Election day/night is here! Brace yourself as we deliver all the news on the Albo v Scomo showdown. Central News has reporters out and about at polling places and election night parties around Sydney to report the events as they are unfolding. Our election team includes Fred Pawle, Eve Cogan, James Fitzgerald-Sice, Bailey Angus, Taylor Ryan, Monica Attia, Emilia Roux, Jasmin Williams, Pamela Rontziokos, Rex Siu, Michael Ryan, Brianna Hedges, Hannah Pyun and Tabitha Lay.

12.10pm: Well that’s it from us here at Central News. Good night and thanks for tuning in!

12.06pm: Albanese announces Linda Burney as the next Indigenous Affairs Minister and promises to enact the Uluru Statement of the Heart – a treaty of Indigenous rights. He also says Labor will set up the anti-corruption commission the Morrison government repeatedly baulked at.

Albanese thanked his late mother Mary-Anne.

“In Australia the doors of opportunity are open to us all,” he said. “And like every other Labor government we’ll just widen that door a bit more.”

The new prime minister says his team will get to work from Monday.Anthony Albanese

11.51pm: Anthony Albanese takes the stage with his wife and Penny Wong. “I say to me fellow Australians ‘thank you for this extraordinary  honour’.

“Tonight the Australian people have voted for change. It’s an honour to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st prime minister of Australia. My labor team will work every day to bring this country together and I will work to bring it together as hard working and caring as the Australian people are themselves,” he said.

“It says a lot about Australia that the son a of a single mum who grew up in public housing can stand before you as Australia’s next prime minister. Every parent wants more for the next generation than they had. My mother wanted a better life for me and I hope I inspire people to reach for the stars.”

11.40pm: Penny Wong promises to fulfil the Uluru statement of the heart and calls the new government one “for women” and “a government that looks to unify and bring people together, not to divide.

“A Labor government, an Albanese Labor government. Australians chose hope and the man who embodies that hope is my friend, our leader Anthony Albanese.”

 

11.22pm: Albo has emerged from his Marrickville pied-à-terre. He says: “I’m ready to serve.”

Anthony Albanese

11.07pm: So far Labor looks to have 72 seats out of the 76 needed for outright victory, the Coalition has 52, with its vote gutted by the Teal independents. Worth remembering there are a lot of postal votes still left to count that might make a difference in the close contests. It looks like the tactic to parachute in Kristina Keneally to the safe Labor seat of Fowler has backfired, with independent candidate Dai Le likely to take the seat.

11.04pm: Now just awaiting the arrival of the Labor leader Anthony Albanese, who we are told may still not have left home.

10.50pm: Scott Morrison gives his concession speech at the Liberal’s election night party at the Fullerton Hotel in Martin Place, central Sydney. Flanked by Jenny and his daughters, it’s a thorough listing of the achievements of his government, as he sees it. Bullish as ever. He thanks his family, Barnaby Joyce and Josh Frydenberg (the pair enjoyed one of the great bromances in Australian politics – our words, not Scott’s).

  • Confirms he will hand over leadership at the next partyroom meeting but remain in parliament.
  • Says he looks forward to the return of a Coalition government in four years.
  • “It is a difficult night for Liberals and Nationals around the country as nights like this always are. They are humbling but so is victory. Victory is also humbling and always should be.”

Scott Morrison

10.42pm: It’s all over red rover. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has called Anthony Albanese to concede defeat. This will go someway to assuaging all those Labor supporters still triggered by Bill Shorten’s surprise loss three years ago.

10.38pm: Potential future Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s speech not being received with the same enthusiasm at the Greens’ Sydney election party.

10.04pm: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg talking now. Says it’s still “mathematically possible” for him to win in Kooyong but will be very difficult. He’s not conceding but he’s giving a speech that sounds like ‘goodbye’.

“Amy has been an extraordinary mum and maybe after tonight I get a bit more time to be an extraordinary dad.”

Nice speech from Frydenberg. Classy.

