Chris Minns: 'The people of NSW have voted for a fresh start', election victory speech - 2023

25 March 2023, Sydney Australia

Friends after 12 years in opposition, the people of New South Wales have voted for a fresh start. I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners and thank all of you for being here. I'd like to acknowledge and thank all our wonderful Labor volunteers right across New South Wales. Thanks for the heart and soul that you put into our party. The most important thing you can give is your labour and to do it in the cause of something that you love and care about is a special thing. The Labor Party would be nothing without you. We owe you everything. Thank you so much.

To our candidates, to our members of Parliament and the best deputy leader any party could ever have, to Prue Carr,  who will be a wonderful Education Minister in this great state. Thanks for everything Prue.

To all of the volunteers in the state seat of Kobra. Thank you so much. Thought it was going to be close, but in the end we got there. Thanks everyone. We managed to get Nicholas over the line as well, which is a big win. And congratulations to Rockdale as well. And in particular, my mate, Steve Camper. Thanks so much for everything, Steve.

Also a huge thank you to the Prime Minister of this country, Anthony Albanese. I don't know where he is gone, but Anthony, thanks for everything. And thank you for putting your heart and soul into the New South Wales Labor campaign. We truly, truly appreciate it.

Friends, the people of New South Wales voted to put in a government that would put people, people, at the heart of all decision making, and we will not let them down. Moments ago, I got a phone call from the premier of New South Wales, Dominic Perrotet congratulating New South Wales Labor on its victory here tonight.

And I would like to say thank you to the Premier for his service on behalf of the people of New South Wales, and I know from Anna and myself, we want to say thank you to Helen and Dominic for their service to the people of this State.

I think it's undeniably the case that this election campaign, perhaps uniquely, was a model of respect and civility, and neither party took the low road. Neither political party took the low blow. And I think it can be a model for the way democracy is done right across this country. Now, I can't say that every election campaign in the future will be conducted the same way, but from now on, no one will be able to say that it can't be.

We started effectively two years ago with a promise to the people of New South Wales that we would run an election campaign asking people to vote, a positive vote for New South Wales labour and not just a negative vote against the government. And I'm proud to say today, the people of New South Wales voted for the removal of the unfair wages cap in New South Wales.

Friends, they voted for our nurses, our teachers, they voted for our paramedics and police. And there was a basic acknowledgement at the end of the day that during the Covid emergency, the people of New South Wales that work in our hospitals, and our schools, in our emergency departments put themselves second and the public first, and put their own safety and health to one side to look after the people of New South Wales. So New South Wales Labor pledges to look after the people who looked after us.

It's undeniably the case that today's election was also a decisive vote against privatisation. To retain Sydney Water and essential energy in New South Wales government hands. To put it into the Constitution and to never sell it and to stop all future governments selling the assets that we need to live, thrive, and survive in New South Wales.

There are many challenges facing the State of New South Wales over the next four years, but the team that I lead is ready for the challenges and opportunities of government, and we will not let the people of this State down. I want take this opportunity to acknowledge my wonderful staff, including Sarah Michael, Ed Avadia, Zach Solomon, Lachie Harris, and of course the little general James Cullen.

My electorate office as well, Cherie, Cheryl, Loretta, and Jessie, thanks so much for everything. Cherie Burton down there, a huge shout out to the New South Wales party office led by General Secretary Bob Namba. Thank you so much, Bob. And Bob's two deputies, Dom Offner and George Simon. Tireless work, tireless work, putting the interest of the party first, working around the clock, and the results speak for themselves.

A huge thank you to the trade union movement of New South Wales, men and women who put the interests of working people at front and centre in this election campaign. We thank you for your solidarity, your hard work, and your commitment to your members.

Thanks so much to my mum and dad, John and Cara, and to my in-laws, Tom and Kath. Thanks for everything. And to our three boys, Joe, Nicholas and George, and thanks Nicholas for being the campaign spokesperson at the very end. We really appreciate that.

And lastly, to my wonderful wife, Anna, who I'm really glad she wasn't running in Kogra, I'd be in real trouble. Thanks so much, honey. Thanks for everything. Look, after 12 years in opposition, I want to say to the people who voted for Labor or voted for the Liberals and Nationals, or voted for independents or minor party candidates.

Today we've been elected by the people of this state, but we will govern for everyone in New South Wales. We know that the challenges are huge. We know the responsibilities are awesome, but New South Wales Labor is back and ready to govern in this great state.

Penny Wong: 'Australians have chosen and they have chosen hope', Election night - 2022

22 May 2022, Sydney, Australia

Thank you everybody. It's a pretty quiet crowd tonight. Thank you everybody. Thank you for your support and for your patience this evening. Can I start by start acknowledging the traditional owners of this land, and saying to you that tonight we can take that step forward to fulfilling the promise of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. So friends, Australians have chosen and they have chosen change. Australians have chosen and they have chosen hope. Australians have chosen and they have looked to the future, a better future for all, a government that will act on climate change. A government for women. A government that will look to unify, to bring people together, not to divide. A Labor government. An Albanese Labor government. Australians chose hope and the man who embodies that hope is my friend, our leader, Anthony Albanese. Please welcome to the stage the man set to be the 31st Prime Minister of Australia.

