Australian voters throw out conservative gov’t after 9 years
Incoming PM will attend Quad summit in Japan
SYDNEY (Reuters) — Australia’s Labor Party will form the country’s next government on Monday, as unprecedented support for the Greens and climate-focused independents ended nearly a decade of rule by the conservative coalition.
Center-left Labor remains four to five seats short of a majority of 76 in the 151 seat lower house with about a dozen electorates too close to call, television channels reported on Sunday. Labor may need the support of independents and smaller parties to return to power for the first time since 2013.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he will be sworn in as the 31st prime minister on Monday along with four senior party members, before heading to Tokyo to attend a “Quad” summit on Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Japan and India.
“I do want to change the country. I want to change the way that politics operates in this country,” Albanese told reporters after leaving a cafe in his Sydney suburb, where he was seen taking pictures with supporters.
Several world leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and neighboring New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, congratulated Albanese on his win.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party was toppled in several urban strongholds by independents, mostly women, who campaigned for more action on climate change, integrity and gender equality. The independents and a strong showing from the Greens also ate into Labor’s vote share in many seats.
“I feel like now maybe is the time for us to do something different, and if we can get action on climate change, then that’s going to be quite exciting,” voter Mark Richardson in Sydney’s Wentworth electorate told Reuters. Wentworth is among the traditional Liberal seats snatched by an independent this election.
Morrison, who will step down as leader of the Liberal party, was shown in TV footage at his church on Sunday morning.