In Australia, “resounding victory” and major challenges for Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese is seen with a happy face, ice cream in hand, celebrating his landslide victory on May 3. It was with this front-page photo that The Australian, in its May 5 edition, highlighted how much the outgoing Prime Minister dominated the federal elections in Australia .

His Labor Party won at least 87 seats in the House of Representatives (76 needed for a majority), compared to 39 for the right-wing opposition Coalition, according to the still-provisional results posted by the newspaper on its website . Labor improved its position, having only held 77 seats in the previous legislature. This, the newspaper noted, was its best result since the end of the Second World War.

“Anthony Albanese has denied suggesting he would implement a radical agenda,” notes The Australian, adding that the Prime Minister will soon travel to theIndonesian capital, Jakarta, as well as to Washington . “Against a backdrop of global uncertainty, [this] resounding election victory gives him considerable authority within the Labor government.”

No date has been announced for his upcoming visit to the White House. However, Anthony Albanese intends to discuss economic and trade issues, as well as security alliances. Labor Party sources point to “the magnitude of the challenges facing the government’s second term, which will have to deal with the trade war and its impact on China, Australia’s largest trading partner.”

“We will be a disciplined and coherent government in our second term, as we were in our first. The Australian people voted for unity over division,” said Anthony Albanese during a visit to a cafe in his constituency of Grayndler, in central Sydney.

The first bill Labor is expected to present to the new parliament could be a plan to reduce student debt by 20 percent, according to The Australian.