Federal Election 2025: Live updates as voters head to polls for Albanese, Dutton
Australians will head to the polls on Saturday, after an election campaign that officially only lasted 35 days, but that has dominated headlines for months.
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will be out and about on Saturday morning, with the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader both expected to make appearances in Melbourne before heading home to cast their votes.
As of Friday evening, 6.73 million people had already cast their vote at a pre-poll centre, while 1.6 million postal vote forms had been sent and received by the Australian Electoral Commission.
For reference, there are 18.1 million people enrolled to vote in Australia.
Regardless of the result, Saturday will be a historic election for the nation. If Anthony Albanese is awarded a second term as Prime Minister, he will be the first to do so since John Howard in 2004.
If the Coalition take victory, installing Peter Dutton as the nation’s next leader, it will be the first time a first term government has been booted out of office since 1931.
Both leaders have spent their final days on the campaign trail declaring they are in with a shot at winning, however the latest Newspoll, published by the Australian on Friday night, revealed Anthony Albanese is on track to return Labor to a second term in government.
The closely watched poll, taken from surveys conducted between April 27 and May 1, showed Labor ahead of the Coalition 52.5 per cent to 47.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
Labor’s primary vote sits at 33 per cent, just a slight uptick from its 2022 performance, while the Coalition’s primary vote has slumped to 34 per cent, a record low.
Polls open at 8am on Saturday and close at 6pm, with vote counting to begin immediately after.
An auspicious start to polling day
Anthony Albanese has started polling day with a symbolic start, doing a round of breakfast TV interviews at the iconic MCG.
The Prime Minister, a Hawthorn fan, is expected to run through the player’s race doors and onto the field.
We can expect a fair number of game day puns to be made.
Mr Albanese arrived at the MCG shortly before 7am.
He was asked how the Rabbitohs would feel about his AFL bent, to which he replied: “Origin is played here too”.
For those wondering, Mr Albanese’s beloved NRL team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, are also set to face off against the Newcastle Knights at 2pm.
More to come