Albanese leads Labor to victory, ending 9 years of coalition rule

Australian PM Morrison to resign as Liberal leader after election loss

- Jonathan Pearlman

Australia’s Labor opposition leader Anthony Albanese will be the next prime minister after the ruling Liberal-National coalition suffered a devastating federal election defeat yesterday.

Mr Albanese, 59, who has promised to address cost-of-living concerns but adopted a largely risk-free and unambitious agenda, said he wanted to unite the country around a positive “journey of change”.

“Tonight, the Australian people have voted for change,” he said in his victory speech.

“I want to bring Australians together. I want to seek our common purpose and promote unity and optimism, not fear and division.”

Mr Albanese, who will be the 31st Australian prime minister, will replace Mr Scott Morrison, who has held the office since 2018.

While last night marked an end to nine years of the coalition’s rule, it was not yet clear whether Mr Albanese will win an outright majority in the 151-member House of Representatives or whether he will need to rely on the support of Greens or independent MPs.

With 63 per cent of votes counted at press time, Labor had won 72 seats in comparison with the 55 garnered by Mr Morrison’s party.

A staggering 11 seats were won by independent and minor party candidates, while a further 13 seats were too close to call.