Anthony Albanese: 'I hope there are families in public housing watching this tonight', Election night victory speech - 2022

21 May 2022, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. And on behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the heart in full.

And I say to my fellow Australians, thank you for this extraordinary honour. Tonight, the Australian people have voted for change. I am humbled by this victory and I'm honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st prime minister of Australia.

My Labor team will work every day to bring Australians together. And I will lead a government worthy of the people of Australia. A government as courageous and hardworking and caring as the Australian people are themselves.

Earlier tonight, Scott Morrison called me to congratulate myself and the Labor Party on our victory at the election.

Scott, very graciously, wished me well. And I thanked him for that and I wish him well. And I thank him for the service that he has given to our country as Prime Minister.

I also want to acknowledge and thank Jenny Morrison and their two daughters for their contribution and sacrifice as well.

My fellow Australians, it says a lot about our great country that a son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown can stand before you tonight as Australia's prime minister.

Every parent wants more for the next generation than they had. My mother dreamt of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey in life inspires Australians to reach for the stars.

I want Australia to continue to be a country that no matter where you live, who you worship, who you love or what your last name is, that places no restrictions on your journey in life. My fellow Australians, I think they've got the name by now. I think they've got that.

I know at the beginning of the campaign they said people didn't know me but I reckon they've got it.

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During this campaign, I have put forward a positive, clear plan for a better future for our country. And I have shared the two principles that will be part of a government that I lead.

No one left behind because we should always look after the disadvantaged and the vulnerable. But also no one held back, because we should always support aspiration and opportunity. That is what my government will do.

That is the what, but the how is also just as important? Because I want to bring Australians together.

I want to seek our common purpose and promote unity and not fear and -- optimism, not fear and division. It is what I have sought to do throughout my political life. And what I will bring to the leadership of our country, it is a show of strength to collaborate and work with people, not weakness.

I want to find that common ground where together we can plant our dreams. To unite around our shared love of this country, our shared faith in Australia's future, our shared values of fairness and opportunity, and hard work and kindness to those in need.

And I can promise all Australians this — no matter how you voted today, the government I lead will respect every one of you every day. And I'll seek to get your vote next time.

We are the greatest country on earth. But we can have an even better future if we seize the opportunities that are right there in front of us. The opportunity to shape change, rather than be shaped by it. And we can shape change more effectively if we seek to you knowing people on that journey of change.

Together we can end the climate wars. Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower. Together we can work in common interests with business and unions to drive productivity, lift wages and profits.

I want an economy that works for people, not the other way around. Together we can as a country say that all of us, if the Fair Work Commission doesn't cut the wage of minimum aged workers, we can say that we welcome that absolutely. Together we can strengthen universal healthcare through Medicare.

We can protect universal superannuation. And we can write universal childcare into that proud tradition. Together we can fix the crisis in aged care. Together we can make forward equal opportunity for women a national economic and social priority. Together we can and will establish a national anti-corruption commission. Together we can be a self-reliant, resilient nation, confident in our values and in our place in the world. And together we can embrace the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

We can answer its patient, gracious call for a voice enshrined in our constitution. Because all of us ought to be proud that amongst our great multicultural society we count the oldest living continuous culture in the world. And I acknowledge Australia's next Indigenous Affairs Minister, Linda Burney, who is here.

My fellow Australians, no one gets here by themselves. And I wouldn't be standing here tonight without the support, hard work and belief of so many people. To my parliamentary team, including my Deputy, Richard Marles, and my Senate leader, Penny Wong. My terrific economic team led by Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher.

On Monday morning, arrangements are in place to have these people sworn in as members of my team. To enable Penny and I to attend the important Quad leader's meeting in Tokyo, with President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Modi. And I want the leaders of the economic team to start work on Monday morning as well.

I wanted to thank my shadow ministry and my amazing caucus members, including the people who are here tonight at this joint function in the corner of our seats, including Tony Burke, who is here. I want to thank all of our Labor candidates. I want to thank all those who have worked so hard for this victory.

We stand on your shoulders, most rank and file members of the Labor Party will never ask for anything. They knock on doors, they make calls, they work so hard. They hand out how to votes. They push the cause of Labor at the local P & C, the local kid's footy, the local netball, when they're shopping in the supermarket, when they talk to their neighbours.

I thank each and every one of the true believers of the Australian Labor Party.

And I proudly thank the members of the mighty trade union movement.

I do want to thank my campaign director, our amazing national secretary, Paul Erickson, and his team. My staff are led by my first campaign director back in 1996. And my electorate office team who haven't seen that much of me, who look after this electorate led by Helen Rogers. Thank you very much.

But to all those — and I'm not going to name them because there's too many — there's a lot of people who believed in me and backed me over many decades in this great movement to be where I am today. You know who you are and I know who you are and I thank you.

I said I've been underestimated my whole life during the campaign. Now while all that is true, I have also been lifted up by others who saw something in me and who encouraged me in life on this journey.

And I pledged to the Australian people here tonight, I am here not to occupy the space, but to make a positive difference each and every day.

And to the amazing diverse people of Grayndler. All politics is local. And in 1996, there were various people who wrote off the chances of Labor holding on to that seat. This is my 10th election. And I want to say thank you for placing your faith in me. It is an absolute honour to be your voice in our national parliament.

