MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥 Australia鈥檚 re-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday was greeted by well-wishers at a Sydney caf茅 and said the country had voted for unity over division.
Albanese鈥檚 center-left Labor Party won an emphatic victory in elections on Saturday. As vote counting continued, the government was on track to win at least 85 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form an administration.
Labor held 78 seats in the previous Parliament, and gaining seats in a second term is rare in Australian politics.
鈥淭he Australian people voted for unity rather than division,鈥 Albanese told reporters in the crowded caf茅 in inner-suburban Leichhardt where he and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, gathered with colleagues and supporters for coffee.
鈥淲e'll be a disciplined, orderly government in our second term, just like we have been in our first,鈥 he added.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, the government鈥檚 top economic minister, explained the election result as voters seeking stability after U.S. President tariff disruptions to the global economy.
鈥淭his was beyond even our most optimistic expectations,鈥 Chalmers told Australian Broadcasting Corp. of the election result.
鈥淲e know that this second term has been given to us by the Australian people because they want stability in uncertain times,鈥 he added.
Australian election result reminiscent of Canada
In an election result reminiscent of Canada鈥檚 recent contest, conservative opposition leader Peter Dutton lost his parliamentary seat. His alliance of parties was reduced to 37 seats.
Canada's opposition leader, lost his seat after Trump declared economic war on the U.S. neighbor. Poilievre had previously been regarded as a shoo-in to become Canada鈥檚 next prime minister and shepherd his Conservative Party back into power for the first time in a decade.
Senior Australian lawmakers say they feared late last year they would become the first government to be tossed out after a single three-year term since the turmoil of the Great Depression in 1931.
Like the center-left 春色直播 government, the Australian government had linked their political opponents to Trump's administration and its Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency.
Australia was hit during the five-week election campaign with 10% tariffs on exports to the United States despite trading with its bilateral free trade partner at a deficit for decades.
Opposition leader branded 鈥楧OGE-y Dutton鈥
The opposition leader was branded 鈥淒OGE-y Dutton,鈥 and Labor warned that a Dutton government would slash public sector services to pay for seven government-funded nuclear power plants.
Labor said Dutton never campaigned at any of the proposed power plant sites and argued the conservatives realized that nuclear reactors were not popular. There is no nuclear power generation in Australia.
Labor also accused Dutton of igniting culture wars. While Albanese stands before the Australian flag and two Indigenous flags at media announcements, Dutton had said that as prime minister, he would only stand in front of the national flag.
Indigenous Australians account for 4% of the population and are the nation's most disadvantaged ethnic minority.
Chalmers said the direct impacts of U.S. tariffs on Australia were 鈥渕anageable and relatively modest.鈥
鈥淏ut there is a huge downside risk in the global economy. I think what鈥檚 happening, particularly between the U.S. and China, does cast a dark shadow over the global economy. And we鈥檙e not uniquely impacted by that. But we鈥檙e really well-placed. We are quite well-prepared," Chalmers said.
Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to lead a party to consecutive election victories since conservative John Howard in 2004.
Revolving door for Australian political leaders
Howard鈥檚 11-year reign ended at the next election in 2007. Like Dutton, Howard also lost his seat in Parliament as well as his government. Howard鈥檚 departure coincided with the start of an extraordinary period of political instability that created a revolving door for political leaders. There have been six prime ministers since Howard, including one who served in the role twice in separate stints three years apart.
Albanese said the first world leader to congratulate him on his election victory was Papua New Guinea Prime Minister , who phoned at 7:45 a.m.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a very good friend,鈥 Albanese said. 鈥淚 told him it鈥檚 a bit early to call.鈥
Albanese had also spoken to New Zealand Prime Minister and received text messages of congratulation from British Prime Minister Kier Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Albanese said he would speak to Indonesian President and Ukraine President later Sunday.
