Brisbane and Sydney, Australia
CNN
–
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has secured a second term in office on a disastrous night for his conservative rival.
Australia’s left-leaning government return is another governing party whose fortune has been transformed by Trump, following a similarly sharp swing in Canada, towards Mark Carney’s liberal party. The loss of the seat of Liberal leader Peter Dutton reflects the appearance of Conservative leader Pierre Polivre.
Recent research shows that Australia was not facing the same threat to sovereignty as Canada, but Trump’s global tariffs and policy changes have undermined Australians’ confidence in the United States.
Albanese’s victory will make him the first Australian prime minister to win re-election over 20 years, and according to latest estimates he will begin his second term in the 150-seat House with at least 87 seats.
The clearly emotional Albanese cheered just before 10pm local time, thanking Australians for choosing a majority labour government, opposed to predictions that both major parties would lose their seats.
“In this period of global uncertainty, Australians chose optimism and resolve,” Albanese said in Sydney’s Labour Victory Party.
Wanting to finish the night as prime minister, Dutton lost his seat on Brisbane, a suburban man who has been detained for over 20 years, ending a cruel night for veteran politicians who held senior seats in the last Union government.
Accepting defeat, Dutton said he accepted full responsibility for the election loss.
“Our liberal family is hurting across the country tonight,” Dutton said. “We’ve been defined by our enemies in this election, and this is not a true story of who we are, but we’ll rebuild from here.”
The power of the world has blessed Albanese. The US Secretary of State called Australia a “valuable ally,” while British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said “long-distance friendships could be the strongest.”
The candidate’s ability to deal with the US president was the talk of the campaign. Despite criticism that he couldn’t get Trump over the phone, Albanese says they had shared a “warm” conversation in the past, and he saw no reason not to trust him. Canberra remains a solid ally in Washington despite Trump’s tariff threat.
Dutton took part in the five-week campaign with strong footing. However, analysts say his chances were severely damaged by policy mistakes and reversals, and overwhelmed by Trump’s destructive ball approach to global order.
In contrast, Albanese’s Labour party was able to show a stable hand – tone of authority in response to Trump’s decision to impose a 10% tariff on Australia.
After Trump’s April 2nd release of “liberation date,” Albanese called a press conference, saying, adjacent to his foreign and trade minister, “this is not an act of a friend.” In contrast, Dutton not only seemed to have been inspired by American leaders, but also struggled to shake off his opponents’ comparisons with Trump.
During the campaign, the senator tapped to become a shadow minister for government efficiency and declared that she wanted to “make Australia great again.” Prices for Jacinta Nampijinpa later said she didn’t realize she had said it. On Saturday, if Trump’s comparison hurts Dutton, Price said:
Labor handed over a strong mission
Over the past three years, Albanese has been recognized for improved relations with China, leading to the lifting of tariffs imposed during his predecessor’s term. His government also repaired relations with the Pacific Islands countries to prevent Beijing from filling the leadership vacuum. Regarding diplomacy, he promised the same thing.
Within Australia, the Albanese government has been widely criticized for not being aggressive enough to try to curb the rise in cost of living during periods of high global inflation. Over the next few years, he has pledged 1.2 million homes to ease the tax cuts, cheap drugs, a drop in first-time buyers’ deposits, and the housing crisis.
Albanese was first appointed to the so-called “climate elections” with the promise of reducing Australia’s carbon emissions and reaching net zero by 2050. Despite the rapid development of renewable projects, his government has also been criticized for approving new coal and gas projects.
On Saturday, Albanese reiterated his commitment to climate action, in contrast to the rolling assault given by the new US administration on environmental institutions and research.
All Australians said, “Renewable energy is an opportunity to work together to seize the future of our economy,” Albanese told cheers.
The liberal losses mean that Dutton’s plan to build seven nuclear power plants at public expense will not move forward, suggesting critics say it is a stagnant tactic to expand Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels.
“Today’s election results show that Australians have comprehensively rejected the Union’s Trumpist agenda on climate and nature’s destruction and plans to force dangerous nuclear weapons on their communities.”
Dutton’s losses end a long political career for a former political officer who played a well-known role as defense, immigration and interior minister of former Union government.
Dutton took on the Liberal leadership after Morrison’s election defeat in 2022, bringing him a reputation as a strongman on the party’s right wing. During the 2025 election campaign, Dutton shyed the Prime Minister for failing to secure an exemption from global tariffs for the US president, saying he could negotiate a better deal.
When polls began to suggest that voters were turned off due to his Trump-style approach, Dutton appeared to try to put some distance between himself and the US leader. However, in the final week of the campaign, he once again appeared to be using Trump’s rhetoric, calling Australian national broadcasters and the left-leaning newspaper The Guardian “Hate Media.”
In 2023, Dutton took office as prime minister by successfully campaigning against a government referendum, including constitutional recognition of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
Dutton called a referendum for a group a division. For the same reason, he said that the flags of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders would no longer attend press conferences under his leadership – because all Australians should unite under one flag. Albanese took a conflicting view.
As he claimed victory, Albanese made a deliberate attempt to cast himself as the leader of “Kinder” in contrast to the model provided by the administration that denounced his emulated rivals.
“Now that Australians have made clear choices, let’s look back at what we have in common, because no matter where you vote or wherever you live, who you worship, who you love, or you know and care for this continent for 65,000 years, or your contributions and we are enriching your contributions and our contributions.