To my partner, Jodie, thank you for coming into my life and for sharing this journey.

And to my proudest achievement, my son, Nathan. Thank you, mate, for your love and support. Your mother, who's here tonight, Carmel, we are both so proud of the caring, wonderful, smart young man you have become. Love you, Nathan.

To my Mum, who's beaming down on us. Thank you. And I hope there are families in public housing watching this tonight. Because I want every parent to be able to tell their child no matter where you live or where you come from, in Australia the doors of opportunity are open to us all.

And like every other Labor government, we'll just widen that door a bit more. Friends, we have made history tonight. And tomorrow, together, we begin the work of building a better future. A better future for all Australians. Thank you very much."

Nelson Mandela: 'We can loudly proclaim from the rooftops, Free at last', election victory speech - 1994

2 May 1994, Carlton Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa

This is indeed a joyous night. Although not yet final, we have received the provisional results of the election, and a delighted by the overwhelming support for the African National Congress.

To all those in the African National Congress and the democratic movement who worked so hard these last few days and through these many decades, I thank you and honour you. To the people of South Africa and the world who are watching: this a joyous night for the human spirit. This is your victory too. You helped end apartheid, you stood with us through the transition.

I watched, along with all of you, as the tens of thousands of our people stood patiently in long queues for many hours. Some sleeping on the open ground overnight waiting to cast this momentous vote.

South Africa's heroes are legend across the generations. But it is you, the people, who are our true heroes.

This is one of the most important moments in the life of our country. I stand here before you filled with deep pride an joy: - pride in the ordinary, humble people of this country. You have shown such a calm, patient determination to rectal this country as your own.

- and joy that we can loudly proclaim from the rooftops - free at last!

I stand before you humbled by your courage, with a heart full of love for all of you. I regard it as the highest honour to lead the ANC at this moment in our history, and that we have been chosen to lead our country into the new century.

I pledge to use all my strength and ability to live up to your expectations of me as well as of the ANC.

I am personally indebted and pay tribute to some of South Africa's greatest leaders including John Dube, Josiah Gumede GM Naicker, Dr Abduraman, Chief Luthuli, Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Yusuf Dadoo, Moses Kotane, Chris Hani an Oliver Tambo. They should have been here to celebrate with us, for this is their achievement too.

Tomorrow, the entire ANC leadership and I will be back at our desks. We are rolling up our sleeves to begin tackling the problems our country faces. We ask you all to join us - go back to your jobs in the morning. Let's get South Africa working.

For we must, together and without delay, begin to build a better life for all South Africans. This means creating jobs building houses, providing education and bringing peace and security for all.

The calm and tolerant atmosphere that prevailed during the elections depicts the type of South Africa we can build. It set the tone for the future. We might have our differences, but we are one people with a common destiny in our rich variety of culture, race and tradition.

People have voted for the party of their choice and we respect that. This is democracy.

I hold out a hand of friendship to the leaders of all parties and their members, and ask all of them to join us in working together to tackle the problems we face as a nation. An ANC government will serve all the people of South Africa, not just ANC members.

We also commend the security forces for the sterling work done. This has laid a solid foundation for a truly professional security force, committed to the service of the people and loyalty to the new constitution.

Now is the time for celebration, for South Africans to join together to celebrate the birth of democracy. I raise a glass to you all for working so hard to achieve what can only be called a small miracle. Let our celebrations be in keeping with the mood set in the elections, peaceful, respectful and disciplined, showing we are a people ready to assume the responsibilities of government.

I promise that I will do my best to be worthy of the faith and confidence you have placed in me and my organisation, the African National Congress. Let us build the future together, and toast a better life for all South Africans.

John Howard: - 'You have endured far too many years in the political wilderness', Election night - 1996

2 March 1996, C Sydney, Australia

Can I say to you, and my first words are addressed to all of the people of Australia, that I am very conscious of the enormous responsibility that has been placed upon me and upon my colleagues by the verdict of the Australian people today.

I feel many emotions tonight, but the deepest emotion of all I feel is that of humility that the Australian people have given me the privilege of leading the Government of this country and I want to say that the Government that I will lead will be a Government not only for the people who voted for us but also for the people who voted against us.

Eleven years ago when I was unsuccessful in an election I said in my concession speech that the things that united Australians were infinitely more important and more enduring than the things that divided Australians.

That has always been my political credo, and it will be a political credo that I will carry forward in the governance of this country over the next three years.

I want to thank Paul Keating for his gracious words. I want to wish Paul Keating and Anita and their family a good health and happiness in the future. Can I say that although we have been vigorous opponents be has been a great warrior for his own political cause and despite our differences that is something that I recognise.

I owe thanks to many people and I will come to that in a moment. I want to make it clear that although uniting the Australian people will be the cornerstone of my approach in Government, we have been elected with a mandate, a very powerful mandate.

And whilst I will seek at all times unity and a common point of view, we have not been elected to be just a pale imitation of the Government that we have replaced.

We have been given this emphatic mandate tonight because there have been many things that have been left undone that need to be attended to and addressed. We need to implement the program on which we were elected and I want to make it very clear that there will be an absolute determination with fairness and understanding and to do that and to do it with resolution and without qualification.

