Anthony Albanese has won the 2022 Australia federal election with wide margin, to be declared the new prime minister of the country,

Albanese will return Labor from the political wilderness to government, seizing power from the Coalition after it has been almost a decade in office.

While it remains unclear if Labor can form a majority, the ALP is on track to finish ahead of the Coalition and more likely to reach a minority government, the ABC has projected.

“The Coalition cannot get into government,” ABC election analyst Antony Green said.

This win means Mr Albanese will replace Scott Morrison as Prime Minister, making him the 31st person to hold the nation’s top job.

The son of a single parent who grew up in public housing, Mr Albanese has reached the pinnacle of his career after 26 years in the parliament.

The Liberal Party has suffered major losses to so-called “teal” independents, which look to take the seats of Mackellar, Goldstein, North Sydney.

Labor has also picked up Liberal seats in Reid, in Sydney, and Chisholm, in Melbourne, while the Coalition has lost the seat of Ryan, in Brisbane, to the Greens.

But two Labor front benchers look to be in a fight to retain their seats, with Terri Butler in Griffiths, in Brisbane, and Senator Kristina Keneally, seeking to move to the Lower House seat of Fowler, in western Sydney, struggling to hold on.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said his Liberals needed to take stock from the swings it was seeing against it in once-safe seats.

“It is a clear problem that we are losing seats that are heartland seats, that have defined the Liberal Party for generations,” he said.

“And so, if we lose those seats, it is not certain that we will, but there is clearly a big movement against us and there is clearly a big message in it, and we need to heed that message.” (ABC)

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