Right wing loses Australian election with Labor’s Albanese set to remain PM

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Labor Party won the country’s federal election against the right-wing Coalition camp in a race dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump and his trade war.

Although official counting continues, Australia’s national broadcaster ABC News called the election for Labor early, saying that the Liberal-National Coalition “is no position to win, leaving Labor the only alternative government.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton, Albanese’s main opponent, is projected to not only lose the election, but also his own parliamentary seat, which would be a first for an Australian federal opposition leader.

In his victory speech celebrating being reelected in a landslide for another three-year term, Albanese said he knew “the world has thrown a lot at our country” over the previous three years.

“That is why it means so much that in these uncertain times, the people of Australia have placed their trust in Labor once again,” he said.

In a pointed reference to Trump and the American-style political campaigning adopted by Dutton, Albanese said: “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.”

In his concession speech, Dutton acknowledged his party “didn’t do well enough during this campaign,” adding: “I accept full responsibility for that.”

The final phase of the Australian election campaign was dominated by Trump’s tariffs and the cost of living, with polls shifting toward Albanese’s incumbent Labor Party after a series of Dutton gaffes.

“In this time of global uncertainty, Australians have chosen optimism and determination,” Albanese told his supporters. “Our government will choose the Australian way because we are proud of who we are,” he said.

“We do not seek our inspiration from overseas. We find it right here in our values and our people,” Albanese said.

A RedBridge-Accent poll published by News Corp newspapers on Thursday showed that about 48 percent of Australians picked the uncertainties triggered by Trump as one of their top five concerns, while 42 percent remained wary of the opposition’s plans to build nuclear plants across the country to help replace coal-fired power, as Reuters reported this week.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Albanese on Saturday in a social media post.

“Europeans and Australians are not just friends — we’re mates,” von der Leyen said. “Let us seize this moment of stability to deepen our cooperation.”

Earlier this week, Mark Carney was elected as Canada’s new prime minister, running on his economic record as a former top banker while standing up to Trump. EU leaders applauded the outcome as a boost for transatlantic relations.