Australia's left-leaning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese triumphed Saturday in national elections, crushing his conservative rival in a contest swayed by economic upheaval and Donald Trump.
Albanese's slow-but-steady leadership resonated at a time of global tumult, analysts said, with voters deserting hard-nosed opposition leader Peter Dutton in droves.
Not only was Albanese's Labor Party on track for an unexpectedly large parliamentary majority, but former police officer Dutton endured the rare humiliation of losing his seat.
"Today the Australian people have voted for Australian values. For fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all," Labor leader Albanese told a raucous crowd in his victory speech.
"In this time of global uncertainty, Australians have chosen optimism and determination," he added.
Elated Labor supporters swigged craft beers emblazoned with Albanese's face at an election party in Sydney, chanting his "Albo" nickname as results were declared on TV.
Albanese has promised to embrace renewable energy, tackle a worsening housing crisis, and pour money into a creaking healthcare system.
Dutton wanted to slash immigration, crack down on crime and ditch a longstanding ban on nuclear power.
US President Trump cast a long shadow over the six-week election campaign, sparking keen global interest in whether his tariff-induced economic chaos would influence the result.
"In times of instability, we expect people to go back to a kind of steady incumbent," University of Sydney politics lecturer Henry Maher told AFP.
Dutton's policy to slash the public service rankled many as similar cuts, led by Elon Musk, brought chaos in the United States.
His flagship proposal to dot the country with nuclear reactors was also widely seen as a liability.
"Our government will choose the Australian way," Albanese said on Saturday night.
"We do not need to beg, or borrow, or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration from overseas."
'Mad as a cut snake'
Hungry voters munched on barbecued "democracy sausages" after casting their ballot -- a polling day rite of passage -- while others in bright swimwear crammed into voting booths after taking an early morning plunge.
Before the first vote was even counted, speculation was already mounting over whether Dutton could survive an election loss.
"We didn't do well enough during this campaign. That much is obvious tonight and I accept full responsibility," Dutton told supporters in a concession speech.
Some pre-vote polls showed Dutton leaking support because of Trump, who he praised this year as a "big thinker" with "gravitas" on the global stage.
"I mean, Donald Trump is as mad as a cut snake, and we all know that," said voter Alan Whitman, 59, before casting his ballot on Saturday.
"And we've got to tiptoe around that."
Voting is compulsory, enforced with fines of Aus$ 20 (US$13), leading to turnouts that top 90 percent.
High prices
As Australians soured on Trump, both Dutton and Albanese took on a more pugnacious tone.
"If I needed to fight with Donald Trump or any other world leader, to advance our nation's interest, I'd do it in a heartbeat," Dutton said in April.
Albanese condemned Trump's tariffs as an act of "economic self-harm" and "not the act of a friend".
Economic concerns have dominated the contest for the many Australian households struggling to pay inflated prices for milk, bread, power, and petrol.
"The cost of living -- it's extremely high at the moment. So, taxes as well, is also another really big thing. Petrol prices, all the basic stuff," human resources manager Robyn Knox told AFP in Brisbane.
Small business owner Jared Bell had similar concerns.
"Our grocery shops are definitely way more expensive than they were a couple of years ago," he said.
Campaign stumbles
Albanese's government has embraced the global push towards decarbonisation, warning of a future in which iron ore and polluting coal exports no longer prop up the economy.
The 36-day campaign was a largely staid affair, but there were a few moments of unscripted levity.
Albanese tumbled backwards off the stage at a heaving campaign rally, while Dutton drew blood when he hit an unsuspecting cameraman in the head with a stray football.
Meanwhile, Australia's right-leaning opposition leader Peter Dutton lost his parliamentary seat , adding humiliation to a night of crushing defeat for his conservative coalition.
The double-loss shattered the 54-year-old conservative's prime ministerial hopes, and abruptly ended a parliamentary career that began in 2001 and led him to challenge for the highest office.
He is the first opposition leader to lose his seat at a federal election.
Dutton, who ran home affairs and defence in previous governments, said he had called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to concede defeat.
"We did not do well enough in this campaign -- that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that," he told Liberal Party campaign supporters in Brisbane.
The former police detective said his Queensland seat of Dickson, which he lost to a Labor Party challenger, "had a one-term curse -- it was only ever held for one term at a time".
The loss of Dutton's seat ejects him from parliament, ending his tenure as opposition leader.
Elated Labor backers swigged craft beers emblazoned with Albanese's face at an election party in Sydney, chanting his "Albo" nickname as results were declared on TV.
Dutton had been accused of borrowing from the Trump playbook in the campaign, outlining plans to axe thousands of public service workers in a drive for efficiency.
The hard-nosed politician wanted to slash immigration, crack down on crime and ditch a longstanding ban on nuclear power, doing away with the need for renewables.
'Stoking division'
And he told voters he would not stand in front of the Aboriginal flag -- an official flag alongside the Australian national flag -- if elected as prime minister.
"We can't be as good as we can be if we're separating people into different groupings," he argued.
Albanese accused him of "stoking division, trying to turn Australians against each other, trying to start culture wars".
As sentiment soured on Trump after he slapped Australia with trade tariffs, Dutton and Albanese both promised to stand up to the US leader in defence of Australia's interests.
But the opposition leader's perceived "Trump-lite" policies had turned some voters off, said Henry Maher, politics lecturer at the University of Sydney.
"Of course, there are other concerns -- cost of living, defence, health and everything else," he told AFP.
"But if we want to understand why a good chunk of the electorate has changed across the election campaign over the last couple of months, I think that's the biggest thing."
Dutton was also forced to abandon a short-lived, coolly received plan to stop public servants working from home, which would have hit women voters in particular.
'Flipped and flopped'
But that and other shifts in the Dutton campaign's policies opened him up to accusations that he could not be relied on to govern.
"They have not gone through a single week of this campaign where they have not flipped and flopped," Albanese said.
The married father of three adult children, Rebecca, Harry and Tom -- Dutton speaks with pride of his blue-collar roots.
"I was born into an outer suburbs working-class family -- mum and dad, a secretary and bricklayer, didn't have much money, but they worked every day of their life," he said in the run-up to the election.
He worked after school delivering papers, mowing lawns and working in a butcher's shop, and said saving enough money to buy a house at the age of 19 was "one of my proudest achievements".