TRANSCRIPT
- Anthony Albanese heads home to celebrate Labor's landlside victory
- Jim Chalmers says dealing with the US-China trade war is a priority
- Reuben Cotter to miss Cowboys' last two games before State of Origin
The prime minister’s victory lap began in his own seat of Grayndler, visiting an old favourite - Leichhardt’s Bar Italia.
Labor has increased its majority through substantial swings across all states, picking up marginal seats and formerly coalition strongholds.
The Coalition saw its lowest-ever primary vote and could record a historic low number of seats, as the Liberals begin the process of electing a new leader.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Mr Albanese expressed his sympathy for the opposition leader.
"I feel for Peter Dutton, he was generous in his comments. I wish him and Kirilly and his family all the best. It's a tough business, politics, there's no doubt about that, and it would have been a tough night for Peter."
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Labor has picked up several Senate seats at the federal election, paving the way for an easier implementation of its second term agenda.
Labor currently looks likely to pick up three more seats at the Coalition's expense, with gains in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.
Out of a total 76, Labor currently stands on 28 seats, the coalition on 26, while the Greens are on 11 and the remainder are being won by minor parties and independents.
While Labor will still need to negotiate with the crossbench to pass laws in the upper house, they will only have to win support of the Greens to get over the line of 39 seats needed for a majority.
Speaking to Sky News, Nationals leader David Littleproud says Labor played politics better.
"I think what, again, Anthony Albanese and the Labor team were able to do was really tap into these so these issues, and then paint Peter and destroy his character. They were smick. You've just got to say, when they found that niche, they actually opened it up, and they opened up that crack and really let the floodgates open and I think there's a lesson in how they did politics. They did a lot better than us and you've got to acknowledge that."
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the government will prioritise dealing with the U-S-China trade war following an election campaign influenced by concerns over the global economy.
Until March, polls were showing Labor trailing the opposition for nine months, before flipping when the Coalition unveiled plans to slash the federal workforce in a move compared to U-S President Trump's federal cuts.
Following the Trump administration's announcement of global tariffs on April 2, increasing voter unease saw concerns spike about the future global economy.
Speaking to Sky News, Trade Minister Don Farrell says the Albanese government will continue fighting for free trade.
"We won't give up on the United States. They're an important trading partner. We'll continue to advocate for free and fair trade with the Americans, and we'll continue to persist with trying to convince the Americans that the path that they're going down on in terms of tariffs is the wrong path."
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Israeli media is reporting that Israel has issued orders to call up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of an expanded military assault in Gaza.
Several outlets are reporting that the military has begun sending orders for reservists to replace soldiers in Israel and the West Bank, so they can be redeployed to Gaza.
In Tel Aviv, family members of Israeli hostages, like Omri Lifshitz, are protesting and calling for the removal of the Israeli Prime Minister.
"The main issue is that the military operation is growing stronger and stronger, and they’re talking about bringing more troops and reserves. We’re really afraid this will kill most of most of the hostages who are still alive and bury the other ones forever."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has attacked truce mediator Qatar, accusing the state of playing both sides and using what he calls 'double talk'.
Israel has also blocked all aid deliveries to Gaza since March 2, with warnings from U-N agencies of a worsening humanitarian disaster.
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To sport now...
Reuben Cotter is set to miss North Queensland's last two games before State of Origin after being charged for a high tackle.
All eyes had been on how the N-R-L would police high tackles at Magic Round after 18 temporary penalties last weekend.
While the league's match review committee and on-field referees were on the same page for the first four games of the weekend, Cotter was not penalised for his shot but has now received a grade-two careless high-tackle charge.
With an early guilty plea, Cotter will miss clashes against Penrith and Manly, the Cowboys' last two games before Billy Slater names his Queensland team for the Origin series opener.
