Welcome to a new week, after an extraordinary election result, the extent of which was neither expected nor predicted.

Labor has been returned with a substantial majority, the Coalition almost banished from Australian cities, and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has lost his seat.

On the night, party and political commentators seemed a little sideswiped by the size of the result, and its speed. I think Laura Tingle on the ABC said it plainly: the ALP and independents now hold almost all seats close to, and in, Australia’s big cities, leaving the Coalition with a real question about how to come back.

Despite some very nasty attack tactics, aimed at some Teal independents, most have been returned, filling a big gap as the Liberal Party has moved away from liberal values.

It is important to note the graceful nature of the Opposition Leader’s concession speech, and the victory speech from the prime minister. Both reinforced the importance of respect for others, and acknowledgement of effort. In their speeches, they both defied the rise in cruelty in political and public life. That is to be loudly applauded.

Today Joe Camilleri and David Solomon look at the campaign and the result, and we will continue to follow the fallout. Then we will move swiftly to the landscape ahead. A win of this size should not make a returned ALP complacent, but rather should embolden it to enact a reform agenda appropriate for the times. Working with independents, Labor has an opportunity to do what election analyst Kos Samaras told us. That is, that many people, especially young people, really want big, meaningful policy reform, not band-aids. Remember that young people are now the largest voting bloc, with millennials and generation Zers making up close to 50% of the nation’s over 18 million registered voters, compared with only 33% for baby boomers. It is impossible not to see the optimism and forward-thinking vigour that young people bring in the result. Our job is to live up to it.

This week, Michael Keating and others will look at what a reform agenda for the returned ALP might look like, and we will also cover the serious soul-searching confronting the Liberal Party.

Looking more broadly we begin a new series this week — Australia in our region — focusing on what we are doing right and wrong in our part of the world. The geopolitical tumult that continues to swirl around us makes it even more important to acknowledge the reality of our geography. We will start with a bang, with former Australian ambassador to the US and several Asian countries, John McCarthy. He urges us to really grapple with the twin demands of our alliance with the US and our regional aspirations.

After it was welcomed in such large numbers last week, we will continue the conversation about the genocide in Palestine.

Until next time.