The fresh MP set to win big from the PM’s Friday call

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has challenged the Greens and the Coalition to respect the outcome of the federal election by passing Labor’s agenda as soon as possible, as he sets up a huge meeting this Friday for MPs to decide his new ministry.

Labor caucus members have been called to Parliament House this Friday for a formal meeting that clears the way for factional decisions over who gains a position in federal cabinet and the wider ministry, and who misses out.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said other parties should respect his mandate.Credit: James Brickwood

The moves are expected to elevate a new Tasmanian MP and former state opposition leader, Rebecca White, and have triggered manoeuvres in the NSW right to defend its positions as well as requests from Queenslanders for more ministries.

But the competing claims are subject to the final count from the federal election because the factional quotas depend on the size of the caucus, and the government is yet to learn how many seats it will hold in parliament amid estimates it will win at least 88 seats.

Credit: Matt Golding

At a confident press conference on Monday, the prime minister warned opponents they would pay a political price if they did not respect the government’s mandate, and backed his argument by pointing to the defeat of Greens and Liberal MPs who stymied the Labor agenda on housing in the last parliament.

The comments formed part of the prime minister’s first remarks at Parliament House since the election and followed a series of high-level phone calls on Monday morning, including talks with US President Donald Trump.

Albanese revealed he would attend the G7 summit in Canada in June, the likely location for his first meeting with Trump since the election. He said his conversation with the president canvassed the AUKUS submarine agreement and the American tariffs on Australian exports.

“I had a very warm and positive conversation with President Trump just a short while ago, when I was at The Lodge, and I thanked him for his very warm message of congratulations,” Albanese said.

“We’ll continue to engage. We will engage with each other on a face-to-face basis at some time in the future, but it was very warm, and I thank him for reaching out in such a positive way.”

Former Labor opposition leader Rebecca White retained a marginal federal seat for her party and could be elevated straight to the ministry.Credit: Joe Armao

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will host the G7 Leaders’ Summit from June 15 to 17 in Kananaskis, Alberta.

Asked if he would visit the United States in June as well, Albanese said: “We’ll wait and see.” He said his first international visit in this term would be to Indonesia to meet President Prabowo Subianto.

Before he tackles international meetings, Albanese will have to decide on his cabinet for the coming term of parliament.

White, the former Tasmanian state Labor leader, is likely to be elevated straight into the 30-member ministry and would join Julie Collins as the second Tasmanian on the frontbench.

Albanese backed White to run for federal parliament, and as the state has added two lower house MPs and potentially an extra senator, party rules would grant the state more ministerial posts.

The New South Wales Right faction may lose a spot in the ministry because of the same rules about proportionality, while the Victorian Left will ask for an extra spot as ministerial promotions are being parcelled out, with Kate Thwaites, Julian Hill and former unionist Ged Kearney all in line for promotion.

And while South Australia is well in the ministry, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Health Minister Mark Butler, Trade Minister Don Farrell and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth – who all hail from the state – are among his close advisers.

West Australian and Queensland MPs will both also push for greater representation of their states in the ministry, given the swings in those states to Labor.

While the international calls dominated the prime minister’s time on Monday morning, he turned to his domestic agenda at Parliament House after a short walk from The Lodge.

The prime minister made a show of walking to work on Monday, shadowed by his security detail and reporters.Credit: James Brickwood

Albanese said he wanted to set up Environment Protection Australia, a key reform that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek had sought in the last parliament, and that it was “nonsense” to say she was being moved out of the job to become the minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

“I want a federal EPA that supports industry but also supports sustainability,” he said. “I think that can be achieved and that’s my objective.”

The Coalition blocked the EPA passing in its original form, and Labor could not reach a compromise with the Greens in the last parliament. The draft law lapsed, so it needs to be brought back in the new parliament.

Albanese named housing as another key agenda and blamed the Greens and the Coalition for blocking the government on changes such as the Help to Buy scheme to guarantee deposits for first home buyers and the Build to Rent tax concessions for property developers.

Without naming former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather and former Liberal MP Michael Sukkar, the housing spokespeople for their parties, he made a clear reference to the defeats in their electorates on Saturday night.

“I note that both the Coalition and the Greens housing spokespeople won’t be in the parliament. I think part of the reason why they’re not in the parliament is that they held up public housing,” he said.

Labor needs parliament to back policies including environmental law, a cut to student debt, a law to safeguard penalty rates and the creation of a strategic reserve with critical minerals. Most of the housing policies have been legislated.

The latest count shows that Labor is on track to gain at least 87 seats and probably more in the House of Representatives, giving it a clear majority and mandate for its election pledges.

“I do want to thank the Australian people for the very clear mandate that they’ve given my government,” Albanese said in his opening remarks in the prime minister’s courtyard of Parliament House.

The government will have to work with the Greens and other crossbenchers in the Senate, although the final count for the upper house may take some time.

Albanese played down the prospect of putting anything to parliament that conflicted with his promises to voters when asked if he would go beyond what he took to the election.

“We’re not getting carried away. We’ve been an orderly government. We’ve been a reform government,” he said.

Albanese said he would consult with all sides of parliament and would show respect to all. As proof of this, he cited his invitation to independent MPs to join him for drinks at The Lodge last February.

“I came out of the womb Labor, I’ll go in the ground Labor when it’s all over,” he said.

“I’m loyal, but I also treat people with respect.”

At the end of his press conference, he also rebuked the media over its coverage of the drinks with independents, which was reported as a “charm offensive” with the crossbench in case there was a hung parliament.

“I mean, the frenzy that was there because I invited crossbenchers to the Lodge with respect – like, frankly, get a bit of maturity about you.”

Read more on Labor’s landslide election win

• Inside story: How the Coalition campaign was a catastrophe months in the making.
• Some seats are still too close to call. Here are all the races that remain in doubt – plus every seat that’s changed hands.
• Interactive: See how your polling booth voted in this election.
• Live results: Track every seat in the country.
• Live blog: Anthony Albanese plans second term, Liberals plan a leadership change.

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