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Australia’s Anthony Albanese claimed a second term as prime minister on Saturday in a dramatic comeback against once-resurgent conservatives that was powered by voters’ concerns about the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Australian Electoral Commission website projected Labor would win 81 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, increasing its majority in Parliament, with 68 per cent of the vote counted.
Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal party, conceded defeat and the loss of his own seat — echoing the fate of Canada’s Conservative Party and its leader, Pierre Poilievre, whose election losses days earlier were also attributed to a Trump backlash.
Supporters at Labor’s election celebration in Sydney cheered and hugged each other as Albanese claimed victory and said his party would form a majority government. “Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,” he told supporters.
“We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration from overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people.”
Albanese would be the first Australian prime minister to win a consecutive term in two decades. He said Australians had voted for fairness and “the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need.”
Canada’s recently elected prime minister, Mark Carney, congratulated Albanese on social media, saying that “in an increasingly divided world,” Canada and Australia are close partners and “the most reliable of friends.”
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