I want to thank all of my colleagues and I especially wish to thank Tim Fischer and the National Party. I will lead a Coalition in Government as I have led a Coalition in Opposition, and I look forward to working very closely with Tim Fischer as the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. To all of my Parliamentary colleagues, I say thank you. And I particularly want to extend my thanks to the Liberal Party organisation; to Tony Staley the Federal President; to Andrew Robb and Ron Walker the honorary federal treasurer and the many other members of the organisation who have worked so tirelessly.

Can I say it is an immensely proud moment for me tonight to lead back into Government the Liberal Party of Australia. We have endured sixteen years without a federal electoral victory and tonight is an immensely proud and wonderful moment.

And in celebrating the miracle of democracy that we can peacefully and respectfully transfer power through the ballot box and through no other device, let us also as Liberals and as Liberal supporters celebrate the magnificent win that we've had tonight.

It is a victory for those who voted Liberal in the past and for those who are by habit swinging voters, and it is a victory that has also embraced many traditional Labor Party areas of Australia. And when you look at the swings in Western Sydney and in some of the areas...( inaudible)..; and I look at the magnificent result in Queensland that wonderful result in South Australia and the way in which the Liberal Party held its very high proportion of seats in Victoria and the early returns in Western Australia are very encouraging. It is a comprehensive endorsement of the philosophy and the approach of the Liberal Party.

And to all of you who have endured the barbs and the insults and you've heard your Party being written off, I want to say to the rank and file of the Liberal Party, you have endured far too many years in the political wilderness. And tonight it is a victory that we all share. It is not mine alone, it is mine because I was given from the moment I became the leader of the Liberal Party just over a year ago, I was given the most magnificent loyalty and support by my Parliamentary colleagues and all of the members of the organisation. And I say from the bottom of my heart how grateful I am for that support and that loyalty because that is ( inaudible)....

I said when I launched our campaign only a few weeks ago that one of the great features of the Liberal Party is that it was owned by no section of the Australian community and our only obligation is to give good Government to all of the Australian people.

And it will be my intention and my commitment that from now I and my colleagues will devote our all to delivering good government, to doing good things, and for delivering the maximum degree of unity and cohesion to the Australian people.

There is something special about being an Australian and today I experience along with everybody else I had to queue up to cast my vote, and the bloke in front of me turned around and said, " oh, hello". He had a Labor Party how to vote ticket he didn't have a Liberal one and he said, " It's nice to meet you but I'm not going to vote for you!" And that is, can I say, that is a celebration of what Australia is all about.

And the very last thing that I want to say is a special word of thanks to some people who've been very close to me over the past months. I want to thank my own personal staff. The personal staff of a Party leader carry enormous burdens and responsibilities and I am personally very very grateful to all of my staff for the magnificent job that they have done.

They have shared the disappointments and tonight they share the exhilaration of this remarkable victory.

And lastly, can I say to my wife Janette and to my three children, Melanie, Tim and Richard, of all the things these four people in the world, they have kept me going and they have sustained me and they have shared the difficulties as well as the successes of politics. And anybody in public life should always remember the contribution of their families and I unhesitatingly express not only my affection but also my enormous gratitude to my wife and my three children for what they have done for me and what they continue to mean to me.

And my very last words are to all of the people of Australia, to my fellow Australians, I am both deeply moved and I understand very very deeply and very profoundly the responsibility that has been given to me tonight. And I can but make a simple promise and a simple commitment, that from now on I will do all I can to advance the welfare of all of the Australian people.

I will focus on those things that bind us together, I will focus on our strengths, I will defend the interests and the values and the principles of this country both domestically and internationally. There is something very special, there is something unique about our nation and about being Australian and I commit myself and my future Government to the service of all of the Australian people.

Donald Trump: 'Frankly, we did win this election', Election night remarks - 2020

4 November 2020, White House, Washington DC, USA

Well, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Please sit. Thank you. This is without question the latest news conference I’ve ever had. Thank you. I appreciate it very much. And I want to thank the American people for their tremendous support, millions and millions of people voted for us tonight. And a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people and we won’t stand for it. We will not stand for it.

I want to thank the first lady, my entire family, and Vice President Pence, Mrs. Pence for being with us all through this. And we were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off. The results tonight have been phenomenal and we are getting ready… I mean, literally we were just all set to get outside and just celebrate something that was so beautiful, so good. Such a vote, such a success to citizens of this country have come out in record numbers. This is a record. There’s never been anything like it to support our incredible movement. We won states that we weren’t expected to win. Florida, we didn’t win it. We won it by a lot.

We won the great State of Ohio. We won Texas, we won Texas. We won Texas. We won Texas by 700,000 votes and they don’t even include it in the tabulations. It’s also clear that we have won Georgia. We’re up by 2.5% or 117,000 votes with only 7% left. They’re never going to catch us. They can’t catch us. Likewise we’ve clearly won North Carolina. Where we’re up 1.4%. We’re 77,000 votes with only approximately 5% left. They can’t catch us. We also, if you look and you see Arizona, we have a lot of life in that. And somebody declared that it was a victory for… And maybe it will be. I mean, that’s possible. But certainly there were a lot of votes out there that we could get because we’re now just coming into what they call Trump territory. I don’t know what you call it. But these were friendly Trump voters. And that could be overturned.

