Australian PM Anthony Albanese wins re-election

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's centre-left Labor Party has won the federal election.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton, head of the conservative Liberal Party, conceded defeat after early counting on Saturday night showed his party would lose, and called Mr Albanese to congratulate him on the win. Mr Dutton, a sometimes controversial former cabinet minister and police officer, also lost his seat of Dickson in Brisbane to the Labor candidate.

He had held the seat for 24 years. The Liberal Party leader said he accepted "full responsibility" for his party's loss and "tonight is not the night" he wanted.

"We didn't do well enough during this campaign," he added. Mr Albanese is the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years.

Addressing supporters in Sydney, Mr Albanese said serving as PM is the "greatest honour of my life". "And it is with a deep sense of humility and a profound sense of responsibility that the first thing that I do tonight is to say thank you to the people of Australia," he added.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer congratulated Mr Albanese on his victory, saying: "The UK and Australia are as close as ever - which goes to show that long-distance friendships can be the strongest." Cost-of-living pressures and concerns about US President Donald Trump's volatile policies had dominated the Australian election campaign. Labor had branded the opposition leader "Doge-y Dutton" and accused his party of mimicking Mr Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Mr Albanese's party had argued that under Mr Dutton, services would be slashed to pay for his party's nuclear ambitions. "We've seen the attempt to run American-style politics here of division and pitting Australians against each other and I think that's not the Australian way," Mr Albanese said.

Read more:Australian PM hits out at baby wombat-snatching US influencerEx-husband rejected alleged killer's invitation to poisonous mushrooms lunch Mr Dutton's party blamed government waste by Labor for fuelling inflation and increasing interest rates. He had pledged to axe more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.

Mr Dutton had said he wanted to become the first political leader to oust a first-term government since 1931, when Australians were reeling from the Great Depression. However, that dream was quashed as the electorate sided with the Labor Party.

Both parties had agreed Australia should reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but Mr Dutton said the country should rely on more nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources to deliver less expensive electricity. The two campaigns also both focused on Australia's changing demographics.

The election was the first in which Baby Boomers, born between the end of the Second World War and 1964, were outnumbered by younger voters. Both parties had promised policies to help first-time buyers in a property market out of reach for many..