Australia's socialist leader Anthony Albanese cruises to election victory thanks to anti-Trump bump - just six days after same happened in Canada

Australia's socialist leader Anthony Albanese has cruised to an election victory in a remarkable turnaround fuelled by the so-called anti-Trump bump.

Albanese, 62, has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years.

He revived his campaign by offering stability against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's volatile diplomacy.

Albanese's centre-left Labor government had been trailing in polls to the conservative Liberal-National coalition as recently as February, but then bounced back as voters grew increasingly alarmed by Trump's tariff threats and sought safe ground. 

His support only grew as Labor drew comparisons between their opponents and the US president.  

'We do not seek our inspiration from overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people,' Albanese said in his victory speech. 

When Trump imposed a 10 per cent tariff on Australian exports last month, Albanese said the move was 'not the act of a friend'. 

He said he would not compromise with US trade negotiators over Australia's efforts to lower medicine prices for families, and new social media laws to protect children.

Albanese has suggested his government increased its majority in the next Parliament by not modelling itself on Trump's administration.

'Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,' Albanese told supporters in a victory speech in Sydney.

'We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people,' he added.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton earlier conceded defeat, saying: 'We didn't do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.

'Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It's an historic occasion for the Labour Party and we recognise that.'

The Australian Electoral Commission's early projections gave the ruling centre-left Labour Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments.

Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats.

Energy policy and inflation were major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost-of-living crisis. 

Dutton's conservative Liberal Party blames government waste for fuelling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to axe more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.

While both say the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Dutton argues that relying on more nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.

Labour branded the opposition leader 'Doge-y Dutton' and accused his party of mimicking Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency. 

The party argued Dutton's administration would slash services to pay for its nuclear ambitions.

'We've seen the attempt to run American-style politics here of division and pitting Australians against each other and I think that's not the Australian way,' Albanese said.

He also noted that his government had improved relations with China, which removed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that had cost Australian exporters 20 billion Australian dollars a year since Labour came to power in 2022.

Unlike Canada's Trump-swayed vote three days earlier, the US president was far from the biggest concern for voters who backed Albanese, academics claim.

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.

Dutton's perceived 'Trump-lite' policies - such as axing public service jobs in a drive for government efficiency - had turned some voters off, said Henry Maher, politics lecturer at the University of Sydney.

'Of course, there are other concerns - cost of living, defence, health and everything else,' he said. 'But if we want to understand why a good chunk of the electorate has changed across the election campaign over the last couple of months, I think that's the biggest thing.'

Trump's unpopular 10 per cent tariff on goods from longtime ally Australia, and the financial market disruption caused by his global trade policy, may have unnerved voters, Maher suggested, adding: 'In times of instability, we expect people to go back to a kind of steady incumbent.'

Only 36 per cent of Australians trust the US, according to an annual poll by the Lowy Institute - down 20 percentage points from 2024.

Dutton, who lost his own parliamentary seat in the election drubbing, earlier this year described Trump as a 'big thinker' and 'shrewd'. 

But he and Albanese both stiffened their rhetoric, insisting they would not bow to the American leader when defending Australia's interests.

Kate Harrison Brennan, who was an advisor to Labor's former prime minister Julia Gillard, said Dutton's coalition had tried out policies that 'looked quite similar to those in the United States'. She added, that Trump 'definitely' had an impact on the election.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14675165/Australia-socialist-leader-Anthony-Albanese-election-victory.html

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