Anthony Albanese, the leader of Australia’s Labor Party, has been elected 31st Prime Minister. He promised a “journey to change” and vowed that he would tackle inequality, rising living expenses, climate change, and climate change.

After nine years of opposition, the centre-left Labor Party has regained power. A wave of unprecedented support for Greens and climate-focused Independents led to nearly a decade of Liberal-National coalition rule in Saturday’s general elections.

While votes are still being counted, and the composition of the government is yet to be finalised. However, Mr Albanese was sworn into so that he could attend Tuesday’s Quad leaders summit in Tokyo with US President Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, the Japanese Prime Minister, and Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister.

The Quad summit aims to improve cooperation between the four member countries of the group, and discuss notable developments in Indo-Pacific.

Advertisement

Continue reading: From relying on neighbors for food to the highest office, meet Australia’s new PM

Mr Albanese was sworn into office by Governor General David Hurley during a ceremony held in Canberra.

Before the ceremony, Mr Albanese said that it was a significant day in my life and a major day for the country when we change our government.

“I want people to join me on this journey of change. I want to channel the potential that we have to make change happen. I want to unite the country.

Richard Marles, Deputy Labor leader, and three key ministers, Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, treasurer, and Katy Gallagher, in finance, were also sworn into office. Ms Wong will join Mr Albanese for the Quad trip.

Albanese said that he had spoken to President Biden Sunday night and looked forward to meeting him Tuesday. He will be returning to Australia on Wednesday.

Albanese stated in a statement that “this visit aligns with what Australia’s Albanese government considers the three pillars to its foreign policy: our alliance and the United States, as well as our engagement with the region and our support for multilateral forum.”

Labor’s election campaign was focused on Mr Albanese’s working-class credentials as well as his image of a pragmatic unifier.

According to television channels, Centre-left Labor is still four seats behind a majority of the 76-seat lower house. There are also about a dozen races that are too close to call.

Some people predicted that Labor would get enough seats to be able to govern themselves.

Official results may not be available for several days, as the count of 2.7million postal votes began on Sunday.