Federal election 2025: Anthony Albanese casts vote in his ‘hood’ as nation decides fate

The Prime Minister has cast the only vote he can truly control as voting enters its final hours to decide who governs the nation.

Volunteers, a media pack and local voters surrounded Anthony Albanese at Marrickville West Public School when he joined the millions of Australians who submitted their ballot on Saturday amid cake stalls and sausage sizzles.

After officials issued his ballots, Mr Albanese took his place in a booth next to his son Nathan and spent less than a minute filling in his paper.

Asked whether he would win, the prime minister exuded confidence in his home electorate of Grayndler.

“Marrickville West, this is my hood,” he said.

“If we don’t win this booth, we’re in trouble.”

He turned to photographers before dropping the green and white ballots in their respective boxes, doing better than his son, who almost cast his vote in the wrong box before the prime minister intervened.

Mr Albanese has remained determine to campaign until polls close at 6pm and visited another voting centre in the neighbouring electorate of Reid in his last appearance before the count begins.

“It’s now up to the people. We will wait and see what the outcome is,” Mr Albanese said.

“We should be proud we live in a vibrant democracy and everyone gets one vote, one value.”

After, presumably, writing a “1” next to his own name in his electorate, the prime minister joined fiancee Jodie Haydon and his dog Toto on the way out, while Greens volunteers yelled “ceasefire now” in Mr Albanese’s direction.

Labor wasn’t without its supporters, with one young Australian attempting to start an “Albo” chant.

But as protesters and advocates closed in, the cavoodle got caught in the crossfire and let out a piercing yelp as it was accidentally stepped on.

Mr Albanese has held the inner-city Sydney electorate since 1996 and it now sits on a 17.3 per cent margin over the Greens.

Though his seat is safe, broader election polling has kept Labor on its toes as a turn towards third parties and independents opens the possibility of a minority government

The prime minister started his day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground before visiting a polling booth in the city’s east and heading to Sydney.

After five weeks of campaigning, with more than 70 stops across every state and territory, everything comes down to Saturday’s poll.

An estimated 10 million people are expected to cast their ballot on election day.

More than seven million had already voted during the two-week pre-poll period.