Albanese plots course to next victory as he rules supreme in Australia

Re-elected PM not likely to adopt radical policy agenda or make major changes

- Jonathan Pearlman

SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to use the political capital he amassed from his spectacular election win on May 3 to try to finally fix the nation's enduring housing shortage and to expand the transition to clean energy.

But Mr Albanese, despite his historic win, is not expected to suddenly adopt a new radical policy agenda or to seek more ambitious approaches to defence or foreign affairs. Instead, he has already signalled that he is looking ahead to winning a third term for the ruling Labor Party and is unlikely to make significant changes from a steady course that has so far proven successful.

With 89 per cent of the votes counted, Labor is on track to win a record 94 of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, where the party with a majority gets to form the government. The Liberal-National Coalition won just 44 seats, marking one of its worst election results, with 12 won by independents and minor political parties.

This historic victory — which will leave Mr Albanese with the same record number of seats as former Coalition prime minister John Howard in 1996 — has reset the political landscape and left the opposition in turmoil. The Liberal leader Peter Dutton and the Greens leader Adam Bandt both suffered humiliating defeats in their seats, forcing the two parties to appoint new leaders.

Meanwhile, Mr Albanese now occupies a commanding position in his party, whose massive majority leaves it in a strong position to win the next election and rule for at least a further six years.

An expert on Australian politics, Dr Frank Mols from the University of Queensland, told The Straits Times that boosting housing construction is likely to be a major focus of Labor's second term. With the country facing a dire shortage of housing that has led to booming property and rental prices, Labor has already promised to spend A$10 billion (S$8.4 billion) to build 100,000 homes for first-home buyers.