Australia to Have a new PM

[Black Cobra]

Labor leader Kevin Rudd has become Australia's 26th prime minister as voters across the nation turfed John Howard out of government — and possibly out of his seat.

Australia's second-longest serving prime minister was last night swept out of office after 11-and-a-half years and is likely to become only the second prime minister in history to lose his seat.




At least two Coalition ministers have also lost their seats in the 5.5 per cent swing to Labor.

Labor needed 16 seats to form government for the first time since 1993, but it picked up 10 in Mr Rudd's home state of Queensland alone and another seven in NSW.

Labor's also won two seats in Victoria and three in South Australia, but looks like losing one seat in Western Australia.

In accepting victory, Mr Rudd talked of "writing a new page in our nation's history".

"Today Australia has looked to the future," he told ecstatic supporters at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.

"Today the Australian people have decided that we as a nation will move forward … to make this great country of ours even greater."

"I will be a prime minister for all Australians," he said. "My door will always be open to men and women who want to participate in making our country even greater in the future."

He paid special tribute to his deputy leader Julia Gillard, who will become Australia's first female deputy prime minister.

Watching from the National Tally Room in Canberra, Ms Gillard had tears in her eyes as Mr Rudd praised her contribution.

Mr Rudd also thanked his family and colleagues and acknowledged outgoing Prime Minister John Howard's "extensive contribution to public service".

Mr Howard conceded defeat just after 10.30 pm (AEDT), accepting that he had probably also lost his Sydney seat of Bennelong after 33 years to Labor challenger Maxine McKew.

Supporters wept, clapped and cheered as Mr Howard gave his last speech as prime minister, declaring that he had led a government which had taken the country from deep debt to strong prosperity. He described Labor's win as "emphatic" and "accepted full responsibility" for his party's loss.

He thanked the people of Australia for giving him the privilege of holding the office.

"I've led a government that has taken this country from deep debt to strong prosperity," he said. "I've led a government that's never shirked from making difficult decisions. I've led a government that has reformed the Australian economy and has left it the envy of the world."

Mr Howard, who served four terms as prime minister, said he was handing over power of a nation "that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous that it was eleven-and-a-half years ago".

"I believe Australia's best years lay ahead of her," he said.

"Naturally I'm saddened by the defeat of the coalition tonight but I count myself very fortunate to have been the beneficiary of the support of the people of Australia for so long," Mr Howard told the crowd at Sydney's Sofitel Wentworth hotel.

Mr Rudd will lead an Australian Labor Party that forms government with at least 83 seats in the House of Representatives. His party won a record 53.8 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

The election results have shown some huge swings against the Coalition in Queensland, including a 14.75 swing in Leichhardt.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough lost his Queensland seat of Longman to Labor's Jon Sullivan.


Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull was victorious in the eastern Sydney seat of Wentworth, increasing his margin by about 1 percent.

"This is your win," he told Liberal Party faithful.

"This has been a very tough campaign. It 's had a lot of dramas and a lot of challenges. But we've got to the other end of it successfully."

Labor's star candidate Maxine McKew has pulled ahead of Mr Howard in Bennelong with 51.1 per cent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis, after 72.2 per cent of the vote had been counted.

But she is yet to claim victory and told an audience of supporters the seat was on "a knife's edge".

In the controversial western Sydney seat of Lindsay, Labor's David Bradbury was victorious over Liberal candidate Karen Chijoff with 52.9 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

"I'm a very happy man," he told AAP.

The seat, held by retiring Liberal MP Jackie Kelly, had its share of controversy when Liberal Party members distributed hoax anti-Muslim pamphlets. "It shows, with the events of the last week, that this is a government that has run out of ideas," Mr Bradbury said.

The litmus-test seat of Eden-Monaro on the NSW south coast appears to have been convincingly won by Labor candidate Mike Kelly, who unseats Liberal front bencher Gary Nairn.

Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran has retained his Victorian seat of Gippsland, despite a 1.9 per cent swing against him.

Ageing Minister Christopher Pyne has held on to his South Australian seat of Sturt, despite a 6.4 per cent swing against the Government, and Nationals leader Mark Vaile should comfortably hold his NSW seat of Lyne.

But Labor has won the blue ribbon NSW Nationals seat of Page, with a 8.2 per cent swing to Labor candidate Janelle Saffin

Finally we may have some sense back in government. With a new better broadband, troops being pulled out overseas and workchoices thrown out. Woohoo