SYDNEY, May 21 (ABC): Centre-left leader Anthony Albanese claimed victory in Australia’s general election Saturday, as voters angered by climate inaction pulled the plug on a decade of conservative rule.
“The Australian people have voted for change” said the 59-year-old Labor leader, promising a less pugilistic form of leadership and a raft of reforms to make the country fairer and greener.
With almost two-thirds of the votes counted, Albanese was set to lead the largest party in parliament, but had yet to secure an outright majority.
The election was a stinging rebuke for Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who admitted it was a “difficult” and “humbling” night for his conservative coalition.
His Liberals lost seats to Labor across the country, but they suffered the most painful defeat at the hands of climate-focused independent candidates in a string of once ultra-safe conservative urban seats.
The so-called “teals” — mostly women — ran on pro-environment, anti-corruption and pro-gender equality tickets.
“What we have achieved here is extraordinary,” said Zoe Daniels, an independent who claimed victory in a once safe Liberal seat in Melbourne.
The teals tapped into deep seated anger in wealthy suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne at Morrison’s unbridled support for the coal industry, despite three years of climate-worsened bushfires, drought and floods that upended life for millions.
ACTreasurer Josh Frydenberg was in danger of becoming their biggest scalp — all but conceding as his seat in Melbourne was projected to fall to teal independent Monique Ryan.