Anthony Albanese reveals agenda for ‘all Australians’, Trump call and first trip after reelection

An upbeat newly elected Anthony Albanese has revealed his “warm and positive” conversation with Donald Trump following his historic election win, as he outlined his key priorities for his second term.

Mr Trump had earlier commented on the result of the Federal election, saying he was “very friendly” with the Prime Minister but had “no idea” who former opposition leader Peter Dutton was.

The Prime Minister promised to run an “orderly” but “ambitious Government” that will prioritise housing and the cost-of-living and work for “all Australians”, while using the first press conference of his second term to set out his vision for domestic legislative priorities and steering the country through an uncertain global environment.

He thanked a long list of world leaders, including the US President and Australia’s closest Asian and Pacific neighbours, who had all offered their congratulations, but he would not be drawn on the make-up of his future cabinet.

Mr Albanese revealed he’d had three conversations with Mr Trump, but wouldn’t reveal “all of the personal comments that he made”.

“We talked about how AUKUS and tariffs will continue to engage, we’ll engage with each other on a face-to-face basis at some time in the future,” he said.

“He was fully aware of the outcome and he expressed the desire to continue to work with me in the future, “ he said.

“But it was very warm and I thank him for reaching out in such a positive way as well.”

The news that Mr Trump has “no idea” who Mr Dutton is may come as a surprise to many Australians, after a five-week campaign where Labor was quick to accuse Mr Dutton of borrowing policies from Mr Trump, saying the Liberals wanted to “Americanise” healthcare and were taking a leaf straight out of the “DOGE playbook” with promised cuts to the public service.

“Albanese, I’m very friendly with,” Mr Trump said.

“I don’t know anything about the election other than the man that won, he’s very good.

“I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him, and, you know, we (Mr Albanese and Mr Trump) have had a very good relationship.”

Earlier on Monday, a relaxed, open-collared Prime Minister strode to the parliament from his official Lodge residence in the Canberra autumn sunshine, his official car and security detail in tow.

“I am genuinely so optimistic that if we get this decade right, we can set Australia up for the many decades ahead. And that’s why I put forward such a positive agenda,” he said in his opening statement.

“Elections are never about the past, but what people want to know is what you’re going to do for the future,” he said.

The Prime Minister confirmed that one of his Government’s top priorities would be to slash a further 20 per cent off HECS repayments after campaigning on the promise to forgive $16 billion in student debt.

He said Labor would also step up efforts to tackle the nation’s housing crisis with reforms that had not been possible during its first term – a goal the Labor now believes is within easier reach with its larger majority.

“We have an ambitious challenge to build housing. I note both the Coalition and the Greens’ housing spokespeople won’t be in the Parliament,” said Mr Albanese, referring to Liberal MP Michael Sukkar and Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather, who both lost their seats.

“I think part of the reason why they’re not in the Parliament is they held up public housing, they held up emergency housing for women and children escaping violence.

“They held up our build to rent scheme and they held up our help to buy scheme.”

He underscored Labor’s “clear mandate” to build more housing and focus on supply.

“You know, get out of the way and let the private sector build it. That is going to be one of my priorities,” he said.

The Prime Minister also confirmed he would reintroduce a failed bid to establish a Federal environmental protection agency, but one that “also supports sustainability”.

Asked if the Government planned to use the size of its mandate to reform tax and superannuation systems, he replied that “we’re not getting ahead of ourselves”.

Labor has already flagged, however, that it would attempt in a second term to revive a stalled bill to tax unrealised capital gains on superannuation accounts worth $3m and above, which it argues will only impact 0.5 per cent of the wealthiest population.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is expected to retain his portfolio, immediately got to work at 6.45am on Sunday morning, to map the path through global economic turbulence with Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy.

“Obviously, the immediate focus is on this global economic uncertainty, particularly the US and China part of that and what it means for us,” he said.

On the domestic front, the agenda was to build more homes, get the energy transformation right, embrace the AI opportunity, and push through further reforms on aged care, the NDIS and interest costs.

Improving productivity would also be a major focus, said Dr Chalmers, referring to five big planks of research Labor had tasked the Productivity Commission to deliver on the main drivers of the economy.

“We’ll see that in the third quarter of this year … we’ve got an agenda on productivity, but we can do more, and we will do more,” he said.

Health Minister Mark Butler said “turning bulk billing around for people without a concession card” would be a top priority after Labor made a $8.5b boost to Medicare the centrepiece of its election campaign.

Dr Mike Freelander, the reelected Labor member for Macarthur, told The Nightly that improved GP bulk-billing should be followed by efforts to increase access to medical specialists at an affordable cost.

“I think also how we can expand public health policy around things like child health and development and how we can make sure that the most vulnerable are getting health care that they need,” he said.

Dr Freelander said many constituents during the campaign revealed they couldn’t afford to see specialists and worried about the lack of GPs.

“We need to look at ways that we can recruit more students to go to GP training and more GPs to work in areas like mine that have significant social disadvantage,” he said.

Despite the huge return of Labor MPs, Dr Freelander did not foresee any radical change in his party’s frontbench.

It is widely expected that the major Cabinet positions will remain the same, with Penny Wong as Foreign Minister, Richard Marles as Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, and Don Farrell retaining Trade, alongside Mr Chalmers.

Mr Albanese is likely to meet the new and expanded Labor Caucus to Canberra later this week or early next week and on Monday indicated final decisions on the Cabinet would take place only after the results of the election were locked in place.

“We’re going to try and slow the pace a little bit over coming days, (but) I will consult with colleagues about forming a frontbench down the track,” he said.

He shut down speculation that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek would be moved to the NDIS portfolio. “If you hear something, unless it comes out of my mouth, it is nonsense,” he said.

Labor sources say that while the major Cabinet posts remain in place, the senior leadership may also seek to recognise fresh talent coming up through the ranks.

Ali France, who became one of the faces of the campaign after ousting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton from his Dickson seat, has been repeatedly praised by the frontbench.

“Ali France would be an extraordinary addition to our team,” said the Prime Minister on a visit to Dickson on the first day of the five-week campaign.

In his own spray of interviews, Dr Chalmers also singled out a number of female MPs as rising stars, particularly in his home State of Queensland.

“You think about Madonna Jarrett, Renee Coffey, Kara Cook, Corinne Mulholland in the Senate, we’ve won back that second Senate seat in Queensland, and people will be hearing a lot about Corinne Mulholland,” he said.