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Australia’s center-left Labor Party retains power in vote seen as test of anti-Trump sentiment
By Hilary Whiteman and Angus Watson, CNN
Updated: 9:51 AM EDT, Sat May 3, 2025
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has secured a second term in office in what appears to be an election wipeout for his conservative rivals, as voters chose stability over change against a backdrop of global turmoil inflicted by US President Donald Trump.
The Labor victory makes Albanese the first Australian Prime Minister to win re-election for two decades and he will start his second term with a much stronger mandate than he secured in 2022.
A clearly emotional Albanese took the stage to cheers just before 10 p.m. local time to thank Australians for choosing a majority Labor government with at least 87 seats in the 150-seat lower house, according to the most recent estimates.
“In this time of global uncertainty, Australians have chosen optimism and determination,” Albanese said, at the Labor victory party in Sydney.
Australia’s return of a left-leaning government follows Canada’s similar sharp swing towards Mark Carney’s Liberal Party, another governing party whose fortunes were transformed by Trump. And the loss of Dutton’s seat mirrors that of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.
While Australia wasn’t facing the same threats to its sovereignty as Canada, Trump’s global tariffs and policy swings have undermined Australians’ trust in the US, according to recent surveys.