Anthony Albanese and his centre-left Labor Party stormed to a majority win in Australia’s federal election on Saturday, receiving a strengthened mandate from voters in an election shaped by cost-of-living concerns, housing, health and child care, the environment, and the long shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Labor nabbed 90 seats in Australia’s lower house, comfortably exceeding the 76 needed for a majority. In the previous election in 2022, the party won 77 seats.
The rival Coalition — a long-standing conservative alliance of the Liberal and National parties — was reduced to 40 seats, a loss of 18 seats compared to 2022. Labor also added three seats in the country’s concurrent senate election, boosting its total to 28 out of 76.
Albanese can be expected to continue strengthening relationships with traditional partners such as Canada, New Zealand, the U.S., and the U.K., as well as ASEAN, while maintaining dialogue with China.
In 2024, Australia exported roughly C$175 billion worth of goods and services to China, accounting for more than 30 per cent of Australia’s total exports. The day after the election, Labor’s finance lead, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, said the government would prioritize dealing with the fallout of the U.S.-China trade war.
The ‘Trump Bump’
To varying degrees, Trump helped to shape the outcome of both the Canadian and Australian elections. A spokesperson for Australia's Liberal Party told media that Trump contributed to the Coalition’s undoing: "It was devastating in Canada for the conservatives.... I think it has been a factor here.”
The elections shared other similarities: Coalition leader Peter Dutton lost the seat he had held for two decades, mirroring the shock defeat of Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre in his long-held riding of Carleton. Both Canada’s Liberals and Australia’s Labor Party mounted political comebacks, too: the Liberals, before the January resignation of leader Justin Trudeau, were polling at a lowly 20 per cent (a figure more than doubled in the April 28 election). A February poll, meanwhile, put Albanese’s popularity at minus 21, an all-time low.
Of course, it wasn’t a perfect ‘mirror’: the previously unelected Liberal leader, Mark Carney, won a minority of seats and turned the threat of Trump into a key part of his platform and pitch. The incumbent Albanese, who won in a landslide, made no mention of Trump in his campaign plan, and has committed not to retaliate against U.S. tariffs.
Carney and Albanese spoke on Sunday. Carney underlined the importance of “maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to a brief Canadian readout. Albanese also confirmed this week that he accepted an invitation from Carney to attend the G7 leaders’ summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June.
Singaporeans opt for stability
Singaporeans headed to the polls on the same day as Australians, returning the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to power for the 14th election in a row. In his first election as party leader, incumbent Lawrence Wong led the PAP in securing 87 of the 97 parliamentary seats available. The PAP’s vote share climbed from 61.2 per cent to 65.6 per cent compared to the last election.
The opposition Workers’ Party held its 10 seats. The results were widely seen as a vote for stability as Singapore contends with tariffs and a worsening economic outlook.
