Anthony Albanese will enter his second term in power with a massive majority after a landslide victory, but Labor insiders are tempering voter expectations of dramatic reforms.
The scale of the win has taken people within the government by surprise, with Labor having won at least 86 seats.
The boosted numbers in the parliament, and the political capital that comes with the victory, have prompted calls for Labor to lift its policy reform agenda.
Retired Labor MP Graham Perrett said people needed to focus on what Mr Albanese had already promised to do.
“He’s a pretty straightforward bloke. What he promised before the election is what he’ll deliver after the election,” he said.
“There’s a lot of challenges in there, in terms of climate change, defence and the economy and productivity and a few other things in there … that’s a big agenda for any second-term government.”
On other issues including Indigenous reconciliation, Mr Perrett said while the government could walk and chew gum at the same time, there were enough challenges in an uncertain world to keep the cabinet busy over the next three years.
Labor plans to boost funding for Medicare and continue working towards universal childcare.
Mr Albanese will also look to boost housing supply after making it a centrepiece of his election campaign launch.
“We went beyond where we said we would … we’ve been an ambitious government,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“We’ll continue to be an ambitious government, but we won’t get carried away.”
Labor sources backed Mr Albanese’s plan, saying the election result was a ringing endorsement of what was taken to voters.
They expected the most senior ministerial positions to remain the same as Mr Albanese positioned his leadership as one of stability and unity.
Labor national president Wayne Swan said what clearly stood out was that people wanted stability.
“They preferred a majority Labor government in the times of international uncertainty,” he told AAP.
“The gains that Labor made in the last election were extended substantially across metropolitan and out of suburban Australia.
“The Libs comprehensively lost what you’d call the middle ground in politics in this election.”
The coalition has 40 seats, as the counting by the electoral commission continues, representing a substantial loss from the 2022 poll.
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