Anthony Albanese has declared ‘Aussies have voted for change’ in his victory speech after securing an historic election win – and also blasted rowdy supporters in a cranky outburst.
The 59-year-old will become Australia’s 31st Prime Minister snatching at least nine seats from the Liberal Party, but he may still need support from the Greens and independents to govern.
As of 1am on Sunday Labor had 72 seats – four short of the 76 needed for a majority – but was on track to pick up five more for a narrow majority.
The Coalition had 55 seats and minor parties had 13 after the ‘teal’ independents smashed the Liberals in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Labor leader addressed jubilant supporters in Sydney shortly before midnight after receiving a concession call from Scott Morrison.
He said: ‘I say to my fellow Australians, thank you for this extraordinary honour.
Tonight the Australian people have voted for change. I am humbled by this victory and I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st Prime Minister of Australia.’
‘My Labor team will work every day to bring Australians together, and I will lead a government, worthy of the people of Australia’.
The joyous atmosphere took a strange turn when Mr Albanese reacted angrily to some rowdy supporters, pausing his speech to yell: ‘Down. Down. Down. Down. No. No.
‘Can we have order, please? Can we have a bit of order? I intend to run an orderly government and it starts here, so behave.’
Mr Albanese – who was raised in housing commission by a single mother – also paid tribute to the outgoing Prime Minister, saying: ‘Scott very graciously wished me well, and I think him for that, and I wish him well.
‘And I thank him for the service he has given to our country as Prime Minister. I would like to thank Jenny Morrison and their two daughters for their contribution and sacrifice as well.’
Outlining his priorities for the next three years, Mr Albanese said: ‘Together we can end the climate wars.
‘Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower.
‘Together we can work in common interests with business and unions to drive productivity, lift wages and profits.
‘I want an economy that works for people, not the other way around.
‘Together we can strengthen universal healthcare through Medicare. We can protect universal superannuation.
‘And we can write universal childcare into that proud tradition.’
The Labor leader also vowed to implement a national anti-corruption commission after his party won from Opposition for only the fourth time since World War II.
His first task will be a Quad security meeting with Japan, the US and India on Tuesday in Tokyo.
At about 11pm Scott Morrison delivered a concession speech to devastated Liberal supporters after calling Mr Albanese to congratulate him on Labor winning power for the first time since 2013.
Speaking alongside his wife Jenny and two daughters to the Liberal faithful in Sydney, Mr Morrison said: ‘Tonight, I have spoken to the Leader of the Opposition and the incoming Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese.
‘And I’ve congratulated him on his election victory this evening.
‘I have always believed in Australians and their judgement and I’ve always been prepared to accept their verdicts.
‘And tonight they have delivered their verdict and I congratulate Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party and I wish him and his government all the very best.’
Mr Morrison, a Christian who prays every day, paid tribute to his family, saying: ‘I still believe in miracles as I always have.
‘And the biggest miracles as I said three years ago were standing beside me and here they are again tonight with Jenny and my daughters.
Mr Morrison said he will step down as Liberal leader at the next party meeting, with Defence Minister Peter Dutton favourite to take over.
The teal independents – funded by multi-millionaire climate investor Simon Holmes a Court – decimated the Coalition in Sydney and Melbourne while the Greens also won a seat in Brisbane from the Liberals who suffered an 11 per cent collapse in their primary vote.
Nationally there was a two-party swing of 2.9 per cent from Liberal to Labor with at least nine Coalition seats looking set to switch to the ALP, including Chisholm and Higgins in Melbourne, Boothby in South Australia, Reid in Sydney and Robertson on the NSW Central Coast.
There was a massive swing against the Liberals in Western Australia with the seats of Swan, Pearce, Hasluck and Tangney – which had a big 11 per cent margin – turning red.
The independents have won at least five Liberal seats, picking up Wentworth, North Sydney, Mackellar, Kooyong and Goldstein and are ahead in Curtin in Perth.
Independent Dai Le beat ALP heavyweight Kristina Keneally in the formerly safe Labor seat of Fowler.
The Greens have won the Brisbane seat of Ryan from the Liberals, with a two per cent boost in their national vote to 12 per cent. They are on track to take Griffith from Labor and Brisbane from the Liberals.
Liberal stalwart Josh Frydenberg has all but conceded to independent Monique Ryan although Peter Dutton appears to have fended off a challenge from Labor’s Ali France.
‘Maybe after tonight I get a bit more time to try and be the most extraordinary dad,’ Mr Frydenberg said.
The Treasurer talked up his achievements in Government including saving 800,000 jobs with the JobKeeper wage subsidy during the Covid-19 pandemic and seeing the unemployment rate drop to 3.9 per cent.
‘To be the deputy leader of our party has been an enormous privilege,’ he said.
Mr Frydenberg paid tribute to Mr Morrison, saying he is a ‘person of great decency, a person who loves his family, a person who is of deep faith and a person who has shown extraordinary leadership in extraordinary times.
He added: ‘So I thank Scott Morrison for what he has done for our country to leave Australia in a stronger position than when he found it.’
Teal’ independent Zali Steggall held on to Warringah under challenge from Liberal women’s sport campaigner Katherine Deves.
‘The feedback very much was people are really frustrated,’ Steggall told the ABC.
‘Cost of living issues but also climate change simply did not feature in the policies and platforms from the major parties.’
North Sydney Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman lost to independent Kylea Tink, Dave Sharma lost to Allegra Spender in Wentworth and Zoe Daniel has dethroned Liberal Tim Wilson in Goldstein.
Liberal Jason Falinski has lost his Sydney seat of Mackellar to independent Sophie Scamps.
Former NSW minister Andrew Constance was ahead of Labor in Gilmore. The Labor seat on the NSW south coast is seen as a must-win for the Coalition. The Liberals looked set to hold the crucial Tasmanian seats of Bass and Braddon.
Former Labor Minister and power broker Graham ‘Richo’ Richardson called the election result early as a win for Labor following swings to the ALP in the Liberal-held seats of Reid and Bennelong.
‘We’re home,’ he said on Sky just before 7pm. ‘Let’s crack the champagne.’
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