Kevin Rudd to be Australia's next PM

[Ben Cousins]

Australia gains a new Prime Minister - but will it be for the better?

KEVIN Rudd’s Labor has swept aside 11 years of Coalition rule, destroying John Howard’s hopes for a record fifth term and consigning him to a humiliating exit from public life.

Voters turned to Mr Rudd’s pitch of fresh leadership and new ideas over Mr Howard’s record of economic management and unprecedented years of growth under his government.

By 10.15pm the Prime Minister had called the Labor leader to concede defeat as his own seat of Bennelong remained on a knife-edge.

"My fellow Australians, a few moments ago I telephoned Mr Kevin Rudd and I congratulated him and the Australian Labor Party on an emphatic victory,'' Mr Howard told the crowd of Liberal Party faithful gathered at the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel in central Sydney.

Mr Howard said he harboured no ill will to Mr Rudd.

"I wish him well in the task that he will undertake," Mr Howard said. "We bequeath to him a nation that is stronger and prouder."

The Prime Minister said he took full responsibility for the defeat and admitted he could well lose the seat of Bennelong he has held since first being elected to parliament in 1974.

Mr Howard would become only the second sitting prime minister in Australian history to lose his seat.

With counting still to be finalised as early as 9.05pm it looked certain that Labor would win more than the 16 seats it needed to reach office.

The historic victory puts Mr Rudd into the company of Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke as Labor's only modern leaders to take Government from Opposition.

Polls had consistently put Labor ahead since Mr Rudd took the leadership from Kim Beazley last December. But Mr Howard remained defiant to the end, insisting today he could still retain government.

At 9.30pm Labor's candidate for Bennelong Maxine McKew said it was still not clear whether she would win but it had been an "amazing night".

"A wonderful night for Labor, a fabulous, I hope, transforming moment for the country," she said, her husband and former ALP national secretary Bob Hogg beside her.

Mr Howard’s biographer Peter Van Onselen said tonight there was no way the Coalition could come back to win.

“I'm prepared to call this election,” Mr Van Onselen said. “The Labor Party have got enough of a lead that even if the Liberal Party do as well as they can in the west they can't win this election, they are too far behind.

“The reality is that the Labor Party have got enough seats to insulate themselves against a best case scenario for the Liberal Party in Western Australia which means John Howard has very narrowly lost this election.”

By 9.30pm Greens leader Bob Brown welcomed Mr Rudd as the new prime minister of Australia.

"This is a remarkable night for the Australian people," Mr Brown said.

The Coalition campaign was dogged in its final days by scandal in the marginal New South Wales seat of Lindsay, with the prime minister left haplessly condemning an electoral stunt from his party involving fake Muslim pamphlets.

In his last pleas Mr Howard told the people if they changed government they would change the country.

Voters seem to have taken him on his word, punishing him at the polls after unpopular reforms including Work Choices and six straight interest rate rises since winning the 2004 election with the promise of keeping them low.

After polling closed at 6pm early trends showed a strong swing in favour of Labor.

Voters in the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro in NSW, which has changed hands with each change of government since 1974, indicated a swing to Labor, with 58 per cent of people preferring it over the Coalition on 42 per cent.

By 8.30pm Labor candidate Mike Kelly claimed victory in the seat.

LINK: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22813391-2,00.html

 

[Æsahættr]

Had I been old enough to vote, I would have been backing Rudd. It's strange though, because Howard's been basically the only PM I've known. I welcome the change though, because I believe my life will be better under Rudd.

 

[Ben Cousins]

I voted Howard, but in all honesty I thought both would have done/will do a brilliant job in representing Australia.

 

[Suzu]

My parents voted Howard, but most people I know supported Rudd. Hell, I'm not complaining. I never pay attention to politics, and I get a free computer out of it~

 

[Ben Cousins]

My parents voted Howard, but most people I know supported Rudd. Hell, I'm not complaining. I never pay attention to politics, and I get a free computer out of it~

Bzzt.

If you're referring to Rudd's 'a computer for every child, from year nine to year twelve' statement, I think you're mistaken. He refers to schools, meaning that his government will provide enough computers for each school to accommodate aforementioned school years. This is great as many schools here where I live lack enough computers for two or three classes, let alone five or six!

 

[Æsahættr]

True, but that still helps me considering most of the computers at my school are running Windows 98.

 

[Ben Cousins]

True, but that still helps me considering most of the computers at my school are running Windows 98.

Same around these parts unfortunately. Now lets hope Rudd holds to his promise of faster internet speeds. :-D

 

[Æsahættr]

Wasn't Howard promising the same thing anyway?

 

[gorurk]

Wasn't Howard promising the same thing anyway?

yes and no. because this election was the "me to" election. for a lot of policies labour 'copied'. however Howard was also guilty of this at times.

all i know is that they need some renovations at parliament house just so Rudd can get his head through the door. lol.

as for the liberals they have a lot of work to do. as for their next leader my money is on turnball.

Same around these parts unfortunately. Now lets hope Rudd holds to his promise of faster internet speeds.

or at least have adsl2+ available everywhere

 

[Æsahættr]

That's true (I mean the "me too" part.) While Labor copied quite a few of the Coalitions policies, they chose only to filter out the good ones, and then make them more appealing, thus gaining an upper hand. Whereas the Liberal party was stuck with all the policies that would lose them votes, and even the ones that were good were improved by Labor.

 

[gorurk]

i just hope they don't "change it all when we get in" like garret said in his short jocular conversation.

lol

 

[Krucifier]

Don't blame me. My family voted Liberal. (And one decided to scribble it all out and vote for "Gerbil".)

You realize Rudd has promised so much, in fact, well over $70 BILLION dollars worth of stuff. There is no way the Australian economy can support that. We is all screwed.

 

[gorurk]

i voted for the socialist alliance in the senate... what a waste of vote. talk about idealists...

as for me bro he voted for the ldp in his main one... by does he regret that.

and i bet most of that money comes from my states mining boom. lol