Australia calls sudden federal election as PM Anthony Albanese warns of 'uncertain times'

"In uncertain times, we cannot decide the challenges that we will face, but we can determine how we respond," he added.

Laying out his pitch to Australian voters, Albanese said he was "born ready" to face the challenges ahead - but stressed Labor faces a steep battle to retain its wafer-thin parliamentary majority.

He said: "Because of the strength and resilience that our people have shown, Australia is turning the corner. Now on May 3, you choose the way forward.

"Your vote has never been more important, and your choice has never been more clear.

"This election is a choice between Labor's plan to keep building or [Liberal leader] Peter Dutton's promise to cut. That is the choice."

Albanese's snap election call comes mere hours after Dutton delivered his Budget reply speech to the Australian Parliament - in which he vowed to sack all 41,000 civil servants hired under the PM.

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But pollsters have warned that neither Albanese nor Dutton may be able to manage an absolute majority - and Australia could be heading for a coalition Government as a result.

But he slapped down concerns on Friday, telling reporters: "I intend to lead a majority Government."

If Albanese loses, it would leave New Zealand's Christopher Luxon as the longest-serving current Prime Minister in "Canzuk" - Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK - the four large English-speaking countries ruled by King Charles III, despite having only held his role since 2023.

Of the four current PMs - Mark Carney, Albanese, Luxon and Sir Keir Starmer - only Albanese has served under Queen Elizabeth II.

Pressed after his announcement on whether global trends were working against him, Albanese claimed that "landing where we have is like landing a 747 on a helicopter pad, getting inflation down to 2.4 per cent from the 6 per cent we inherited".

And with the threat of Donald Trump's tariffs looming, Albanese remained coy on whether the US President would slap levies on Australia while election campaigning is ongoing.

"We have been engaging on a daily basis with the administration. I received another briefing this morning and we'll continue to engage constructively in Australia's national interest," the Prime Minister said.

"It would be nice if Peter Dutton accepted the offer of briefings. In recent times there's been a few he's missed, which has enabled him to continue to not talk about facts," he jabbed.