Anthony Albanese defeats Scott Morrison as independents sweep Coalition seats

Labor is poised to claim majority government but has a clear pathway to victory by forming a minority government with the Greens and crossbench if it falls short, as the major party vote splintered across the country.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese will be the next prime minister as a teal wave of independents wiped the Coalition’s chances of holding government, but voters also walked away from Labor in key seats.

Anthony Albanese was on Saturday night poised to become Australia’s 31st prime minister. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In a victory speech to the party faithful gathered in western Sydney, Albanese said Australians had voted for change.

“I will lead a government worthy of the people of Australia. A government as courageous and hard working and caring as the Australian people are themselves,” he told the crowd at Canterbury Hurlstone RSL in Sydney.

“I pledge to the Australian people here tonight, I am here not to occupy the space, but to make a positive difference each and every day.”

He repeated Labor’s pledge to end the climate wars, strengthen Medicare, protect universal superannuation, fix the crisis in aged care, establish a national anti-corruption commission and embrace the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Conceding defeat just before 11pm, Scott Morrison said it was a “difficult” night for Liberals and Nationals around the country as he congratulated his opponent and announced he would step down as Liberal leader.

“I will be handing over the leadership at the next party room meeting to ensure that the party can be taken forward under new leadership, which is the appropriate thing to do,” Morrison said.

Earlier in the night, as counting continued, Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten declared it a “mighty night” as he expressed hope Labor would form government in its own right.

“Obviously, we’ve got colleagues fighting for their political lives, some against the Greens, still hard-working candidates who are waiting to see what’s happened, but this is a mighty night. This is a big night,” Shorten, a panellist on Channel Nine’s election coverage, said.

“Certainly there’s a teal quake going on. But let’s not take away from Labor.”

Labor’s climate change spokesman Chris Bowen said he was confident that Labor would form majority government.

“I think it is fair to say the most likely outcome is a Labor majority in our own right,” he said.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who survived a close challenge from Labor, said the Liberal family had “suffered a terrible day” as he addressed supporters in his Brisbane seat.

Labor snatched a handful of inner-city seats from the Liberals, including the Sydney seat of Reid, and Melbourne seats of Chisholm and Higgins, but looked set to lose the Brisbane seat of Griffith to the Greens. Late in the night, the Greens were battling with Labor for the Liberal-held of Brisbane.

Labor won three Liberal-held seats in WA and was in front in a fourth, while in SA it picked up the Adelaide seat of Boothby. But it was poised to lose the western Sydney seat of Fowler where independent Dai Le was leading frontbencher Kristina Keneally.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said voters had sent the Liberal Party a clear message as blue ribbon seats fell to teal independents.

“It is a clear problem that we are losing seats that are heartland seats that have defined the Liberal Party for generations,” Birmingham said on ABC TV.

“We need to heed the message because forming government in the future without winning those sorts of seats is a next to impossible task.”

Among the disastrous results for the Liberals at the hands of independents was the triumph of Allegra Spender over Dave Sharma in Wentworth, the victory of Kylea Tink over Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney, former ABC journalist Zoe Daniel outsing Tim Wilson in Goldstein, and Mackellar MP Jason Falinski was defeated by Sophie Scamps.

In the biggest blow for the Liberals, Monique Ryan deposed Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the seat of Kooyong.

Former Liberal foreign minister Julie Bishop said the loss of Frydenberg was a “huge upset” and “an enormous loss to the nation”, but said the triumph of teal women in heartland Liberal seats must prompt a reckoning within the party.

“When the Liberal Party carries out the post-election analysis, they must address the issue of women in the party. So many Liberal women told me they did not see their concerns, their interests reflected in the party that was led by Scott Morrison and in Coalition with Barnaby Joyce,” she told Nine.

Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume said the party had “missed something in Victoria” amid swings to independents and Labor.

Hume said “we thought there would be a bigger Dan Andrews effect in Victoria and there hasn’t, which I find disappointing”.

“We have had such negative feedback about those harsh lockdowns in Victoria and we thought that may play out in those outer suburban areas. Clearly they haven’t,” she told Channel Nine.

Independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall, who retained her seat, dismissed the idea of forming a third political party with the teal independents but declared the results showed a “new wave of politics” had been delivered by voters.

“It is a real moment for the major parties to rethink the arrogance that they don’t have to consult with communities any more,” she said.

Shorten said the two-party duopoly was now in question.

“There is no doubt there is a fracturing of what is the Australian identity,” he said.

“Different parts of Australia think very differently to each other. The idea you just have two brands [of parties] and that’s it, that’s certainly up for grabs, that theory.”

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