Australia's Labor trails in early counts
Source: Agencies |
August 22, 2010, Sunday
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Australians chose between making a conservative male their fourth prime minister in three years or sticking with their first female leader in tight elections yesterday just two months after she took power.
In early counting, the Australian Electoral Commission said the governing center-left Labor Party was trailing the conservative opposition coalition in the popular vote. It was not yet clear whether Labor would lose its majority in the House of Representatives, where parties form governments.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Labor would lose seats but not necessarily enough to lose the government.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, a 48-year-old former lawyer, came to power in a June 24 internal coup in her center-left Labor Party during the first term of her predecessor, and almost immediately called elections to confirm her mandate.
She was vying against Tony Abbott, a 52-year-old former Roman Catholic seminarian with three daughters who barely gained the endorsement eight months ago of his own conservative Liberal Party, which has led Australia for most of the last 60 years.
Australians have not dumped a first-term government since 1931 when a Labor administration paid the ultimate price for the Great Depression. However, this year's elections are colored by Gillard's seizure of the helm of her party from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after a series of poor opinion polls.
Gillard, a Welsh-born immigrant who grew up in Adelaide, acknowledged before polls closed that Labor could lose its entire eight-seat majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives. Labor won 83 seats at the last election in 2007.
Asylum seekers, health care climate change and the presence of the Australian military in Afghanistan have been the hot election topics.
In early counting, the Australian Electoral Commission said the governing center-left Labor Party was trailing the conservative opposition coalition in the popular vote. It was not yet clear whether Labor would lose its majority in the House of Representatives, where parties form governments.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Labor would lose seats but not necessarily enough to lose the government.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, a 48-year-old former lawyer, came to power in a June 24 internal coup in her center-left Labor Party during the first term of her predecessor, and almost immediately called elections to confirm her mandate.
She was vying against Tony Abbott, a 52-year-old former Roman Catholic seminarian with three daughters who barely gained the endorsement eight months ago of his own conservative Liberal Party, which has led Australia for most of the last 60 years.
Australians have not dumped a first-term government since 1931 when a Labor administration paid the ultimate price for the Great Depression. However, this year's elections are colored by Gillard's seizure of the helm of her party from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after a series of poor opinion polls.
Gillard, a Welsh-born immigrant who grew up in Adelaide, acknowledged before polls closed that Labor could lose its entire eight-seat majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives. Labor won 83 seats at the last election in 2007.
Asylum seekers, health care climate change and the presence of the Australian military in Afghanistan have been the hot election topics.
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