Albanese wins second term as Australian PM; Opposition leader Peter Dutton loses seat

Anthony Albanese has won a second term (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election, saying, “We didn’t do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.

“Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It’s an historic occasion for the Labour Party and we recognise that.”

The Australian Electoral Commission’s early projections gave the ruling centre-left Labour Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments.

Australian Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton stands with his son Harry as he votes in Brisbane (Pat Hoelscher/AP)

Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats.

Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton are set to address party gatherings in Sydney and Brisbane later on Saturday.

Energy policy and inflation were major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party blames government waste for fuelling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to axe more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.

While both say the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Mr Dutton argues that relying on more nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his son Nathan place their votes in a ballot box (Rick Rycroft/AP)

Labour has branded the opposition leader “Doge-y Dutton” and accused his party of mimicking US President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.

Labour argues Mr Dutton’s administration would slash services to pay for its nuclear ambitions.

“We’ve seen the attempt to run American-style politics here of division and pitting Australians against each other and I think that’s not the Australian way,” Mr Albanese said.

He also noted that his government had improved relations with China, which removed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that had cost Australian exporters 20 billion Australian dollars a year since Labour came to power in 2022.