The gentleman that called it, I watched tonight. He said, “Well, we think it’s fairly unlikely that he could catch.” Well, fairly unlikely? And we don’t even need it. We don’t need that. That was just a state that if we would have gotten it, it would have been nice. Arizona. But there’s a possibility, maybe even a good possibility. In fact, since I saw that originally it’s been changed and the numbers have substantially come down just in a small amount of votes. So we want that obviously to stay in play. But most importantly, we’re winning Pennsylvania by a tremendous amount of votes.

We’re up 600… Think of this. Think of this. Think of this. We’re up 690,000 votes in Pennsylvania, 690,000. These aren’t even close. This is not like, “Oh, it’s close…” With 64% of the vote in, it’s going to be almost impossible to catch. And we’re coming into good Pennsylvania areas where they happen to like your president. I mean, it’s very good. So we’ll probably expand that. We’re winning Michigan, but I’ll tell you, I looked at the numbers. I said, “Wow.” I looked, I said, “Wow, that’s a lot.” By almost 300,000 votes and 65% of the vote is in and we’re winning Wisconsin. And I said, “Well, we don’t need all of them. We need…” Because when you add Texas in, which wasn’t added, I spoke with the really wonderful governor of Texas just a little while ago, Greg Abbott, he said, “Congratulations.” He called me to congratulate me on winning Texas.

I mean, we won Texas. I don’t think they finished quite the tabulation, but there’s no way. And it was almost complete, but he congratulated me. Then he said, “By the way, what’s going on? I’ve never seen anything like this.” Can I tell you what, nobody has. So we won by 107,000 votes with 81% of the vote. That’s Michigan. So when you take those three states in particular and you take all of the others, I mean, we have so many… We had such a big night. You just take a look at all of these states that we’ve won tonight, and then you take a look at the kind of margins that we’ve won it by, and all of a sudden, it’s not like we’re up 12 votes and we have 60% left. We won states. And all of a sudden I said, “What happened to the election? It’s off.” And we have all these announcers saying what happened? And then they said, “Oh.”

Because you know what happened? They knew they couldn’t win so they said, “Let’s go to court.” And did I predict this, Newt? Did I say this? I’ve been saying this from the day I heard they were going to send out tens of millions of ballots. They said exactly, because either they were going to win or if they didn’t win, they’ll take us to court. So Florida was a tremendous victory. 377,000 votes. Texas, as we said. Ohio, think of this. Ohio a tremendous state, a big state. I love Ohio. We won by 8.1%, 460,00…think of this. Almost 500,000 votes. North Carolina, a big victory with North Carolina. So we won there. We lead by 76,000 votes with almost nothing left. And all of a sudden everything just stopped.

This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. We did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the good of this nation. This is a very big moment. This is a major fraud in our nation. We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we’ll be going to the US Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at four o’clock in the morning and add them to the list. Okay? It’s a very sad moment. To me this is a very sad moment and we will win this. And as far as I’m concerned, we already have won it.

So I just want to thank you. I want to thank all of our support. I want to thank all of the people that worked with us. And Mr. Vice President, say a few words, please. Please.

Thank you, Mr. President. I want to join you in thanking more than 60 million Americans who have already cast their vote for four more years for president Donald Trump in the White House. While the votes continue to be counted, we’re going to remain vigilant, as the president said. The right to vote has been at the centre of our democracy since the founding of this nation and we’re going to protect the integrity of the vote. But I really believe with all of my heart, with the extraordinary margins, Mr. President, that you’ve inspired in the states that you just described, and the way that you launched this movement across the country to make America great again, I truly do believe as you do that we are on the road to victory and we will make America great again, again. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Joe Biden: 'We believe we are on track to win this election', Election night - 2020

4 November 2020, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

Your patience is commendable. We knew this was going to go long, but who knew we’re going to go into maybe tomorrow morning, maybe even longer. But look, we feel good about where we are. We really do. I’m here to tell you tonight, we believe we’re on track to win this election. We knew because of the unprecedented early vote and the mail-in vote it was going to take a while. We’re going to have to be patient until the hard work of tallying the votes is finished. And it ain’t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted.

But we’re feeling good. We’re feeling good about where we are. We believe one of the nets has suggested we’ve already won Arizona, but we’re confident about Arizona. That’s a turnaround. We also just called it for Minnesota. And we’re still in the game in Georgia, although that’s not one we expected. And we’re feeling real good about Wisconsin and Michigan. And by the way, it’s going to take time to count the votes, we’re going to win Pennsylvania.

I’ve been talking to the folks in Philly, Allegheny County, Scranton, and they’re really encouraged by the turnout and what they see. Look, we can know the results as early as tomorrow morning. But it may take a little longer. As I’ve said all along, it’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who’s won this election. That’s the decision of the American people. But I’m optimistic about this outcome. And I want to thank everyone of you who came out and voted in this election. And by the way, Chris Coons and the Democrats, congratulations here in Delaware.

John Carney

Pardon?

John Carney.

