Many supporters never believed Anthony Albanese's victory would come so easily.
But as the prime minister toured his home turf in the afterglow of the landslide win on Sunday morning, inner-west Sydney locals were keen to share in his joy.
Joshua Gibbs, who owns music store Crosstalk Records in Mr Albanese's electorate, gifted him a vinyl of Easy by Australian rock band The Easybeats as he made the morning rounds.
"Nobody thought it was going to be easy, but looks like it was Alban-easy," he said.
He told AAP the prime minister has visited his store before and often receives a rockstar reception in the area, with Mr Gibbs feeling somewhat giddy himself after Mr Albanese thanked him.
After Labor's emphatic election victory, the prime minister's first stop on Sunday was for coffee at a local institution in his seat of Grayndler.
Mr Albanese soaked in the rays at Bar Italia's leafy courtyard with his fiancee Jodie Haydon, cabinet minister Katy Gallagher, Bennelong MP Jerome Laxale and a few members of the party faithful.
"I used to visit this coffee shop with my mum," he told reporters.
"I grew up just down the road here, and I did certainly think of her last night as well - she would be very proud."
He offered a "grazie mille" to wait staff and thanked supporters before giving back by scooping gelato for locals and members of his media pack.
Mr Albanese also took a moment to offer his sympathies to Peter Dutton, who lost both his seat and the election in a brutal double whammy for the coalition.
"I feel for Peter Dutton," Mr Albanese said.
"It's a tough business politics, there's no doubt about that, and it would have been a tough night for Peter."
His successor in the north Brisbane electorate of Dickson, Ali France, became the first person ever to unseat a federal opposition leader.
"We all woke up to a big red wave, and I couldn't be happier about that," Ms France told reporters.
Labor is on track to more than double its lower house caucus in Queensland, from five to potentially 13 MPs.
Ms France will be one of the most celebrated members of the new Queensland caucus, and not just because of her history-making feat.
The former journalist has campaigned for seven years against Mr Dutton, overcoming the amputation of one her legs in a car accident 13 years ago and the loss of her 19-year-old son to leukaemia in 2024.
"My Henry, he relapsed after he'd had a transplant, and we knew we'd have a big fight to keep him here with us," Ms France recounted tearfully.
"And I said to him, 'well, I'm not going to be running again', because obviously, I'm going to be by his side.
"He just said to me at the time, 'don't make me the excuse for not doing important things'.
"At times it's felt just so incredibly hard but I've just always thought of his courage and determination and happiness in the face of just insurmountable pain."