Live: Anthony Albanese sworn in as 31st Prime Minister of Australia

Which seats are still in doubt?

Twelve seats remain in doubt, and with Labor needing four more seats to form a majority government, there’s a lot riding on them.

The Labor Party currently has 72 lower house seats and needs to get to 76 to govern without the help of crossbenchers.

The seats still in doubt are:

• Bass
• Bennelong
• Brisbane
• Cowper
• Deakin
• Gilmore
• Lyons
• Macnamara
• Menzies
• Moore
• Richmond
• Sturt

This article takes a look at how things are currently tracking in those seats.

Successful independent Dai Le says it was ‘arrogant’ of Labor to parachute in a candidate

Local independent Dai Le won Sydney’s south-west seat of Fowler over Labor’s Kristina Keneally.

Ms Le said the win was a bit surreal.

“Yesterday I sat in my lounge room and just, was thinking back to the moment when my family escaped communist Vietnam on a rickety boat, in the ocean, didn’t know whether we were [going to] live or die, and so I just can’t believe it.”

She said her electorate felt “abandoned and forgotten” by Labor amid the COVID lockdowns.

“I’m sure you remember how badly we were treated, we were treated like second-class citizens,” she said.

“A lot of voters were so angry, and a lot of Labor voters actually were so angry, with the fact that that the Labor Party was arrogant enough to think that they can parachute somebody from the Northern Beaches, in particular, to come and represent the south-west, one of the most socially disadvantaged communities.

“[Kristina Keneally] has no roots here, she’s not connected to this area, so how can we trust that she can deliver for us?

“They thought it was a slap in the face, it was an insult to them, those were the comments that I received when voters were coming to vote for me and they have never voted anybody else other than Labor.”

The swearing-in is an ‘interim arrangement’. What does that mean?

The swearing-in of ministers in multiple portfolios has happened in an “interim” capacity.

For the government to continue uninterrupted, the Governor-General can appoint an interim, or caretaker, government pending the resolution of political matters.

This arrangement will allow Anthony Albanese to attend the Quad talks in Japan, while ensuring the new government hits the ground running from day one.

Speaking about the arrangement yesterday, Albanese said the portfolios have been worked out as an interim arrangement with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

“You can’t have a circumstance whereby there aren’t ministers,” he said.

“So they’ll all be sworn in to multiple portfolios.”

Mr Albanese said the caucus and normal process will operate next week.

“Obviously the Quad leaders’ meeting is a priority for Australia and it enables us to send a message to the world that … There is a change of government, there will be some changes in policy, particularly with regard to climate change and our engagement with the world on those issues.” 

How can Anthony Albanese become prime minister without a majority?

Can you explain why Albo has been sworn in, when he hasn’t yet confirmed a majority government or done a deal with crossbenchers in a minority?

-Ploise exploin?

How can the Governer General swear in Albanese as the new PM when it’s not clear the Labor party has a full majority? Have the independents said they will provide confidence and supply?

-Ranmadhu

How can Anthony Albanese be sworn in as PM when he doesn’t have 76 seats yet?

-Steven

A few questions coming in about how Anthony Albanese can be sworn in as Prime Minister when Labor doesn’t have a majority and there’s still a few seats in doubt.

So, to be sworn in as Prime Minister the Governor-General David Hurley needs to be convinced that Anthony Albanese will be able to govern in some form.

The election results on Saturday show that Labor is the only major party that will be able to govern – either in majority or minority.

If the results had been closer and it was clear there would be a hung parliament, but no clarity around which party would secure the support of the crossbench to form government, then the Governor-General would not have agreed to swear in Anthony Albanese or Scott Morrison.

The Governor-General has to have confidence that whoever becomes prime minister will be able to maintain a stable government, whether that’s with the support of the crossbench or not.

He also would have received legal advice before the swearing in to make sure it was the right decision.

Usually there would not be the kind of rush there is this time around, but the Quad leaders meeting in Tokyo has meant the process has had to be expedited.

Albanese becomes PM, ministers sworn in as an interim arrangement

To recap the past half hour, Anthony Albanese has been sworn in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister at a ceremony in Canberra. 

He met with Governor-General David Hurley at Government House, along with four of his senior frontbench colleagues. 

Jim Chalmers, Katy Gallagher, Richard Marles and Penny Wong have been sworn into a number of portfolios as an interim arrangement before Mr Albanese departs on his first overseas trip as prime minister.

Mr Albanese and Senator Wong will attend the Quad leaders meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday. 

Jim Chalmers becomes the Treasurer, Katy Gallagher becomes Finance Minister

Senator Katy Gallagher has been sworn in as Minister for Finance, Minister for Women and Attorney-General.

Both Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers both haven’t been part of a federal government before. They weren’t part of the last federal Labor government.

Penny Wong is sworn is as Minister for Foreign Affairs

Penny Wong becomes the first Foreign Minister to be born outside of Australia. 

She was born in Malaysia and raised in Australia.

Her first task in the role will be travelling with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Tokyo for this meeting of the Quad.

