The left manages overwhelming triumph in Australia’s elections with the help of the Trump factor

Anthony Albanese, of the Labor Party, has challenged the so -called “curse of the incumbent” by being re -elected as Australia Prime minister in an overwhelming victory.

The official voting count will take several days to be completed, but it is expected that the Central Government of Albanese increased its majority drastically, after the liberal-national conservative coalition suffered a blunt defeat at the national level.

“Today the Australian people have voted for Australian values: for equity, aspiration and opportunity for all; by the force of showing courage to adversity and kindness to those who need it,” said Albanese.

The leader of the coalition, Peter Dutton, who lost his own bank after 24 years in Parliament, said he assumed “all responsibility” for the defeat of his party and apologized to his deputies.

After the results, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, and the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, expressed their willingness to deepen bilateral relations with Australia.

Concerns for the cost of living – in particular access to health and housing – dominated the five -week electoral campaign. However, foreign policy issues also collected relevance, especially around the question of how to handle the fact that Donald Trump weighs strongly on the election.

Peter Dutton was seen by many as the “Australian Trump”, which was apparently badly received by voters, despite his attempts to distance himself from comparisons between his immigration policies, cuts to the public and China sector, and those of the US president.

The Labor Party made advances throughout the country, something uncommon for a government in its second term. With this victory, Albanese becomes the first prime minister in more than 20 years to win consecutive elections.

The success of the Labor Party has also attenuated a trend of voters to abandon the two main parties, which was the great history of the previous elections in 2022.

According to projections of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Labor is emerging to end 86 seats, the coalition with about 40, and the Green Party with one or two. Other minority and independent matches lead in nine districts.

This represents an increase of nine seats for labor and a significant fall in support for green. However, most “teal” independents (as conservatives are called progressive ideas in valorical issues) have been re -elected in their most conservative electorates in urban central areas.

It is a notable turn with respect to the beginning of the year, when the surveys placed the popularity of Albanese in historical minimums, after three years of global economic difficulties, tense national debates and the growing dissatisfaction with the government.

In his victory speech on Saturday night, Albanese addressed some of the key issues of the choice, which also included migration, climate change and energy.

He reiterated his promises to make medical attention more accessible -especially appointments with headers -facilitate access to housing for more Australians and reinforce policies against climate change and in defense of the environment.

In a prominent way, he also promised to advance in reconciliation with the original peoples:

“We will be a stronger nation when we close the gap between indigenous and non -indigenous Australians,” he said.

It is an indirect reference to the most transcendental moment of his mandate: the failed referendum of the voice, in October 2023, which sought to recognize the aboriginal peoples and islanders of the Strait of Torres in the Constitution and simultaneously establish a parliamentary advisory body for them.

Australia is still the only country in Commonwealth that has never signed a treaty with its indigenous peoples.

The voice was one of Albanese’s most emblematic policies and also its most forceful setback: it was overwhelmingly rejected after months of national debate, often toxic and divisive.

Indigenous Australians have declared to the BBC that, since then, they feel they have been forgotten by those who make decisions.

The prime minister also had difficulties in trying to maintain an intermediate position in front of the war between Israel and Gaza, in addition to the controversy he faced when buying a multimillionaire beach house in the midst of a housing crisis.

Also, and – as other leaders globally – had to fight with harsh economic conditions.

Albanese, whose numbers in the surveys collapsed, was generally considered the loser as the elections approached, and was about to become the next victim of the “curse of the incumbent”, a term that explains a worldwide trend according to which voters in trouble expel governments after a single mandate.

Dutton, on the other hand, seemed to be writing a great political return: he was about to take his party, after his worst defeat in 70 years, back to power in a single mandate.

It had been almost a century that a first term government did not achieve re -election, but as Professor Emeritus of the National University of Australia, John Warhurst: “Dutton began the election year with advantage. The victory was in his hands.”

However, Tonight Dutton has headed such a forceful defeat that he has even lost his own Dickson electorate, at the hands of Ali France, of the Labor Party.

“I love this country and I have fought a lot for him,” he told his supporters in Brisbane, recognizing defeat.

“We have been defined by our opponents in these elections, which is not a real story of who we are, but we will rebuild from here and we will do it because we know our values, we know our beliefs and we will always stick to them.”

His campaign was tarnished by unin -forced errors: a series of political bands that caused confusion, uncomfortable errors on important issues such as the cost of life and, perhaps the most memorable, the accidental launch of a ball from the AFL to the head of a cameraman.

“The opposition has been chaos,” says Professor Warhurst.

But the government, although decided and disciplined in its campaign, was shy. According to analysts, his strategy consisted of letting voters judge Dutton and his party, instead of proposing bold or convincing policies.

And that is something we also hear from voters throughout the campaign.

While the coalition is dedicated to licking wounds and choosing its next leader, you must face a crucial issue: its political course.

In the previous elections, both analysts and some of the party’s own deputies warned about the risks of a right turn. They questioned if Dutton – a polarizing figure, considered by many as a hard conservative – was the right person to rebuild support, especially in the moderate areas where they had most lost it.

After a campaign that, in his last days, entered into the issues of cultural wars and in what some describe as a “Trumpist” court policy, the coalition will have to raise those questions again. And if you want to be competitive again, maybe find different responses.

“We have to stop swallowing our own story as if they were useful, and make a serious review … we fooled us thinking that we are just a few tactical maneuvers of winning an choice,” said Liberal Extertraga Tony Barry to the ABC chain.

But in the meantime, the Labor Party must decide what to achieve with the broad mandate granted by Australia.

Albanese’s “curse of the incumbent” ended up being a blessing: international uncertainty seems to have taken voters, as happened in countries like Canada, to avoid change. Similarly, Australia voted for stability.

Labor opted for an “intermediate path” on its political platform, but now it can afford to be bolder, says Amy Remeikis, the main political analyst at the Australia Institute Studies Center.

“That was the path they chose for the campaign, and they are seeing that it gave them results. But the question is now: will labor do something real with power?”

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