By CAMERON CARPENTER FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 01:12 BST, 4 May 2025 | Updated: 02:18 BST, 4 May 2025

Anthony Albanese held up a Medicare card as he claimed victory on Saturday night -a prop he had used repeatedly throughout the election campaign. 

‘We will be a government that helps every Australian who relies on Medicare,’ Mr Albanese told the cheering crowd, holding up his Medicare card while carefully covering the personal details.

‘Because this card is not Labor red or Liberal blue, it is green and gold. It is a declaration of our national values, in our national colours.

‘Medicare belongs to all Australians and together we will make it stronger for all Australians.’

At nearly every stop on the campaign trail, Mr Albanese made sure his green Medicare card was seen. 

He officially launched his election campaign on March 28 holding the card, and prominently displayed it again at key appearances. 

He showcased it at Maitland Hospital on April 3, the Labor campaign launch in Perth on April 13, and again at Batemans Bay on April 21. 

He waved it again at Parramatta Town Hall on April 27, the National Press Club on April 30, and on the campaign’s final day at Morayfield in Queensland. 

Anthony Albanese held up a Medicare card as he claimed victory on Saturday night -a prop he had used repeatedly throughout the election campaign

Anthony Albanese held up a Medicare card as he claimed victory on Saturday night -a prop he had used repeatedly throughout the election campaign

Mr Albanese made Medicare a focal point during the election campaign

 Mr Albanese made Medicare a focal point during the election campaign

Healthcare became a major issue in Mr Albanese’s re-election campaign, with advertisements portraying the Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as a serious threat to Medicare. 

In response to the scare campaign, the Coalition moved quickly to eliminate most differences between its healthcare policies and those of Labor. 

The Coalition matched Labor’s headline goal of achieving 90 per cent bulk-billing by 2030 with an $8.5billion investment into Medicare.

It also matched Labor’s more than half-a-billion funding pledge towards women’s health and a promise to cut the cap on most Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme medications from $31.60 to $25.

Despite the commitment from the Coalition, it was not enough – with Labor taking out a landslide election win on Saturday night.

With 70 per cent of the vote counted, Labor has won 85 seats with the Coalition going backwards to sit on 35 seats, while 19 seats remain in doubt. 

Labor saw large swings across multiple states, booting the Coalition out of all seats in Tasmania and Adelaide, while making significant gains in opposition heartland in Queensland. 

The Medicare card became known as Mr Albanese's campaign prop

The Medicare card became known as Mr Albanese’s campaign prop 

Among the significant wins for Labor was Peter Dutton’s electorate of Dickson, as he became the first Opposition Leader to lose his seat at an election. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed on Sunday the two reasons why Labor won such a historic landslide: voters’ desire for stability and Mr Albanese.

‘One of the reasons we gained such a big majority last night is that people recognised that if they wanted stability while the global economy was going crazy, then a majority Labor government was the best way to deliver that,’ he told ABC’s Insiders.

And that desire for stability amid an increasingly uncertain world found its answer in Mr Albanese, who Chalmers described as a ‘Labor hero’.

The Treasurer insisted he was keen ‘not do dance on the political graves of our opponents’.

‘There was a real kind of darkness at the heart of the Coalition’s campaign, this kind of backwards looking pessimism, which Australians rejected,

‘And in rejecting that I think they embraced the kind of leadership which Mr Albanese provides which is practical, pragmatic, it is problem solving and it’s very forward-looking.’

All the times Anthony Albanese used his Medicare card as an election prop 

March 28: Mr Albanese launches campaign holding a Medicare card.

April 3: Flashes it at Maitland Hospital, NSW.

April 13: Shows it again at the ALP campaign launch in Perth.

April 21: Card returns at Batemans Bay Urgent Care Clinic.

April 27: Seen again at Labor rally in Parramatta.

April 30: Used to promote bulk-billing at National Press Club.

May 3: Ends campaign at Morayfield Clinic with card in hand.

May 3: Holds up Medicare during his victory speech.

:
Tiny detail that most Aussies missed during Anthony Albanese’s election speech

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