Richard Marles has been sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment

Richard Marles will be the acting Prime Minister when Anthony Albanese travels to Tokyo for a Quad meeting on Tuesday.

He says the affirmation:

“I swear I will well and truly serve the Commonwealth of Australia, her land and her people in the office of Minister for Employment, so help me God.”

Anthony Albanese has been sworn in as Australia’s 31st Prime Minister

Standing before the Governor-General, Anthony Albanese says the affirmation:

“I, Anthony Norman Albanese do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will well and truly serve the Commonwealth of Australia, her land and her people in the office of prime minister.”

And with that, he becomes Australia’s prime minister.

The swearing-in has begun

It begins with the national anthem.

Governor-General David Hurley will then do the honours, swearing in Anthony Albanese as prime minister.

Jim Chalmers will become the Treasurer, Katy Gallagher will be the Finance Minister, Penny Wong will become the Foreign Minister and Richard Marles will become the Deputy leader. 

Anthony Albanese is about to be sworn in as prime minister

It’s all happening from 9am AEST this morning.

You can watch our live stream of the swearing in here…

… and of course we’ll be covering it right here on the blog.

Cash blames Coalition’s support for Clive Palmer’s border challenge for WA result

Western Australia saw a big swing away from the government on the weekend, and Liberal senator Michaelia Cash has acknowledged some blame lies in the government’s decision to support Clive Palmer’s High Court challenge of WA’s hard border policy.

“That initial decision to back Clive Palmer – even though we reversed it – meant that the Labor Party was able to run an effective campaign against us, a very strong campaign highlighting this decision, even though we reversed it,” Senator Cash said.

“It certainly did have an impact on the vote.”

Labor has no plans to update climate targets

Senior Labor senator Katy Gallagher says the party has no plans to change its emission reduction target. 

Federal Labor has pledged to cut carbon emissions by 43 per cent by the end of the decade. 

Some so-called teal independents and the Greens elected on the weekend are lobbying for Labor to pursue a more ambitious target of up to 60 per cent. 

Senator Gallagher says that’s not Labor policy. 

“Well, we’ve made it clear through the campaign, and we’re not changing that, that we will implement the policy we took to the Australian people, and that had an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent.

“That’s what we will do … that is the commitment we’ve made to the Australian people.”

Senator Gallagher was sworn in as the Finance Minister this morning. 

What now for the Liberals?

The Coalition lost at least 16 seats across the country, and outgoing prime minister Scott Morrison will resign as leader of the Liberals. 

Liberal MPs are now in discussions about who will form their next leadership team.

Peter Dutton, who’s been a senior cabinet minister throughout the Coalition’s three terms, is the expected frontrunner. 

Anne Ruston, Karen Andrews and Sussan Ley have all been touted as potentials for the role of deputy. 

Speaking on Sky News, Ms Ley wouldn’t say if she would put her hand up, but acknowledged the party has lost the support of many female voters. 

“We need to heed the message that women have told us because, as I understand it, many women in the teal seats were not happy with us,” she said.

“I want to sit down and hear from them. I want to hear what they are not happy about.”

Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer is also considering putting her hand up for the leadership, saying she doesn’t want to see the party move further to the right.

Late in the last parliament Ms Archer crossed the floor to vote against parts of the government’s controversial religious discrimination bill. 

She also publicly backed independent MP Helen Haines’ bill to establish an anti-corruption commission, voting against the government on it.

Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume said the party needed get back its basic principles.

Senator Hume has told Nine Radio the party has a lot to think about. 

“Liberals succeed when we’re aspirational, let people get on with their lives, when we conduct politics with respect for all walks of life, get out of people’s doctors’ surgeries, and bedrooms and dare I say boardrooms.”

Is it going to be a hung parliament?

Is it likely to be a hung parliment?

-Max

Hey Max, it’s not clear yet if we’re going to end up with a hung parliament – where Labor will have to work with the crossbench to pass legislation – or if they’ll have a majority.

Labor is currently four seats short of governing in its own right in the House of Representatives (lower house) but 12 electorates are still too close to call.

Final counting may take a couple of weeks yet!

Albanese to be sworn in at 9am

The official alert from Government House has just come out, confirming Anthony Albanese will be sworn in by the Governor-General at 9am AEST.

Labor’s Katy Gallagher is still ‘hopeful’ of a majority government

Labor is currently four seats short of governing in a majority, but 12 electorates are still too close to call.

As it currently stands, the party will be able to govern in a minority with support from the largest crossbench in a generation.

Soon-to-be sworn-in finance minister Katy Gallagher said there is a “strong” path to majority for Labor.

“Obviously, there’s a fair bit more counting to go, but there’s a number of seats where we are ahead and we’re hoping to stay ahead,” she told News Breakfast earlier.

“We need more votes to come in. We have been campaigning for majority government, we’re hopeful of majority government, but there’s more votes to be counted.”

Gallagher said Labor’s success was probably due to its key policies on climate and an integrity commission.