Final election results – winners are grinners 

The final results are in for the 3 May federal election, and Labor can’t stop smiling. Meanwhile the Liberal-National Coalition is decidedly dour, and the Greens are, well, green. 

In the House of Representatives, Labor has been returned with a thumping majority. It holds 94 out of 150 seats, the largest majority in five decades. Conversely, the Coalition’s fortunes are in free fall. The final ray of hope – the once blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Bradfield – has been lost to independent candidate Nicolette Boele by 27 votes. The Coalition is reduced to 43 seats, the once-proud Liberal Party has only 28 seats, the independents and teals hold 12 seats, and the Greens are reduced to one in the House of Reps. 

In the Senate, the ALP’s good fortunes continue with another seat gained in WA following the defection of Dorinda Cox from the Greens to the ALP. The Senate now sits at 29 seats for Labor, 27 for the Liberal/Nationals, 10 for the Greens, six independents and, remarkably, four for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

The 48^th Parliament will resume on 22 July with only 30 sitting days, including estimates, scheduled for the remainder of the year. Passing legislation in the Senate will almost be a forgone conclusion for the Albanese Government, requiring only the support of the depleted Greens.

The first piece of legislation to hit the floor of Parliament will be the controversial superannuation tax on unrealised capital gains above $3 million. Despite the howls of protest from the business community, small business and self-funded retirees, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is determined to get this through without changes.

The challenge for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and Shadow Treasurer Ted O’Brien is deciding how hard they fight this reform, knowing there’s zero chance of defeating the bill. This decision will hang on the Liberal Party’s decision on whether to challenge the final result in the seat of Bradfield. If the Court of Disputed Returns rules a by-election is necessary, then it will be game on for the Opposition to put up its biggest political fight. For affluent Lower North Shore electors, this may be the only policy difference that moves their dial in favour of the Liberals, combined with a more acceptable – and female – leader in Sussan Ley versus Peter Dutton. Time will tell. 

While the honeymoon continues, the government is making the hard calls. The new Minister for the Environment, Queensland Senator Murray Watt, lost no time approving the controversial LNG North West Shelf Project Expansion, giving the green light to Woodside and the ALP WA Government.

Overseas Trade Minister Don Farrell, one of the most experienced and wily cabinet ministers, is also getting on with his job. Despite the idiosyncrasies and inconsistences of the Trump administration’s tariff and economic policies, Don Farrell may crack the holy unicorn of free trade agreements with Europe, helping offset diminishing opportunities in the Unites States. 

And for our chipper Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the decision to keep his distance from President Trump is wise. The old saying ‘why put your head above the parapet and get it blown off’ could never be truer. Just ask the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, about his relationship with the world’s most powerful man, President Trump.