Well, what a night that was.
Few were expecting such a resounding — and thumping — result for Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party, which was re-elected with an expanded majority. Labor is now on track for its biggest election victory since World War II, with the party last night projected to win at least 86 of the 150 seats up for grabs. Albanese also notches up another decent stat — he’s the country’s first leader in two decades to win back-to-back elections.
Peter Dutton had a shocker of a night. Not only did the opposition leader take the Liberal-National Coalition to one of the party’s worst results in history, but the ex-policeman also lost his seat — meaning the Liberals now have to find a new leader. Dutton defeated. Photographer: Ian Waldie/Bloomberg But there was one man who loomed larger in this election than any of the candidates: US President Donald Trump. And that played out in last night’s result — as we saw with Canada last week, voters in a prominent US ally angered by Trump and his punitive trade wars avenged conservatives and re-elected a left-leaning incumbent.
Throughout the campaign, Labor seized on Dutton’s apparent earlier attempts to mimic policies of Trump. The strategy appeared to work. This supporter wasn’t born the last time Australia had a two-term PM. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg Important to note too that Labor’s proposed cost-of-living and property market measures could have a longer-term impact on some investments. Here’s what stocks you should be watching when the ASX re-opens on Monday morning, and beyond.
Also, take a listen to our recent Bloomberg Australia podcast, where I discuss what other investments could be impacted down the line with cross-asset reporter Richard Henderson.
Worried about your super? I also talked with Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief Mary Delahunty about the road ahead for our pensions. WATCH: Bloomberg’s government reporter Ben Westcott explains what’s to come Now, the hard work begins. Albanese faces a catalogue of serious challenges, with an economy once hailed as a “miracle” now in need of some serious reform. Listen to the latest podcast, where host Rebecca Jones explores what needs to come next.
And then there’s the housing headache. Albanese was re-elected just days after Australia’s house price reaches yet another record high, meaning that many people are even further away from managing to own their own home. Here’s an explainer of how things got so bad, and here’s another of our election podcast specials where I spoke to Brendan Coates from the Grattan Institute about how to fix it.
There’s also the thorny immigration issue — listen to expert Abul Rizvi in this recent podcast discuss how arrivals may or may not impact home affordability. Celebrations afoot at campaign HQ. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg Geopolitics will also weigh heavily on Albanese’s second term. While his government has made big progress in solidifying security ties in the Pacific, as the US and its allies try and prevent China from gaining a foothold, such gains are at risk under Trump. Ben unpacks what’s at stake in this thoughtful essay.
For today, the number-crunching continues. The final seat count is expected to take some time, and — who knows — we could yet see a few surprises. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered in real time with the Bloomberg election tracker, which showed around 71% of seats counted as of early Sunday. You can follow along here. |