Federal election 2025: Paul Murray: Australia is the biggest loser in Labor’s landslide win

It will take some time for the nation to digest what this election result really means.

When more voters don’t want either of the established major parties to govern than want each of them individually, the country can only remain divided and dispirited.

Labor has had a convincing win, but the primary votes show only a third of people wanted it. Who really benefits from an unpopular government?

The best thing from this election is that Labor will not be captive to either the dangerous ideology of the Greens or the opportunistic predations of the teal crossbenchers.

When a clearer picture emerges, none of it is likely to be good for the Liberal Party which blew its chances and destroyed its leader.

They’re not dead yet, but the country is veering uncertainly to the left.

However, if this “pox on both your houses” trend continues, Australia will be less able to maintain cohesive national policies to deal with the massive problems we face in the immediate future.

It is sad for the nation’s future that the election became a choice between two main contenders who few really liked. The Prime Minister shamelessly lied to retain power, but in the end was seen as the lesser of two evils to enough electors.

People who vote for mediocrity can only expect a mediocre result. Very few other than tribal adherents say Labor deserved re-election on the basis of its first term performance.

Neither contender was prepared to address the biggest national challenges with courage. They just squabbled.

But voters were faced with a binary choice of winner regardless of the diversity in voting choices. That’s strangely seen as a democratic boon, which in reality adds little to securing a better government.

Anthony Albanese didn’t offer anything different in terms of direction and policy innovation, just giveways and mounting debt that he would not address with a cogent solution.

The Liberals decided to present someone with Peter Dutton’s reputation as Labor-lite. No wonder the One Nation vote is up. Those worried about Albanese, who might have considered Dutton as a conviction politician, smelled a rat.

Neither contender was prepared to address the biggest national challenges with courage. They just squabbled.

They were confined by the knowledge that recent elections in Australia have been dominated by one element that has nothing to do with policies or performance in government: fear.

Australians are unsettled by the constant disruptions of modern life, making them highly susceptible to scare campaigning.

The nuclear policy was a disaster for the Liberals, not because it was wrong – in fact it will be vital to Australia’s energy future and the left’s immature opposition will eventually be swept aside by necessity – but because they didn’t have a clue how to sell it.

Even with an adequate economic analysis, they were never on the front foot. Unsurprisingly, that too turned against them in the face of a concerted fear campaign.

It’s unproven that Australians wouldn’t throw out a first term government because it hasn’t happened for 90 years. They just need a believable alternative.

Albanese got some protection from his incumbency and was the lucky recipient of the Trump effect. Correlation is not causation, but the turn in Dutton’s fortunes seems tied to the US President’s tariff war.

At least Trump is clear about what he’s fighting for. Even though the Liberal campaign was poor, it is very hard for any Opposition to get momentum when Labor controls the media narrative.

But the Liberals were strangely unprepared for the mud they knew was going to be slung and offered too little to too few.