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In today’s newsletter: The Australian election saw a remarkable comeback for Anthony Albanese’s Labor party – and a crushing defeat for Peter Dutton and the Liberal-led Coalition

Australians have returned an expanded Labor Party to government alongside a suite of climate-progressive independents. Meanwhile, the Coalition – which promoted nuclear energy and a slower renewables transition – suffered a historic defeat.

When the Coalition launched its nuclear plan last year, Labor was on the nose and early polls showed some support for the policy. But then the wheels fell off.

Australia’s federal election, held less than a week after Canada’s, has produced a shockingly similar outcome. Commentators all over the world have pointed out the parallels.

Among the many lessons to be learnt by the Liberal-National Coalition parties from the election is that they should stop getting into bed with News Corporation Australia.

On February 1, on The Conversation’s podcast, Anthony Albanese not only declared that Labor would retain majority government, but held out the prospect it could win the Victorian Liberal seats of Menzies and Deakin.

Minor parties were all the rage at the last election when, along with independent candidates, they secured almost a third of votes.

Albanese’s party is on track for at least 85 seats and the final tally could well be more. Plus: the major party vote continues to shrink

When the newspapers delivered their standard election-eve editorials, there were few surprises. Former Fairfax papers and smaller outlets offered qualified support for Labor, while the News Corp papers unashamedly championed the Coalition. In Adelaide, The Advertiser ran a curious line recommending a majority government of whatever persuasion, “lest our futures…

Petition for a Coalition conclave?

While counting continues nationally, the federal election result is definitive: a pro-Labor landslide and an opposition leader voted out.