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Australia looks to the future
24/11/2007 17:44 - (SA)
Brisbane - Australia's Labour leader Kevin
Rudd, a Mandarin speaking former diplomat, swept into power at
national elections on Saturday on a wave of support for
generational change, ending 11 years of conservative rule.
"Today Australia has looked to the future," Rudd, flanked by
his wife Therese and family, told jubilant supporters. "I will
be a prime minister for all Australians."
The surge to Labour left conservative Prime Minister John
Howard struggling to win 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.
Rudd, 50, presented himself as a new generation leader by
promising to pull Australian combat troops out of Iraq and sign
the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, further isolating
Washington on both issues.
Rudd is expected to forge closer ties with China and other
Asian nations and has said he wants a more independent voice in
foreign policy, but on Saturday again promised Australia would
retain its close alliance with the United States.
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 Rudd's victory party.
"Finally, after 11 years, it's happening," she said.
The election was fought mainly on domestic issues, with
Labour 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.
During the campaign, Rudd said one of his first actions
would be to lead his country's delegation to December's
international climate talks in Bali, emphasising that Australia
hopes to take a lead role in efforts to combat global warming.
Eleven years in power
Howard, who had won four consecutive elections and held
power for 11 years, conceded his government had lost power in
front of a crowd of supporters in Sydney late on Saturday,
saying he took full personal responsibility for the defeat.
"This is a great democracy and I want to wish Mr Rudd well,"
Howard said. "We bequeath to him a nation that is stronger and
prouder and more prosperous than it was 11-1/2 years ago."
Election analyst Antony Green predicted Labour would win more
than 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 Labour 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 had won four consecutive elections and was
Australia's second-longest serving prime minister behind Liberal
Party founder Sir Robert Menzies. He had trailed in opinion
polls all year.
- Reuters
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