“I want to unite the country,” the Labor Party leader said after conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat following an election on Saturday.
“I think people want to come together, look for our common interest, look towards that sense of common purpose. I think people have had enough of division, what they want is to come together as a nation and I intend to lead that.”
Labor’s election campaign spotlighted Albanese’s working-class credentials and his image as a pragmatic unifier.
“My Labor team will work every day to bring Australians together. And I will lead a government worthy of the people of Australia. A government as courageous and hardworking and caring as the Australian people are themselves.”
Albanese is proud of is heritage, saying “My fellow Australians, it says a lot about our great country that the son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown, can stand before you tonight as Australia’s Prime Minister.”
“I want Australia to continue to be a country that no matter where you live, who you worship, who you love or what your last name is, that places no restrictions on your journey in life.”
In results so far, Labor had yet to reach the 76 of the 151 lower house seats required to form a government alone. Final results could take time as the counting of a record number of postal votes is completed.
With 66 percent of the vote counted, Labor had 71 seats and Morrison’s coalition 52. Independents and the Greens held 13.