By Alasdair Pal
SYDNEY (Reuters) – General election voting has closed in Australia’s populous eastern states, including the cities of Sydney and Melbourne, with two more hours of voting left on Saturday in Western Australia in what has been a closely fought race.
Opinion polls showed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party with a narrow lead over the conservative opposition after a campaign dominated by concerns over the high cost of living and the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Labor had trailed in the polls as recently as February.
Polls closed at 6 p.m. (0800 GMT) in Australia’s most populous eastern time zone, which also includes Brisbane and the capital, Canberra.
The state of South Australia and the Northern Territory will close at 0830 GMT, followed by Western Australia, home to the city of Perth, at 1000 GMT.
Results could start coming in for individual constituencies within a few hours after polls close, although it could take several more hours or even days for a final result, depending on how close the vote is.
Analysts say Albanese has run a solid campaign while opposition leader Peter Dutton has suffered from policy missteps and a perceived ideological closeness to Trump, which has become a top concern for voters.
The bounce in the centre-left Labor Party’s fortunes mirrors those of Canada’s Liberal Party, which returned to power this week in a come-from-behind victory after Trump’s tariffs and remarks on Canadian sovereignty sparked a backlash from voters.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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