Anthony Albanese ousts Scott Morrison in Australian election

The Australian Labor party notched its first electoral win since 2007 on Saturday after conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison conceded defeat to opposition leader Anthony Albanese, The Associated Press reports.

Though millions of votes have yet to be counted, Morrison acted quickly so an Australian prime minister could attend a summit in Tokyo on Tuesday alongside U.S., Japanese, and Indian leaders. It's currently unclear, however, whether Albanese's center-left party would "win an outright majority or be forced to negotiate with a handful of independent and Greens candidates," notes The Washington Post.

Albanese's Labor party has "promised more financial assistance and a robust social safety net," and wants to "tackle climate change with a more ambitious 43 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," AP writes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Tonight the Australian people have voted for change," the prime minister-elect said in his victory speech, addressing the crowd. "It says a lot about our great country that a son of a single mom 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."