Australia election: How the world's media conveyed Labor's win - 'a win for the ages'

RNZ News

03-05-2025

Anthony Albanese has defied the "incumbency curse", the BBC says.
Photo:
Getty Images/ Izhar Khan
Australian voters have delivered Anthony Albanese
"a win for the ages"
that should see Labor with more seats than at any point in its history, the ABC says.
More even than Kevin Rudd or Bob Hawke after their most famous victories.
Albanese outperformed the polls and the pundits' expectations on a historic night that will leave the Coalition interrogating where it all went so very wrong, with
Peter Dutton "fired into the sun"
and many other senior figures and potential future leaders wiped out.
The Labor landslide has also overshadowed the ongoing rise and rise of independents in Australian politics, the ABC report said.
Albanese has delivered a personal pledge to Australians to repay their trust after gaining an extraordinary victory at the federal election, as
Labor stunned its opponents
by increasing its majority in parliament and driving Dutton to defeat in his home seat, the
Sydney Morning Herald
said.
Liberal leader Peter Dutton
Photo:
AFP
The powerful swing put the government on track to gain at least 14 seats, with some supporters describing the outcome as a landslide, as their opponents reeled from the scale of their losses.
It called the result a "historic victory" for Labor.
Albanese
defied the so-called "incumbency curse"
to be re-elected Australia's prime minister in a landslide, the BBC said.
Cost-of-living concerns - particularly the affordability of healthcare and housing - dominated the five-week campaign, but international relations also reared its head, with the issue of how to deal with US President Donald Trump looming large over the election.
Dutton was seen by many as Australia's Trump, which appeared to go down badly with voters, despite his attempts to shake off comparisons made between his policies on immigration, public sector cuts and China, and the Trump administration.
People wait to vote at a Sydney electorate yesterday.
Photo:
RNZ/Nick Monro
It was a remarkable turnaround from the start of the year, when polling put Albanese's popularity at record lows after three years of global economic pain, tense national debate, and growing government dissatisfaction, the BBC said.
International news agency AFP interviewed several analysts for its report and several identified the US president as a pivotal force in the election result.
Trump's stinging trade tariffs may have helped Australia's left-leaning prime minister snatch a resounding election victory Saturday, it reported.
Unlike Canada's Trump-swayed vote three days earlier, the US president was far from the biggest concern for voters who backed Albanese, academics told AFP. But some said Trump nevertheless appeared to have a significant impact on the governing Labor Party's late turnaround in the opinion polls, and the emphatic election result.
A happy Labor supporter in Sydney last night.
Photo:
RNZ / Nick Monro
Al Jazeera said Albanese rode an anti-Trump wave to
a landslide victory and a historic second term
. It was described as "a dramatic comeback for his Labor Party in a general election dominated by the cost-of-living crisis".
He was on track for "an unexpectedly large parliamentary majority, as Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, conceded defeat and the loss of his own seat".
Albanese has
secured a second term in office in a disastrous night for his conservative rivals
, as voters chose stability over change against a backdrop of global turmoil inflicted by Trump, CNN reported.
While Australia was not facing the same threats to its sovereignty as Canada, Trump's global tariffs and policy swings had undermined Australians' trust in the US, according to recent surveys, the report said.
Dutton entered the five-week campaign on a strong footing. But analysts said his chances were badly damaged by policy misses and reversals, and weighed down by Trump's wrecking-ball approach to the global order.
By contrast, Albanese's Labor Party was able to demonstrate a steady hand - striking an authoritative tone in response to Trump's decision to impose 10 percent tariffs on Australia, which were later paused, analysts said.
After Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" announcement, Albanese called a press conference and, flanked by his foreign and trade ministers, said: "This is not the act of a friend."
In contrast, Dutton struggled to shake off comparisons to Trump by his opponents, not just because some policies appeared to have been inspired by the US leader, CNN said.