Hey John, you’re the gov. Yeah, the whole team man. You’ve done a great job. I’m grateful to the poll workers, to our volunteers, our canvassers, everyone that participated in this democratic process. And I’m grateful to all of my supporters here in Delaware and all across the nation. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And folks, you heard me say it before, every time I walk out of my grandpa’s house up in Scranton he’d yell, “Joey. Keep the faith.” And my Grandma, when she was alive, “Y’all know Joey spread it.” Keep the faith guys, we’re going to win this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your patience is great.

Stephen Colbert: 'Whether your side won or lost, we don't have to do this sh*t for a while', Election Night Live - 2016

8 November 2016, New York, USA

Now, I think we can agree that this has been an absolutely exhausting, bruising election for everyone and it has come to an ending that I did not imagine. We now all feel the way that Rudy Giuliani looks. Seeing this election, everyone's going to be saying has America lost its mind? And the answer is evidently 'back off buddy, we got 300 million guns and we're kind of stressed right now.'

By every metric, we are more divided than ever as a nation.... More than four in 10 voters say the other party's policies are so misguided they post a threat to the nation, but you know what? Everybody feels that way. And not only that, more than half of Democrats say the Republican party makes them afraid, while 49 percent of Republicans say the same about the Democratic party. So both sides are terrified of the other side, and I think that's why the voting booth has a curtain so you have some place to hide after the election is over.

So how did our politics get so poisonous? I think it's because we overdosed, especially this year. We drank too much of the poison. You take a little bit of it so you can hate the other side and it tastes kind of good and you like how it feels and there's a gentle high to the condemnation. And you know you're right, right? You know you're right.

When I was a kid, we didn't think about politics this much. A lot, but not this much. I grew up in Watergate. My first president was Nixon. I'd come home from school, couldn't watch The Beverly Hillbillies because there was Senator Sam Ervin with the big eyebrows talking about crimes committed in the White House. That was a great, dividing moment in American politics. That's the 'err' moment where we all stopped trusting each other, because Vietnam was wrapped up in that too. People were dying for political expediency... a cause they believed in. But as a kid, even with all that, we didn't talk about politics this much. We stuck with safe subjects.

Back then, you'd talk about religion at the dinner table or trying to guess which family member was gay, back when it mattered. Politics used to be something we thought about every four years, maybe every two years if you didn't have a lot of social life. You cared about the midterm elections. And that's good that we didn't think about it that much because it left room in our lives for other things and other people. I'm from a big family. Jimmy, Eddie, Mary, Billy, Margot, Jay, Peter, Paul, and Steven.
My mother was born two days before women could vote the first time in a presidential election. Again, we don't know what's going to happen, but I was thinking this was going to be the time that she got what she wanted. She told me at age 92, shortly before she died, 'oh I think I would vote for Hillary, this time, it's time.' She only voted for one Democrat in her entire life and that was Kennedy because spoiler alert: we're Catholic.
Politics is a lot of horse race, and horse race is gambling, and gambling is, according to the Bible, a sin. Because it itself is a poison. Worrying about winning and not what the consequences of winning is. And I think the people who designed our democracy didn't want us in it all the time. Informed, yes. Politicking all the time, I don't think so. Not divided that way. They designed an election that was meant to confuse us and bore us a little bit. That's why the electoral college exists. And CPSAN. And why the State of the Union begins with 20 minutes of shaking hands with grandpas.

But now politics is everywhere and that takes up precious brain space we could be using to remember all the things we actually have in common, so whether your side won or lost, we don't have to do this sh*t for a while.
So keep your American flag up, but you can take off your American flag hat. You can put away your 'I Voted' stickers, and you can get back to your life. And I'd like to try to end this election season right now by voting unanimously on a few things that all bring us together.

Fair warning: some of these are silly. But in the face of something that might strike you as horrible, I think laughter is the best medicine. You cannot laugh and be afraid at the same time, and the devil cannot stand mockery.


 

Malcolm Turnbull: "The Labor Party ran some of the most systematic, well-funded lies ever peddled in Australia",Election night speech - 2016

3 July 2016, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Malcom Turnbull is current Prime Minister of Australia. More information at Museum of Australian Democracy entry.

My friends, I can report that based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a Coalition majority Government in the next Parliament.

It is a very, very close count. It is a very close count, as you know. And right now, right now, right now nearly 30% of the votes are yet to be counted. The pre-poll will continue to be counted until 2am.

But I don’t suggest we should wait around for that. And then the commissioner advises us there will be no more carding tomorrow or on Monday and they will count the postal votes on Tuesday.

And we may, the final results in terms of seats may not be known until then. So we will have a wait a few days. But as my distinguished predecessor, mentor, former boss John Howard well remembers ...

We have seen this before in 1998. And this is an experience not unknown in the parliamentary history of the Liberal Party. And of course the really critical thing is this, my friends — the values that we have and the policies that we brought to this election meet the challenges of our times.

The Labor Party, the Labor Party ran some of the most systematic, well-funded lies ever peddled in Australia.

We have never, the mass ranks of the union movement and all of their millions of dollars, telling vulnerable Australians that Medicare was going to be privatised or sold, frightening people in their bed and even today, even as voters went to the polls, as you would have seen in the press, there were text messages being sent to thousands of people across Australia saying that Medicare was about to be privatised by the Liberal Party.

