Australians Are Voting In Their General Election

Vote counting has begun in Australia’s general election after polling stations closed in Australia’s populous eastern states. The last stations will close two hours later on the west coast, but counting starts immediately after voting ends. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his rival Peter Dutton began campaigning on Saturday in the electorally crucial city of Melbourne. Albanese later returned home to Sydney and Dutton to his hometown of Brisbane to vote. Albanese’s center-left Labor Party is seeking a second three-year term. Dutton wants to become the first opposition leader to oust a first-term government since 1931, when Australians were reeling from the Great Depression.