Australia's incumbent Labor party projected to win stunning victory, opposition leader likely to lose seat

Australia's incumbent Labor government looks set to win a sweeping electoral victory as the country retains its first leader in 21 years.

This is a remarkable victory for incumbent prime minister Anthony Albanese, made even more as opposition leader Peter Dutton is projected to lose his seat.

Majority seats

Bloomberg and the ABC reported that Albanese headed into 2025 trailing in the polls to the opposition Coalition, a grouping of the Liberal and National parties led by Dutton.

However, early results reported by several outlets, including ABC, show Labor to be on course for a strong victory, with its vote share increasing all around the country.

ABC has called the election for Labor after saying that it will likely win in at least 78 out of 151 seats, meaning that a simple majority has been achieved.

But the Australian national broadcaster has projected that the incumbent is leading in several more seats, meaning that a Labor's victory could yet become even more impressive.

ABC reports that this would make Albanese the first Prime Minister to be elected twice in 21 years.

Dutton out at Dickson

But for the opposition, things could not be going worse.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded the campaign, saying at a watch party that the Coalition "didn't do well enough" and congratulated Albanese on his victory, as quoted by the BBC.

He also apologised to his party's candidates, saying that the party "will rebuild".

One of the candidates that were let down by the party's performance was Dutton himself, losing his seat of Dickson to Labor candidate Ali France.

Dutton said of France, "She will do a good job as a local member", and thanked his supporters, suggesting that he had come to the end of his political life, saying, "24 years is a long time in public life."

Spectre

Albanese's road back to government had been considered difficult, with Australia facing several economic challenges, including rising interest rates making home buying increasingly difficult for Australians.

However, the election has also become dominated by the spectre of the United States and the decisions made by its president Donald Trump.

Australia was subjected to the same baseline 10 per cent tariff on exports as Singapore by the U.S., and Albanese described it in a similar way to that of Singapore's PM Lawrence Wong as "not the act of a friend".

This is the second major U.S. ally that appears to have been significantly impacted by Trump, with Canada's ironically-named-in-this situation Liberal party completing an unlikely win.

Albanese spoke at a victory party, saying that Australians had chosen "optimism and determination" amidst uncertainty, as quoted by the BBC.

"Australians", he said ", have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way - looking out for each other while building for the future."

Top image via Anthony Albanese/Facebook