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

Across Tasmania, Labor wants to hold onto Lyons, with former State leader Rebecca White seeking to shift into federal politics, while they have nominated sitting senator Anne Urquhart to wrest Braddon from the Liberals.

In the Northern Territory, which elected a Country Liberal government last year, Labor MPs Luke Gosling and Marion Scrymgour are under threat in Solomon and Lingiari respectively.

Labor’s decades-long grip on Canberra is set to continue, but an independent is reportedly threatening to unseat Bean MP David Smith.

Two hours behind the rest of the country, WA delivered government for Anthony Albanese in 2022, and Labor is hopeful the State will stay red.

Central there is Australia’s newest federal electorate of Bullwinkel is a thrilling contest between Labor’s Trish Cook and former Turnbull Government staffer Matt Moran for the Liberals . Adding to the race’s intrigue is former Nationals leader Mia Davies, attempting to win the country party’s first WA seat in more than a decade.

Labor is also fending off the Liberals in Tangney and Pearce, where MP Tracey Roberts is up against former State Liberal MP Jan Norberger in Australia’s most mortgaged electorate.

The Liberals focus has been split during the campaign, fighting to regain Curtin from Kate Chaney, win back Moore from dumped incumbent Ian Goodenough, and fend off a well-funded independent in Forrest.

A stronghold for the Coalition over the past few elections, Queensland is largely expected to remain blue on Saturday night.

Labor needs to turn seats red in order to counter potential losses elsewhere, and has its eyes on Griffith and Brisbane - both won by the Greens in 2022.

The Prime Minister made no secret of his eagerness to attack Peter Dutton’s own seat of Dickson spending time there during the campaign. It also wants to turn the far-north Queensland seat of Leichhardt red too, with incumbent Warren Enstch moving on.

The Coalition wants to take Ryan back from the Greens, and defend its strong position.

As the polls close across Australia at 6pm, most eyes will be on Victoria, which has taken on a new prominence in the political fight this campaign. A collapse in support for Labor, off the back of plummeting polls for the Allen Government, has given the Coalition

Here, the Liberals are hopeful of winning back Aston, lost to Labor in a mid-term by-election, as well as the seats of Kooyong and Goldstein - both won by Teals in 2022, while fending off Labor’s advances in Deakin and the Climate 200-backed Alex Dyson in Wannon.

Labor need to hang onto seats such as Bruce, Chisholm and Dunkley which are being eyed off by the Coalition, but also need to win Wills where a fired-up Greens campaign threatens incumbent MP Peter Khalil.

Both Labor and the Liberals are keen to make gains in Australia’s most populous state, while also on the backfoot in a number of races.

Labor MP Jerome Laxale won the seat of Bennelong - John Howard’s old seat - from the Liberals in 2022 by a narrow 1 per cent margin. But a redraw has pulled the seat to the east into more-Liberal friendly territory, wiping his Labor margin. The seat is narrowly notionally Liberal after a redraw. The Opposition’s candidate is Scott Yung.

In Gilmore, there is a repeat of the 2022 showdown between Labor MP Fiona Phillips and former State Transport Minister Andrew Constance. Phillips won the seat by fewer than 500 votes. The seat sits on NSW’s south coast and is set to come down to the wire.

Labor also wants to turn Fowler red, after a 2022 bid to parachute former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally into the lower house backfired, when independent Dai Le won the seat easily. This time, Tu Le - the local Labor members’ pick last time - is trying to wrest the outer southwest Sydney seat back for Labor.

The Coalition also has its eyes on Robertson and Paterson, as well as the former blue-ribbon seats of Mackellar, Warringah and Wentworth but needs to see off another Teal threat to Paul Fletcher’s old seat of Bradfield.

In SA, Labor is defending Boothby, with MP Louise Miller-Frost coming up against former MP Nicolle Flint, who returned before the last election.

The Government’s best chance is Sturt, held by Liberal MP James Stevens on a tight 0.5 per cent margin in a state dominated by popular local Premier Peter Malinauskas.

An exit poll conducted by Newswire this afternoon showed the Liberals at risk with Stevens on 37.8 per cent of the primary vote.

Labor challenger Claire Clutterham nabbed 36.8 per cent of the vote, and Greens candidate Katie McCusker secured 15.5 per cent.

Mr Stevens’ first preference vote share in the poll marks a five-point fall from his 2022 performance, where he secured 43.1 per cent of primary votes.

How do you win?

A political party needs 76 seats in the House of Representatives to form a majority government

A net loss of just three seats will leave Labor needing to negotiate with the crossbench to form a minority government

The Coalition requires a net gain of 19 seats to govern in its own right, or a uniform swing of about 5.3 per cent

If neither party makes it to the requisite 76 seats, whichever has the most would enter into negotiations with the crossbench first

Published polls suggest Labor is most likely to win government but could fall short of a majority, while the coalition claims its internal data paints a vastly different picture

A minority parliament would be the first since 2010 and only the third since 1943

Where do things stand?

• Labor - 78 seats (including seat redistributions)
• Coalition - 57 seats (including vacant seats after retirement, former MPs who defected to the crossbench and seat redistributions)
• Independents - nine seats
• Greens - four seats
• Katter’s Australian Party - one seat
• Centre Alliance - one seat

What’s changed since the last election?

The Victorian seat of Higgins and the NSW seat of North Sydney have been abolished after a redistribution

Western Australia has gained an electorate with the seat of Bullwinkel in Perth’s outskirts

Nationals MP Andrew Gee left the party to become an independent, while coalition MPs Russell Broadbent and Ian Goodenough also defected to the crossbench

The former Liberal seat of Aston fell to Labor at a 2023 by-election

Booths in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT will close in less than half an hour, with results set to flow in after that.

We will bring you all the results as they come, as well as breaking news, reactions, and behind-the-scenes content on social media.

7NEWS’ coverage is underway with Australia Decides – the Results Live with hosts Michael Usher, Natalie Barr and political editor Mark Riley from 4pm on Saturday.

They will be joined by former Labor leader Bill Shorten, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, Liberal Senator Jane Hume, Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash, Housing Minister Clare O’Neil, political strategist Warren Mundine and Trumpet of Patriots leader Clive Palmer.

From 7pm Usher and Barr, and Hugh Whitfield will be joined by political scientists Simon Jackman and Luke Mansillot providing numbers in real time.

Tim McMillan will lead a team of analysts, researchers, and political insiders with analysis as the results unfold and journalists from each state will deliver live reports from party headquarters and key electorates.

A Labor volunteer campaigning for local MP Carol Berry has become physical at polling booth in the Illawarra seat of Whitlam.

She was caught on camera using her hip and shoulder to shove aside a Liberal volunteer for candidate Nathaniel Smith.

“That’s my spot,” she can be heard saying, before the Liberal volunteer suggests she is “ getting physical.”

She denies the allegation saying instead that she trippe dover her own feet.

Former WA premier Mark McGowan has put back on his politics hat to lend a hand on the Federal election campaign trail, handing out flyers as a volunteer.

The Labor Party said Mr McGowan was unavailable for press today but with The West Australian travelling around Brand — which takes in his former seat of Rockingham — the ex-State boss was spotted.

He revealed that he had been to a few polling places, handing out flyers for Labor as a volunteer.

No doubt, the former premier’s extreme popularity can only do good for the cause.