10pm: Grayndler’s Greens candidate talks about the Greens huge doorknocking campaign this election.

9.59pm: There are going to be some big scalps tonight. Already some significant casualties, including Australia’s first Indigenous Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Ken Wyatt, who looks like he’s lost his seat in Hasluck in WA, where there’s been a 9.9 per cent swing to Labor.

9.49pm: The faithful are firing up at the Labor election night party in Canterbury-Bankstown.

9.41pm: Some very happy Greens tonight. Senate candidate David Shoebridge looking to the future.

9.39pm: Nine now also calling the election for Albanese. Labor hasn’t lost a seat yet tonight and have picked up seven.

9.29pm: The ABC is calling the election for Anthony Albanese – he will be the 31st prime minister of Australia.

9.17pm: Trent Zimmerman concedes the previously safe Liberal seat of North Sydney; Greens leader Adam Bandt retains his seat of Melbourne; Independent Zoe Daniel has ousted liberal Tim Wilson in Goldstein.

  • With 43 per cent of the vote counted the ABC is predicting the ALP will take the House of Representatives with 70 seats, and the Coalition unlikely to reach 65.
  • Looking at an 8.4 per cent swing to Labor in Western Australia.

9.14pm: Greens looking good!

8.52pm: Speeches starting at the Greens…

8.45pm: Huge cheers coming from the crowd here at Greens HQ with the news of independent candidate Zoe Daniels overtaking liberal candidate Tim Wilson in Goldstein.

8.36pm: Upbeat mood at Greens HQ election night party in Sydney.

8.21pm: Independent Allegra Spender has won the Wentworth seat from Liberal Dave Sharma.

8.20pm: Check out our election night podcast interview with TikTok satirists Sammy and Kristo from Mates Rates. Driving Me Nuts hosts Emilia Roux and Taylor Ryan get the lowdown on taking off Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese while driving around Sydney.

7.27pm: A massive cheer from the crowd here at Labor HQ with the initial results coming out of Wentworth showing Allegra Spender ahead of Dave Sharma.

6.56pm: Student journos Fred Pawle and Bailey Angus are reporting from Labor’s election night party in Sydney’s inner west.

6.20pm: Check out Pamela Rontziokos’s exclusive story on the United Australia party’s $70 million ad campaign and questions over whether its video content was sourced from cheap overseas sites, rather than here in Australia.

Clive Palmer’s election campaign ads not so Australian

4.00pm: Some of our favourite pictures showcasing the Australian election spirit.

2.59pm: Check out UTS student Michael Ryan’s take on the government’s $250 cost of living handout, in this Central News TikTok.

@CentralNewsUTS TikTok

TikTok

 

2.34pm: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has cast his vote at the Lilli Pilli primary school in his electorate of Cook. The PM was joined by his wife and two children.

2.30pm: The federal court has ruled that misleading green signs urging voters to ‘put labor last’ be removed from various polling stations. The signs that were displayed in electorates of Higgins, McEwan and Hawke were said to have been ‘impersonating the Australian Greens’ and ‘asking Greens voters to put Labor last’ according to a statement by the ALP.

2.04pm: Voters are advised to ‘rug up’ this chilly Election Day… but some just aren’t feeling the cold in their Budgie Smugglers. Right across the nation, brave voters can post to social media with the hashtag #SmugglersDecide when they go to vote for the chance to win a brand new pair. Are you brave enough? The competition closes at 3 pm today.

1.45pm: Eve Cogan is reporting live in North Bondi with some conflicting opinions about election priorities…

 

11.50 am: Reporter James Fitzgerald Sice at Glenbrook in the marginal seat of Macquarie chatting to locals about key issues this election.

9.24am: Let them eat cake! Plenty of sweet treats on display so you can have your fill of the political issues. Will the Coalition rise to the occasion or collapse like a souffle?

9.20am: Fred Pawle is at Camdenville Public School polling station talking to voters. Camdenville PS is known for its democracy sausage sizzle and satirical cake stall.