Well, that was quick, about two and a half hours after the polls had closed, the election had already been called for the incumbent Labor government. But as the night went on, Anthony Albanese’s win was looking like a landslide, and Labor increased its majority in parliament. For the opposition, it was disastrous, its leader Peter Dutton has lost his seat in parliament and recriminations will surely be savage.

To talk us through the results and what it all means, we speak to chief political correspondent David Crowe and federal political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

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Today we bring you a special episode recorded in the south-west Victorian electorate of Wannon. The seat encompasses tourist towns from Lorne along the Great Ocean Road, to Warrnambool.

And who better to tell the evolving story of Wannon than our associate editor and special writer Tony Wright. He was born in Heywood, grew up on sheep and cattle properties in the Western District, went to school in Hamilton, started his career in small newspapers in Portland, Warrnambool and Camperdown, and still has a house near Portland.

Our audio producer Julia Carr-Catzel joins Tony Wright on the road.

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Well, it’s finally here. Saturday is election day, and by Saturday night we will have some idea of who is going to govern Australia for the next three years, during this volatile and pivotal moment in global history.

Today, we talk about the seats to watch on election night, the ones that will determine the outcome of the poll.

And we will also zoom out to the bigger picture.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have depicted duelling visions of the Australia they want to build. They also have sharply different leadership styles.

Which one is the more appealing to voters in the current moment?

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss all this we have chief political correspondent David Crowe, and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright.

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Salmon farming is not something most voters consider when they go to the polls on election day. But for Tasmanian voters, it is a huge and often divisive issue. This debate about the environmental effects of salmon farming is playing out in an election where any other discussion of the environment is pretty much non-existent.

Which is curious because energy policy goes hand-in-hand with the environment and that is a decisive topic of this election. It’s also curious that the federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has been very quiet during the campaign.

National environment and climate reporter Bianca Hall and energy correspondent Mike Foley join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.

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This week we are doing a special podcast about our complicated relationship with political polls. As journalists, we like them because, maybe, they can tell us something about what voters are really thinking. But we are a bit wary of them too. Especially after the federal election in 2019, where the polls were wrong. That caused a massive rethink in how polling is done, and how we in the media rely on it. Jacqueline Maley is joined by chief political correspondent, David Crow, and special guest Jim Reed, who conducts the resolve political monitor poll for our papers.

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The threat teal independents pose in this election - to the dominance of the two-party system, to the stability of our parliament and to the Liberal Party’s base - is very real. Today, we focus on two of these seats: Bradfield in Sydney and Kooyong in Melbourne where the teals and the Libs are neck and neck. City reporter for The Age Rachael Dexter and NSW political editor Alexandra Smith join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.

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This week on the campaign saw the release of competing housing policies, and the appearance of Peter Dutton’s son Harry.

But in many ways the campaign continued to be overshadowed by Donald Trump. Labor is making increasingly explicit attacks trying to link Dutton to the US president. And Dutton’s cause wasn’t helped with one of his key frontbenchers aped a Trump slogan. Does this mean the wheels have fallen off the Coalition campaign?

Chief Political Correspondent David Crowe and National Affairs Editor James Massola join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.

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This week our revered economics editor Ross Gittins wrote an essay for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald, in which he lamented the state of this election campaign in particular, and Australian politics in general.

The essay was titled “They treat us like mugs”, and Ross did not miss with his critique of the timidity and cynicism of the two major parties’ campaigns.

Gittins joins Jacqueline Maley in the studio, to talk through his searing critique.

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