SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - The Australian Labor Party has been swept to victory for a second term after defeating the Coalition in an extraordinary result where even the opposition leader lost his seat.

Anthony Albanese becomes the first prime minister in more than two decades to win back-to-back elections.

"Serving as your prime minister is the greatest honour of my life. And it is with a deep sense of humility, and a profound sense of responsibility, that the first thing that I do tonight is to say thank you to the people of Australia for the chance to continue to serve the best nation on earth," Albanese said in a victory speech on Saturday night.

"Today, the Australian people have voted for Australian values, for fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all, for the strength to show courage in adversity and kindness to those in need." 

"In this time of global uncertainty, Australians have chosen optimism and determination," Albanese said.

"Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future," Australia's second-term prime minister said.

Given a good chance of defeating Labor, the Coalition of the Australian Liberal Party and the National Party entered the campaign at the top of their game. However the resultant campaign has fallen well short of the mark with Labor picking up more seats than in the prior election.

The sway of Rupert Murdoch's New Corp's dominant newspapers and Sky television network failed to make its mark for the first time in many elections, a sign that traditional media no longer has the influence it once had.

News Corp heavily backed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton until the dying days pf the campaign when it became all too obvious the chances of the Coalition regaining power were slipping away.

While Albanese notched up a milestone, so too did Dutton, becoming the first opposition leader to lose his seat in an election. When John Howard lost Bennelong in 2007 he was prime minister. Coincidently Bennelong which had been regained by the Liberals was lost again on Saturday as the national count reached its climax just two-and-a-half hours after polls closed in the eastern states, and just 30 minutes after voting in Western Australia ended.

Given a good chance of defeating Labor, the Coalition of the Australian Liberal Party and the National Party entered the campaign at the top of their game. However the resultant campaign has fallen well short of the mark with Labor picking up more seats than in the prior election

The sway of Rupert Murdoch's New Corp's dominant newspapers and Sky television network failed to make its mark for the first time in many elections, a sign that traditional media no longer has the influence it once had.

News Corp heavily backed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton until the dying days pf the campaign when it became all too obvious the chances of the Coalition regaining power were slipping away.

While Albanese notched up a milestone, so too did Dutton, becoming the first opposition leader to lose his seat in an election. When John Howard lost Bennelong in 2007 he was prime minister. Coincidently Bennelong which had been regained by the Liberals was lost again on Saturday as the national count reached its climax just two-and-a-half hours after polls closed in the eastern states, and just 30 minutes after voting in Western Australia ended.

Peter Dutton and family voting earlier in the day Saturday.

"I love this country and have fought hard for it, we have been defined by our opponents in this election which is not a true story of who we are," Dutton said in a gracious concession speech at the W Hotel in Brisbane Saturday night. "But we will rebuild from here and we will do that because we know our values, we know our beliefs, and we will always stick to them.

"I want to say thank you to the Australian people for the faith that they have placed in me, and thank them for the great honour of having been the member for Dickson and the leader of the opposition," Dutton said.