Anthony Albanese is set to continue as Australia’s Prime Minister, after the Labor Party trounced the governing Liberal-National coalition in the federal election. National broadcaster ABC News estimated that the ruling Liberal-National coalition has lost, with even Opposition Leader Peter Dutton losing his Brisbane seat of Dickson to Labor’s Ali France.
With Labor’s performance, Albanese is set to remain as Prime Minister and will construct a new cabinet using elected Labor MPs. He has before declared that, in the event of his re-election, one of his initial overseas trips would be to Washington to take an audience with previous US President Donald Trump.
While pre-election surveys had also revealed the likelihood of a minority government, preliminary results now indicate Labor might achieve a majority. Nevertheless, if Labor is short of a clear majority, Albanese has excluded the possibility of formal arrangements with the Greens or independents to create a government.
Rather, he can turn to crossbenchers on “confidence and supply” deals, guaranteeing their support on essential votes like the national budget or motions of no confidence. These deals are usually not about negotiating on policy issues.
The ultimate election result will decide if Albanese can form a majority government or have to depend on parliamentary support to continue leading.
