The Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party’s landslide victory in the 2025 federal election marks a historic moment. Anthony Albanese joins Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke as one of only three Labor leaders to secure consecutive terms. This chapter analyses the drivers behind Labor’s significant win, in the wider context of electoral volatility and long-term party adjustments. While exogenous factors such as the collapse of the Coalition and the Trump presidency played a role, we focus our analysis on three interconnected elements of Labor’s performance: the repercussions from its 2019 defeat, its record in office from 2022 to 2025 and its disciplined campaign in 2025. Drawing on other recent centre-left governments, we also make some observations about the future of the Albanese government. While Labor’s strategy was electorally effective, its ability to maintain a transformative policy agenda in the long term remains uncertain.