Australian Federal election 2025 recap: Anthony Albanese wins landslide, hails ‘profound opportunity’

Perhaps trying to suggest he is more a man of the people, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton fuelled up at a Melbourne cafe of election day.

Taking to the MCG, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has posed for photos on election day.

With Victoria poised to potentially decide the fate of the Federal election, could his heavy heady Melbourne photo opp win over footy loving voters?

After five weeks of campaigning, billions of dollars in promises and countless marginal-seat visits by leaders, Australians head to the polls to decide the nation’s political future.

Millions of voters will cast a ballot on Saturday, as challenger Peter Dutton and his coalition camp face a battle pollsters again say is too great for the opposition.

A final YouGov poll released on Saturday puts Labor in the box seat to form majority government.

It will make Anthony Albanese the first prime minister since 2004 to win back-to-back elections.

Labor is ahead 52.2 per cent to 47.8 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, the poll provided to AAP shows.

The survey of more than 3000 people means Labor would increase its vote from the 2022 election by 0.07 per cent.

The coalition would receive 31.4 per cent of the primary vote, followed by Labor on 31.1 per cent, with the Greens on 14.6 per cent.

One Nation would get 8.5 per cent of the primary vote, with 6.7 per cent voting for an independent, while 2.5 per cent would opt for Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots party.

Read the full story.

Peter Dutton has started a Melbourne blitz this morning, pulling into a cafe in Goldstein after a Macnamara pit stop.

The Opposition Leader grabbed a tea with his local candidate Tim Wilson and supporters at Little Sister cafe along Bay Street in Brighton.

The pair talked about issues that voters have raised throughout the campaign at pre-polling stations, including crime and businesses going bust.

“I think you can reduce crime in the suburbs, if you take it seriously,” he said.

Mr Dutton is now up to 21 seats in the last week after announcing an ambitious goal to reach up to 28 since last Sunday.

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Anthony Albanese listened to Peter Dutton’s interview play out on Sunrise before he was on live.

He joked about the Opposition Leader’s use of footy analogies, saying he was about to be trumped when the shots of the MCG came up.

The PM leaned heavily into the footy analogies in his interview with Sunrise.

Every measure of the government’s achievements was distilled into how many MCGs worth of people had benefited.

He went further in a subsequent interview: “It’s no good kicking goals after the siren. You’ve got to do it when the game’s on,” Mr Albanese said.

“And we were ready. We were ready … when that siren sounded from the beginning of the game, and worked, played hard for the last five weeks but we’ve also gone hard for the last three years and we’ll go hard for the next three.”

He revealed he will spend the evening watching the results come in with partner Jodie Haydon, son Nathan, dog Toto and key members of staff before heading to a Labor function “once the result is known”.

He also talked about a secret weapon in his seat of Grayndler: the 200-strong “puppies for Albo” bandanna-wearing dogs in his local neighbourhood.

“I think he (Mr Dutton) is a good family man,” Mr Albanese told Sunrise.

“I get on very well with Kirilly.

“Kirilly has been by his side during the campaign as well. It’s tough on families. Peter is quite clearly very close to his, and that’s a good thing.

“We can have a chat on a personal basis. We don’t take this personally, but we have very different views about the country. We have different values and that comes out in an election campaign.

“But isn’t it good that in a democracy, tonight, whoever wins, the person conceding will make a phone call and we’ll have a peaceful transition? That doesn’t happen in every country in the world, sadly.”

In a refreshing change of pace, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have been asked to say something nice about their opponent.

What Peter Dutton had to say about Anthony Albanese.

“He (Mr Albanese) is leading one of the major parties in our country, which is no easy feat,” Mr Dutton told Sunrise.

“He’s a great dad to his son Nathan as well.

“At a personal level, I have no animosity at all. We’ve spoken about the fact that we’re able to speak with each other cordially and deal with issues that are in the country’s best interests.

“But obviously, we’re fierce competitors on the field, and that’s where we’re at the moment.”

Mr Albanese says he feels more confident this election in himself.

“I do, because I know that I lead a fantastic team,” the Prime Minister said.

“I’m captain of the team, but I’m not playing full forward, centre half, forward and half back.

“We are a team where my entire Cabinet have been out there campaigning very strongly, and I think that’s a big distinction here.

“This campaign has been a long one, but I’ve been working really hard each and every day that I’ve had the privilege to be Prime Minister.

“I’ve got a fantastic team around me, and we’re really confident that we can be even better in the future in the way that we deliver for the Australian people.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the work Australia has done over the last four years is “at stake” today.

“Today is grand final day. We’re into time on and I’ve left nothing on the field,” Mr Albanese said from the MCG.

“I’ll leave nothing on the field over the next three years If I’m re-elected as Australia’s Prime Minister.

“It’s a great privilege to serve Australians. We are the best country on the planet, but we can be even stronger in the future.

“We have a really positive offering to ‘Building Australia’s Future’ at this election. I’m hopeful that we receive a majority government today so that we can build on the foundations that we’ve laid.

“Australia has turned the corner. We’re resilient people and we’ve got inflation down and interest rates are starting to come down.

“Employment is strong, real wages are growing and I want to continue that strong economic work.

“But also the strong social policy foundations we’ve laid. The aged care reform is the biggest in a generation, making sure that every school gets better funding.

“All of that work is at stake.”

“I always wanted to be a policeman,” Mr Dutton told Sunrise.

“As a young kid, my mum was desperate to talk me out of it.

“I’d had an interest in politics. It was obviously sort of in a state of flux in Queensland as we were growing up with the end of the Bjelke-Petersen era, and it was on the front pages.

“But it was also sort of that period of high interest rates.

“So politics was always spoken about at the kitchen table, and that’s probably where the interest generated.

“I came into politics in 2001. So it’s been a long journey. But, you know, I’ve had a great career and I’ve enjoyed it very much.

“But I want to win today so that we can get, you know, the implementation of our policies, which I think are really important for a lot of Australians who, you know, who are really hurting at the moment.”