By Deanne Jeffers
AUSTRALIANS have voted and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) will remain in government for a second consecutive term, becoming the first government since John Howard in 2004 to achieve back-to-back victories.
The 2025 Australian Federal Election, held Saturday, May 3, resulted in a significant victory for the ALP, securing a significant majority in the House of Representatives. Labor won 85 of the 151 seats, well above the 76 needed to form a majority government.
At home in the seat of Nicholls, the Nationals’ incumbent, Sam Birrell, was successfully re-elected.
Mr Birrell achieved a decisive win, achieving 45,057 votes 48 per cent of the vote, with a 23.7 per cent swing towards him, reinforcing the seat’s status as a Nationals’ stronghold.
His closest competitor was Labor’s Kim Travers with 22,181 votes (23.6 per cent).
A notable outcome of was the defeat of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in his seat of Dickson, to Labor’s Ali France. It’s the first time an opposition leader has been unseated in 125 years of federal elections.
With the Coalition unable to form government, delivery on some of the projects promised for Nicholls during the election campaign will be difficult to deliver on. However, Mr Birrell has said he would make every effort to advocate for these projects.
“It was a bad night for the Coalition but the National Party did well overall,” said Mr Birrell. “It is disappointing to not be able to form government this time, and to lose some really good colleagues as well.”
Mr Birrell said it would be difficult to deliver on promises made during the election campaign with the Coalition unable to form government. He said
“The Coalition invests more in regional programs and it will be impossible to guarantee delivery of all the projects but I’ll continue to advocate for them. Once I know who the right Ministers are in the Labor Government, I will be using all of my influence and relationships to explain just how important they are.”
