The winner of the Australian federal election for 2022 has been announced, with Anthony Albanese to become the new Prime Minister of Australia.
Speaking to media outside his Sydney home, the Prime Minister elect said: “I think people want to come together, look for our common interest, look towards that sense of common purpose.
“I think people have had enough of division. What they want is to come together as a nation and I intend to lead that.”
It was a long battle between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who had been campaigning against each other for weeks.
Live debates devolved into shouting matches and the two would-be 2022 leaders took aim at everything from policies to appearances in the leadup to the election.
As of 10:30pm on Saturday night outlets around the nation were reporting the win would go to Albanese’s Labour party, with ABC, Nine and more declaring Mr Albanese the nation’s new elected leader.
Shortly after Mr Morrison called Mr Albanese to concede the election, via the ABC, later saying: “I congratulate Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party and I wish him and the Labor Party and I wish him and his government all the very best.”
‘Scomo’ and ‘Albo’ in 2020.
(Image: Getty)In his concession speech, Mr Morrison announced his plans to hand over leadership of the Liberal Party in the next party room meeting following his election loss.
“I, as leader, take responsibility for the wins and the losses,” the now former PM said.
“That is the burden and that is the responsibility of leadership and, as a result, I will be handing over the leadership at the next party room meeting to ensure that the party can be taken forward under new leadership, which is the appropriate thing to do.
“I have had the great privilege to lead this great party and to lead this great nation and the reason I have been able to do that is I have been supported by so many and I want to thank all of those colleagues tonight for all of their great work in service of their country.”
Reflecting on the election, Bill Shorten said during Nine’s coverage: “I’ve got no doubt the single biggest issue in this election, in my opinion, was Scott Morrison. It was a referendum on Scott Morrison.”
Polls showed a slight preference for Albanese’s Labour government to win the election in the days before voting, but there was no guarantee.
In 2019, almost all major polls failed to predict Mr Morrison’s re-election and though new strategies were implemented to prevent a repeat event, the public was divided on who would win.
And unlike countries like the US, Australia has no maximum term of service, meaning a Prime Minister can theoretically lead for decades if they are re-elected back-to-back.
WATCH: Scott Morrison wins the election in 2019. Story continues after video.
It would be a good job to have for multiple terms; after all, the PM is paid a whopping $549,250 salary as of July 2019.
That includes a base salary of $211,250 which all Members of Parliament are paid, as well as an additional 160 per cent “additional salary” for being the Prime Minister.
It’s a pretty full-on job, so the salary makes more sense in light of the fact whoever is in the role has to lead the country through everything from devastating bushfires to unprecedented global pandemics.
The PM also gets access to two official residences during their term in office; The Lodge in Canberra, the primary residence, and Kirribilli House in Sydney.
Both are fully staffed and catered for the PM and their family, come with security facilities – the works.
