Australia election: PM Scott Morrison’s era comes to end

After Scott Morrison accepted defeat, Australia’s opposition Labor Party has taken power for the first time since 2007, ending almost a decade of conservative government.

However, both the ruling coalition and the opposition are losing territory to Greens and independents, potentially resulting in a hung parliament.

After Mr. Morrison’s conservative Liberal Party failed to secure the required 76 seats for a majority in the 151-seat parliament, the party’s leader, Anthony Albanese, will become Prime Minister.
Labor won 72 seats, but it may need the cooperation of smaller independent parties to form a government, such as the Greens or so-called “teal independents,” who ran on policies of honesty, equality, and climate change mitigation.

As a record amount of postal ballots are counted, final results may take some time.

Mr Morrison made the country’s lowest unemployment in nearly half a century the centrepiece of his campaign’s final hours, as Labor focused on soaring inflation and weak wage growth.

Conceding defeat in Sydney, he said: “Tonight I have spoken to the leader of the opposition and the incoming prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and I’ve congratulated him on his election victory this evening.”