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Geo. Harper
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Australia's Labor sweeps to power in elections
Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:45 AM EST
By James Grubel
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Labor Party swept into power at national
elections on Saturday, propelling 50-year-old former diplomat Kevin Rudd into
office on a wave of support for generational change.
The surge to Labor left conservative Prime Minister John Howard struggling to
hold on to even his own parliamentary seat, which he has held since 1974,
putting him in danger of becoming the first prime minister since 1929 to lose
his constituency.
Howard, who had won four consecutive elections, conceded his government had
lost power in front of a crowd of supporters in Sydney late on Saturday, saying
he had phoned Rudd to congratulate him on Labor's victory.
"This is a great democracy and I want to wish Mr. Rudd well. He assumes the
mantle of the 26th prime minister of Australia," Howard said. "We bequeath to
him a nation that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was 11
and a half years ago."
Rudd presented himself as a new generation leader compared with Howard, 68,
promising to pull Australian combat troops out of Iraq and sign the Kyoto
Protocol on climate change, further isolating Washington on both issues.
His message of new leadership attracted a swing of more than five percent
across the nation from the previous election, locking in only the sixth change
of government since World War Two.
"We've all got goose bumps that finally we might have a leader who is
passionate about fairness in this country," Celeste Giese, 39, told Reuters at
a football stadium in the northern city of Brisbane where Rudd was due to hold
a victory party.
"Finally, after 11 years, it's happening," she said, as a large crowd gathered,
many wearing T-shirts with Rudd's election motto 'Kevin 07'.
The election was fought mainly on domestic issues, with Labor cashing in on
anger at workplace laws and rising interest rates which put home owners under
financial pressure at a time when Australia's economy is booming.
Election analyst Antony Green predicted Labor would win at least 80 seats in
the 150-seat parliament, giving it a clear majority in its own right for the
first time since it lost power to Howard in 1996.
The result will mean Labor is in power nationally and in all of Australia's six
states and two territories, with the lord mayor of the northern city of
Brisbane now the senior ranking elected official in Howard's Liberal Party.
Howard was Australia's second-longest serving prime minister behind Liberal
Party founder Sir Robert Menzies. He had trailed in opinion polls all year.
A staunch U.S. ally committed to keeping Australian troops in Iraq, he offered
voters A$34 billion (US$29 billion) in tax cuts, but few new policies, instead
highlighting his strong economic record and attacking Labor's links to the
trade union movement.
(Additional reporting by Michael Perry and Jim Thornhill in Sydney, and Rob
Taylor in Brisbane)
Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:45 AM EST
By James Grubel
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Labor Party swept into power at national
elections on Saturday, propelling 50-year-old former diplomat Kevin Rudd into
office on a wave of support for generational change.
The surge to Labor left conservative Prime Minister John Howard struggling to
hold on to even his own parliamentary seat, which he has held since 1974,
putting him in danger of becoming the first prime minister since 1929 to lose
his constituency.
Howard, who had won four consecutive elections, conceded his government had
lost power in front of a crowd of supporters in Sydney late on Saturday, saying
he had phoned Rudd to congratulate him on Labor's victory.
"This is a great democracy and I want to wish Mr. Rudd well. He assumes the
mantle of the 26th prime minister of Australia," Howard said. "We bequeath to
him a nation that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was 11
and a half years ago."
Rudd presented himself as a new generation leader compared with Howard, 68,
promising to pull Australian combat troops out of Iraq and sign the Kyoto
Protocol on climate change, further isolating Washington on both issues.
His message of new leadership attracted a swing of more than five percent
across the nation from the previous election, locking in only the sixth change
of government since World War Two.
"We've all got goose bumps that finally we might have a leader who is
passionate about fairness in this country," Celeste Giese, 39, told Reuters at
a football stadium in the northern city of Brisbane where Rudd was due to hold
a victory party.
"Finally, after 11 years, it's happening," she said, as a large crowd gathered,
many wearing T-shirts with Rudd's election motto 'Kevin 07'.
The election was fought mainly on domestic issues, with Labor cashing in on
anger at workplace laws and rising interest rates which put home owners under
financial pressure at a time when Australia's economy is booming.
Election analyst Antony Green predicted Labor would win at least 80 seats in
the 150-seat parliament, giving it a clear majority in its own right for the
first time since it lost power to Howard in 1996.
The result will mean Labor is in power nationally and in all of Australia's six
states and two territories, with the lord mayor of the northern city of
Brisbane now the senior ranking elected official in Howard's Liberal Party.
Howard was Australia's second-longest serving prime minister behind Liberal
Party founder Sir Robert Menzies. He had trailed in opinion polls all year.
A staunch U.S. ally committed to keeping Australian troops in Iraq, he offered
voters A$34 billion (US$29 billion) in tax cuts, but few new policies, instead
highlighting his strong economic record and attacking Labor's links to the
trade union movement.
(Additional reporting by Michael Perry and Jim Thornhill in Sydney, and Rob
Taylor in Brisbane)
