Via the NYT: Australia’s Prime Minister Defeated After Four Terms
Prime Minister John Howard of Australia suffered a comprehensive defeat today, with a coalition led by his Liberal Party losing its majority in parliament.
After four terms in office, he will be replaced by Kevin Rudd, a Labor Party leader and former diplomat. Mr. Rudd, 50, campaigned on a platform of new leadership looking for new answers for new challenges. He has said his first acts as prime minister will include pushing for the ratification of the Kyoto climate agreement and to negotiate the withdrawal of Australian combat troops from Iraq.
[...]
Early estimates had the Labor party gaining some 20 seats, to gain a14-seat majority in the 150-seat lower house.
And, to add insult to injury:
Television prediction seven had John Howard suffering the indignity of losing his own seat in the Sydney suburb of Bennelong in parliament to a former television anchor and rookie politician, Maxine McKew. He would be the first sitting Prime Minister to lose his seat since 1929.
One suspects that the impact on US-Australian relations will be small, at most. Yes, Rudd plans to withdraw a 550 of Australia’s 1500 troops in Iraq, but that is hardly a major force change.
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November 24th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
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November 24th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
What the hell does that mean Joanne?? How much shit do you want to shovel exactly!?
Articulate an opinion and if you can’t then, please, for all our sake, keep it to yourself.
Australia’s economy is on an astronomical high, after the election, no matter who was to win its going to go down, analysts have seen it coming for months. The bad thing is it gives everyone an excuse to find fault in a government yet to find its stride. So we shall see.