Federal election 2025: Albanese finds his mojo with passionate pitch for Labor government

Labor’s central election mantras of stronger Medicare, cheaper childcare, free TAFE and a tax cut were on high rotation as Anthony Albanese made a three-State blitz on the final day of campaigning — in a last ditch bid to persuade voters to stick with him in uncertain times.

The Prime Minister finished his election tilt with confidence, a passionate plea for a second term, and a poke in the eye for his opponent.

But he also faced a confrontation of his own at a polling booth.

Five weeks ago Mr Albanses kicked off his campaign with a visit to Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson.

And he was back there on Friday book-ending his trail at the marginal Queensland electorate, where he thanked those backing Labor’s Ali France in her third attempt at unseating the Opposition Leader.

Labor thinks it has the best chance since 2001 at winning Dickson but even if it can’t get over the line, insiders are still pleased they’ve forced Mr Dutton to spend more time and money there than the Liberals would have wanted.

In neighbouring Longman, Mr Albanese visited an urgent care clinic to underscore what he says Labor offers Australians.

“In uncertain times, you can be certain that Labor has a plan to build Australia’s future, and you can be certain that the Coalition have cuts and chaos as (with) the way that they’ve run this campaign,” he said.

He declared he was enjoying the campaign but made a passionate case that, for him, even better then campaigning was governing and being able to get things done for Australians.

“I was delighted to go into the school yesterday, I’m delighted to be back here and to see what we’ve achieved,” he said.

“That’s the good thing, right? You come during the last campaign, you make announcements about an urgent care clinic, and then you come here and you see it, you talk to the doctors, you talk to the nurses.

“Last time I talked to patients here (earlier this year) . . .you get that sense of achievement and engagement.”

The Prime Minister has been in campaign mode not for the 37 days since the writs were issued, but since the start of January — which is probably why he joked to the Perth school students on Thursday it felt like 11 years and then to a radio host on Friday that it had been more like 37 years.

And despite the gruelling nature of campaigning, it’s clear he has his mojo back and is unafraid to show the fire in his belly about the Labor cause.

He said that came just from being himself, before saying of his opponent: “We’re very different people.”

Reflecting on his comments three years ago that Labor needed more than one term to bed down the things it wanted to do, Mr Albanese launched a blistering attack on Mr Dutton’s opposition.

“My opponent is fearful of the present and petrified of the future,” he said, his voice filling with emotion.

“Government is serious. It makes a difference to people’s lives. It makes a difference in health and education, but it also makes a difference in the macro, in how you manage an economy, in whether you are part of a transition with energy security, renewables, backed by gas, backed by batteries.

“Or you can have this absolute nonsense, treating the Australian people with contempt, sitting back, wherever he was sitting, whatever he was doing for three years, not coming up with any alternative policies, giving Budget replies without any costings, doing a Defence policy with no detail.

“I mean, these people are just not ready. They are just not ready for government. Australia deserves better, and I’ll give them better.”

But it was clear not everyone agreed. Mr Albanese was accosted by an irate woman at a pre-polling centre in Dunkley about the halving of Medicare-subsidised psychologist sessions.

Dani, who declined to give her surname and who was accompanied by Liberal volunteers, initially shook Mr Albanese’s hand before starting to shout that people were “suffering mentally” after Victoria’s long COVID lockdowns.

“20 sessions we used to get, now we get 10,” she said.

“Where’s the help for mental health? What about my teenage daughter? No one gives a s..., thanks to your mate Dan Andrews. He ruined this State.”

He received a warmer from another woman, Nicole Criddle, who rushed out to greet the Prime Minister after seeing the media pack walk past her house.

“We’re so happy it’s you and not Dutton,” she told him, while taking a photo with the PM, his partner Jodie Haydon and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

“Oh my god, there’s so much press, you do this all the time, you’re amazing.”

But Mr Albanese curtailed his visit to the booth after the heckling, heading off again after just a couple of minutes.

“Now he’s gone again,” Liberal candidate Nathan Conroy loudly told people waiting to vote.

Labor is hopeful of holding onto Dunkley, although recognises it’s a tight contest. Insiders are more pessimistic about their chances in nearby Aston, which the party won from the Coalition in a rare by-election victory in 2023.

The stop in Dunkley was the fifth State in Mr Albanese’s final 48-hour blitz ahead of polling day.

After the early start in Brisbane on Friday, he also headed to Tasmania for a brief visit to Braddon, which the party wants to take off the Liberals after the retirement of MP Gavin Pearce.

The Prime Minister met Anne Urquhart, who is seeking to jump from the Senate to the Lower House, for a coffee in the Devonport pedestrian shopping mall.

Labor volunteer Syed Mahsein was celebrating his 70th birthday and was thrilled to meet a political celebrity to mark it.

“Anthony travels around and visits everybody on their 70th birthday,” Ms Haydon joked.

“All part of the service!” Mr Albanese chimed in.

The final polls for the campaign show Labor is on track for victory on Saturday but is unlikely to get the majority government Mr Albanese is still aiming for.

The Newspoll published on Friday evening showed Labor with 52.5 per cent of the two-party preferred to the Coalition’s 47.5 per cent.

Labor’s primary was at 33 per cent — just a smidge over what the party achieved in the 2022 poll — while the Coalition’s was lower than the last election on 34 per cent.

A Freshwater poll published in Friday’s Australian Financial Review showed the same primary vote for Labor and 37 per cent for the Liberals, resulting in a 51.5-49.5 two-party preferred with Labor still ahead.

Mr Albanese’s language has changed during this final campaign blitz to say he is about “maximising” Labor’s position, instead of his earlier declarations that he was all about winning a majority.

“I don’t want to lose any seats, obviously. We’re on 78 at the moment. That’s my objective,” he said.

But he continued to rule out doing any deals with Greens or other crossbenchers in exchange for their backing in a hung Parliament, as did Mr Dutton.

Labor is privately confident it can hold on to the nine seats it won in WA in 2022, although the Liberals still insist Pearce is in their sights.

A three-way contest in Bullwinkel is expected by both sides to come down to a narrow race between Labor and the Liberals, with conservative Matt Moran tipped the probable victor.

And in Curtin where independent Kate Chaney is fighting off Liberal challenger Tom White, the contest has tightened considerably over the past week, making few political insiders confident in any outcome.