The Australian Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has secured a second term in power in the country's federal election, according to projections from the Australian Electoral Commission on Saturday.
On Saturday, polls opened at more than 7,000 locations across the country, with voters set to decide whether Albanese's center-left Labor Party would govern for a second term or if the conservative coalition of the Liberal and National Parties, led by Peter Dutton, would win power.
The official count conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission put Labor ahead of the conservative Coalition of the Liberal and National Parties 56.4-43.6 on a two-party basis as of Saturday night, with voters swinging towards the government across the country.
This makes Albanese the first leader of either major party to win consecutive elections since 2004.
Delivering his victory speech at a Labor event in his native Sydney, Albanese described serving as prime minister as the "greatest honor" of his life.
Addressing supporters at an election night event in Brisbane earlier, Dutton said that he had called Albanese to concede defeat.
Voting in the election is mandatory for all Australian citizens aged 18 and over who are registered on the electoral roll, which is maintained by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Those who fail to vote face small administrative fines.
When Australians vote in federal elections, they fill in two ballot papers, one for the lower house of the federal parliament, the House of Representatives, and one for the upper house, the Senate.
All 150 seats in the lower house will be filled at the election, as well as 40 out of 76 seats in the Senate. Each lower house seat represents an electorate, geographic divisions that each contain approximately the same number of voters, while Senators represent their state or territory.
Australian Labor Party led by PM Albanese wins federal election
