With Anthony Albanese at the helm, Labor is projected to win 2022 federal election

Anthony Albanese will return Labor from the political wilderness to government, seizing power from the Coalition after it has been almost a decade in office.

Key points:

• It remains unclear if Labor will govern in majority or with the support of the crossbench
• The Liberal Party has suffered major losses to “teal” independents in once-safe Liberal seats
• Treasurer Josh Frydenberg looks likely to lose, as do Labor frontbenchers Kristina Keneally and Terri Butler

While it remains unclear if Labor can form a majority, the ALP is on track to finish ahead of the Coalition and more likely to reach a minority government, the ABC has projected.

“The Coalition cannot get into government,” ABC election analyst Antony Green said.

This win means Mr Albanese will replace Scott Morrison as Prime Minister, making him the 31st person to hold the nation’s top job.

The son of a single parent who grew up in public housing, Mr Albanese has reached the pinnacle of his career after 26 years in the parliament.

Labor started the campaign, notionally, with 69 seats.

The Liberal Party has suffered major losses to so-called “teal” independents, which look to take the seats of Mackellar, Goldstein, North Sydney. It also looks to suffer big losses in Western Australia.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg looks to be one of the highest profile Liberal losers, telling supporters at 10pm that his path to re-election looked tough. 

“So while it’s mathematically possible that we win Kooyong, it’s definitely difficult,” he said. 

Mr Frydenberg was considered a frontrunner to lead the Coalition in opposition. 

Labor has also picked up Liberal seats in Reid, in Sydney, and Chisholm, in Melbourne, and multiple seats in Perth, while the Coalition has lost the seat of Ryan, in Brisbane, to the Greens.

But two Labor frontbenchers look to be in a fight to retain their seats, with Terri Butler in Griffiths, in Brisbane, and Senator Kristina Keneally, seeking to move to the Lower House seat of Fowler, in western Sydney, struggling to hold on.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said his Liberals needed to take stock from the swings it was seeing against it in once-safe seats.

“It is a clear problem that we are losing seats that are heartland seats, that have defined the Liberal Party for generations,” he said.

“And so, if we lose those seats, it is not certain that we will, but there is clearly a big movement against us and there is clearly a big message in it, and we need to heed that message.”

Senator Birmingham said his party “absolutely” needed to pre-select more women but feared that effort could be even harder with the loss of first-term female MPs Katie Allen, Fiona Martin and Celia Hammond.