing of 2.4 per cent while the Coalition cannot win.

The Prime Minister on Saturday night has a clear path for a second term, making him the first Labor leader to secure consecutive electoral wins since 2004.

“There’s positivity within Labor, it could be majority, but Anthony Albanese will again be Prime Minister of Australia,” Connell said about 8.20pm.

“Everything is pointing towards a likely Labor majority right now, but there are figures there in seats there that can come back the other way.

“So we were able shed the caution, if you like, to say Labor’s going to win this election.”

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce told the panel the Labor victory was not unexpected.

“We all knew the Labor Party was going to win … but not by this much,” Mr Joyce told the Sky News panel.

However, he said the bruising result did not the Liberal Party could not recover, citing the demolition of the Queensland Labor Party before Annastacia Palaszczuk returned the ALP to government for 10 years.

“Never, ever say the dog is out of the fight.”

Seat update shows early boost for Labor

As of 8.15pm on Saturday, Sky News had called 42 seats.

Of those, 24 have been called for Labor, 14 for the Coalition, five for independents and one for Katter Australia Party.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was tipped to retain his seat, as was Bennelong Labor MP Jerome Laxale.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce retain the seat of New England, and Teal MP Allegra Spender is expected to retain Wentworth.

Senior Coalition figures David Littleproud and Angus Taylor are also both expected to retain their seats, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton likely has a long night ahead of him, with the seat of Dickson running on an ultra-tight margin.

Cost-of-living campaign

The victory comes after an election campaign fought fiercely on cost-of-living pressures.

Labor spruiked its economic credentials throughout the campaign, with Mr Albanese and his cabinet pointing to wages growth and downward pressure on inflation.

They pushed a last minute downturn in underlying inflation this week as “proof” the Albanese government’s economic plan was working.

With mortgage holders hopeful of another rates cut on the horizon, the latest inflation figures poured cold water on Peter Dutton’s claims the economy was worse-off under the man he hoped to oust.

The Opposition Leader was also forced to abandon and walk back several policies, including his plan to scrap work from home arrangements for hundreds of thousands of public servants.

Mr Dutton’s flagship savings plan to slash 41,000 public servants in Canberra also came under fire, with experts saying it was impossible without carving into national security and other essential services the Coalition had promised not to touch.

Over the 35-day campaign, Mr Albanese promised to pump billions into Medicare to boost bulk-billing rates and get more Australians onto the property ladder while building more homes.

Voter turnout was robust, with long queues reported at polling stations – particularly in Melbourne – despite a high rate of early voting.

More to come