And the message, the message, the SMS message came from Medicare. It said it came from Medicare. An extraordinary act of dishonesty. No doubt the police will investigate. But this is, but this is the scale of the challenge we faced. And regrettably more than a few people were misled. There’s no doubt about that.

But, the circumstances of Australia cannot be changed by a lying campaign from the Labor Party. The challenges, the fact that we live in times of rapid economic change, of enormous opportunity, enormous challenges, a time when we need to be innovative, when we need to be competitive, when we need to be able to seize those opportunities, those times are there.

No politician can give a speech, can write a policy, can send a message and change the reality of the circumstances in which we live and the policies that will enable us to meet those times with success.

And they are the values of our parties because they are the values of freedom, of business, of enterprise and entrepreneurship. And the alternative, the idea, the idea, the idea that the answer to Australia’s economic challenges, as Labor would have it, Labor with the second lowest primary vote in its history, but Labor would say that the answer is more debt, more deficit and higher taxes.

Seriously. Seriously. So, my friends, I’m sure that as the results are refined and come in over the next few days with all of the counting, we will be able to form that majority government. But, let me say this, let me say this without any fear of contradiction.

The Labor Party has no capacity in this parliament to form a stable majority government. That is a fact. Now, I want to thank the millions of Australians who have placed their trust in us, in our party, in our policies, in our candidates. I want to thank them for believing in the policies that we brought to this election.

And we will continue to deserve that trust, and seek to deliver those policies because they are the right ones for our times, because the alternative, my friends, is that we just fall off the back of the pack of leading nations. That is where Labor would have us. That is where Labor would have us.

Higher debt, higher deficits, higher taxes. That’s their formula and that’s a formula for failure. Now, I want to thank all of my colleagues, all of my parliamentary colleagues, my cabinet, I wants to thank Barnaby Joyce, the Deputy PM, the Leader of the National Party, I want to thank my own Deputy, Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister.

Nobody covered more miles than her. The Treasurer and all the other cabinet ministers and all of my parliamentary colleagues, I want to thank all of our candidates right across the …

(Applause interrupts)

want to thank all of our candidates right across the country and I want to give a shout out to Julia Banks in Chisholm in Victoria for her extraordinary efforts.

I want to acknowledge the great work and leadership shown by the Federal campaign direct, Tony Nutt, and our whole campaign team, and all the Liberal and National Party workers in every electorate and every polling booth often having to stand up to intimidation and threats in there.

I want to thank every single one of them. I want to thank my own team. I want to thank them, thank them for the team and the Prime Minister’s Office for the remarkable work they’ve done over this long campaign.

And then, above all, I want to thank Lucy and my family who, apart from the youngest ones, are here tonight. I want to thank them so much, because, as you all know, as you all know; this political business is a challenging one.

And you cannot do it without the love and the commitment and the passion and the loyalty and the support of your family and I salute you, Lucy. My children, their partners for all of the love and support you’ve given me.

Now, I want to also address a matter that I know has been raised earlier today or this evening about the calling of the double-dissolution election. Let me remind everybody of why that occurred.

That was not a political tactic. It was not designed to remove senators or get a new Senate because new senators are better than old senators or whatever.

It was simply this. We need to restore the rule of law to the construction industry. At the moment the CFMEU has over 100 officials before the courts on more than 1,000 charges of breaching industrial law or agreements.

There is a culture of thuggery and intimidation, and bullying in the construction sector, which John Howard recognised years ago and set up the ABCC.

Bill Shorten and Julia Gillard abolished it. The Hayden royal commission investigated again and made it perfectly clear that the same problems were there, only worse.

And we had no choice — we did have a choice — we could have walked away and said it was all too hard and we weren’t committed to our principles of cleaning up the construction industry and ensuring the rule of law applied. We could have done that.

I don’t think that’s consistent with the values and the principles we share and our party have or I have or the alternative was to take the matter to a double-dissolution so you could present it to a joint sitting. That is the only alternative we had.

For those that say we shouldn’t have called a double-dissolution election are saying we should have just let the CFMEU with getting on with doing what they like and never challenge them. And that is not in Australia’s interests. It’s not right. It’s weak.

We have to stand up for what is right to restore the rule of law in an industry that employs over a million Australians.

So the hour is late. And I don’t expect us to be waiting till 2am, until the final pre-polls are counted. But, as I said, based on the advice I have from our officials and advisers and strategists within the party, I am confident that we will be able to form a majority government.

And certainly, certainly we are the only parties that have the ability or the possibility of doing that. All will depend on the counting.

And we await the completion of that. In the meantime, I want to say to all Australians those that voted for us, those that voted for other parties or candidates, this is a time when we must come together.

We must stick together. We face enormous challenges. We face, we face challenges in a rapidly evolving global economy that we do not anticipate that will surprise us, the opportunities will surprise us, but so will the headwinds.

We need have a common purpose. We need to have a commitment to the economic plan that sets us up for success. We have that plan and we will in Government be seeking the support of all Australians, all members of the parliament, to the program that alone can deliver us success in the years ahead.

Because it is a program, a policy, a plan that is based on what is best in us, that is based on our confidence, optimism, on our courage, on our entrepreneurship, the alternative is hiding under the doona and pretending the world is not what it is.

It’s form of political escapism that you can only continue for as long as you can keep on running up more and more debt. We have got to stop that. This is a time for clear-eyed assessment of our challenges, our opportunities and a plan that enables us to meet them.

We have that plan. All Australians we will seek their support, their commitment to support us in Government, all of us, we will reach out to unite Australians with that common purpose of ensuring that we can compete, that we can succeed, because without that, my friends, there is a road to debt, to deficit, to higher taxes, to stagnation.

That is what our opponents offered. They offered it under the guise of some scare campaigns, so dishonest. But yet in some quarters so effective, that they boasted about it how skilfully they had lied and how effectively they had deceived.

A pretty shameful episode in Australian political history.

Well, the election is over. Only the counting remains. And now is the time to unite in Australia’s aid, in Australia’s service to ensure that we can have truly the very best years for our country ahead of us. Thank you all very much.

Pablo Iglesias: 'Whatever happens, we will always have the gardens of Atocha', Election Night speech - 2015

20 December 2015, Plaza de Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Translation by Hired Knaves on this page.

Buenas noches. Gabon. Boas noites. Bona nit, Madrid, capital of fraternity. We are still here, knocking on the doors of heaven. 76 years ago, very close to this square, my great-uncle said to his sister: whatever happens, we will always have the gardens of Atocha. He was on the verge of losing a war, and a few months later, my uncle was shot by firing squad in Valencia. That man met a socialist fate, (as) one of the boys of La Motorizada [a socialist youth militia] that always accompanied Don Indalecio Prieto. The sisters of that man raised my mother and me, and they always spoke to us of the gardens of Atocha. They never spoke to us from a place of rancour or vengeance, but from love. It is said that the heroes of the patria are those who die and kill in wars. I do not agree. The heroic feats that make a patria are not acts that go down in history, but the everyday acts. A grandmother who bursts with joy when she sees her grand-daughter, clean and wearing a good pair of shoes, with her schoolbooks in her bag, running towards her when she comes out of a well-equipped public school, is the image of a decent country. That is what makes a patria.

Tonight, I want to pay tribute to the anonymous heroes and heroines who with their small acts, have shown us what it means to change a country. The grandmother who teaches her grandchildren that toys are for sharing, the activist who loses hours of sleep because he is out putting up posters in his neighbourhood, the (female) magistrate who applies the law knowing that it is the only guarantee that the weak have against the strong, the (male) nurse who knows that his tenderness is the dignity of the sick elderly woman. The (female) teacher who strives so that despite the cutbacks, all children learn and are happy learning. The (male) police officer who does not lose his patience and puts up with whatever comes along and does his job without reaching to his belt. The (male) banking employee who refuses to sell preferential shares. The (female) worker on strike who does not lose her smile. The (male) public defender who gives his all for his defendant. The (male) small business owner who treats his employees as comrades. The grandfather who stretches his pension to pay his daughter’s university fees. Behind those everyday acts lie the heroes who change a country. Revolution does not consist of flags. It is in the small things, like in the gardens of Atocha.

Today’s events are historic. A new political time has opened up in our history, one that puts an end to the system of taking turns. 15M marked the beginning of a new transition in our country, led by ordinary people. In moments such as this one, the democratic abundance of our history breaks through. Tonight we can hear the voices of the people of Madrid resisting invasion. We can hear the voice of General Riego, defending the constitution with sword in hand. The voice of Torrijos, disembarking in Málaga. We can hear the voices of the liberals and the democrats of the Glorious Revolution. The voice of Joaquín Costa, and the voices of the Free Educational Institution. The voice of Rosalía de Castro and the ironic laughter of Valle-Inclán. We hear the voice of the working class and of the women struggling for their right to suffrage. We hear the voices of the Republican reformers, the voices of Clara Campoamor, Margarita Nelken, Dolores Ibárruri, Federica Montseny, Victoria Kent. The voices of Miguel Hernández, Federico García Lorca, Machado and Alberti. The voices of the Asturian miners. The voice of Companys, telling Madrid: it is your brother who speaks. The voice of Durruti. Of Largo Caballero. Of Azaña. Of Pepe Díaz and Andreu Nin. The polyglot voices of the International volunteers who by defending our patria, will be Spanish forever. We hear the voices of those who raised the flags of freedom against terror. The voices of the prisoners of the dictatorship. The voices of the working class who won their rights through strikes. We hear voices in Basque, in Catalan, in Galician. We hear the immortal voice of Carlos Cano singing to the emigrants. The voices of Serrat, of Paco Ibañez, of Rosa León, of Imanol, of Lluis Llach and also the voice of Soledad Bravo and of Pep Botifarra. We hear the voices and we read the words of Manolo Vázquez Montalbán, and all those who struggled for a better future, along with the voices of you tonight, who are the leaders of political change in Spain.

I want to thank my family, all my comrades, and all those of you who are here, but above all, the people [las gentes] and the peoples [los pueblos] of Spain. There is a lot of work to do starting tomorrow, and it won’t be easy but something has changed. Never again a Spain without its peoples [pueblos] or its ordinary people [gentes] . Today from here we commit to push towards a new historic settlement that defends social justice and decency. Democracy must reach the economy, so that there can be no more violations of human rights and dignity. Tonight we hear once again the immortal voice of Salvador Allende: history is ours, and it is made by the peoples. ¡Sí se puede!