Australia Elections: New Politicians Headed for Canberra

Australian voters are still waiting to find out the overall result of their national election after voting on Saturday. But what’s clear is that a record number of independent candidates and representatives from very small parties have been elected. Al Jazeera’s Andrew Thomas takes a look at the eclectic group of politicians Australians are sending to Canberra.

Tony Abbott to Be New Australian Prime Minster after 'Landslide Win'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott swept into office today in a landslide election after incumbent prime minister Kevin Rudd conceded defeat.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday called a clear win for the Abbott-led opposition party over Mr Rudd's Labour in national polls.

"The coalition is on a pretty secure 74 seats already. On that basis they're going to get a majority. I think we can say the government has been defeated," Antony Green, the state broadcaster's election analyst, said.

Meanwhile a government minister said her party had lost the election. Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told ABC after 13 percent of the votes were counted that her government's loss was no longer in doubt.

She said: "I am a cautious person by nature, but I think that it's pretty clear it's a matter of the size of the victory" for the conservative Liberal Party-led alliance.

The apparent victory by Australia’s British-born opposition leader would mark a dramatic return to power for the conservative Liberal-National party after six years of shaky Labour rule. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Saturday, September 07, 2013

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tony Abbott wins, but does Australia care?: Australians have elected Tony Abbott with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, writes Andrew Mueller » | Andrew Mueller | Saturday, September 07, 2013

Conservatives Poised to Win Australian Votes

Australians go to the polls on Saturday for an election that is likely to see a new government elected

Australian Election: Tony Abbott in Fresh Sexism Row

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tony Abbott, Australia's opposition leader, has added to long-running concerns about his attitudes towards women after he described a young female candidate as "feisty" with "a bit of sex appeal".

Standing alongside his daughter - who appeared to wince - Mr Abbott made his remarks in response to a query about the local Liberal party candidate, Fiona Scott, and her predecessor, Jackie Kelly.

"They're young, they're feisty, I think I can probably say have a bit of sex appeal, and they are just very very connected to the local area," he said.

The comment triggered an awkward smile from Ms Scott, who was whisked away before the travelling media pack could reach her. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Australian Election: Tony Abbott Hits Bum Note

Tony Abbott, Australia's opposition leader, has triggered a wave of scatological jokes with an unfortunate slip-up, declaring that no one can be a "suppository of all wisdom".

Read the article here | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Monday, August 12, 2013

Australia Election: Labour's Julia Gillard Retains Power after Securing Support of Independents
THE TELEGRAPH: Julia Gillard, the Australia's Labour Prime Minister, has clung onto power after forming a fragile coalition government with a majority of one seat in the country's parliament.



The country's first woman leader, who came to office after a Labour revolt just 10 weeks ago, scraped over the line to form a government with support from the "kingmakers" after 17 days of frantic post-election talks.

After two weeks of negotiations following inconclusive election results, the country's first woman leader scraped over the line to form a government ahead of conservative rival Tony Abbott.

"Labour is prepared to govern," she said. "I believe the Australian people, given the closeness of this vote, want us to find more common ground in the national interest."

"I will work tirelessly to do what we said we would do, and that is to forge a new paradigm of modern government in this country," We are prepared to go forward to serve the Australian people. I begin this task more optimistic and more confident than ever before in the Australian people and our hopes and aspirations." >>> | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Ken Wyatt was elected as the Liberal representative for the seat of Hasluck. Photograph: BBC
First Australian Aboriginal in House of Representatives
BBC: An Aboriginal man has won a seat in Australia's House of Representatives, becoming the first indigenous person to do so in the country's history.

Ken Wyatt, 57, took the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia for the centre-right Liberal Party.

Neither the Liberals nor the governing Labor Party gained enough seats at last week's election for a majority.

Mr Wyatt has dismissed racist hate mail he has received, saying it was time for Australia to move forward. >>> | Sunday, August 29, 2010

Aboriginal MP 'Disappointed' by Slurs
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: INDIGENOUS Australians must take matters into their own hands if they want to see more Aborigines in Parliament, according to the first Aborigine to win a seat in the House of Representatives.

Ken Wyatt claimed victory in the marginal West Australian seat of Hasluck yesterday, amid revelations he was subjected to racist taunts during the election campaign.

Mr Wyatt said the taunts had come in the form of phone calls to his campaign office, as verbal taunts on the streets and as messages on news websites.

He said they had come from both white and Aboriginal people, some accusing him of selling out his cultural heritage by joining the Liberal Party.

Mr Wyatt, who has Aboriginal, Indian and English blood, said he was disappointed by the taunts but not deterred. >>> Peter Ker | Monday, August 30, 2010

Australian Leaders Compete for Independents
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition leader Tony Abbott compete for the support of independent MPs, as the nation remains in political limbo. Video courtesy of Reuters.

Australian Election: Dollar Falls at Prospect of Hung Parliament
THE TELEGRAPH: The Australian dollar has fallen as the markets react to the prospect of a hung parliament following the weekend’s inconclusive election.

Tony Abbott, opposition leader and Julia Gillard, Australia's Prime Minister. Photos: The Telegraph
Saturday’s cliff-hanger general election has left the incumbent Labour Party with 70 seats and the Liberal-National Coalition with 72 seat in the House of Representatives – well short of the 76 seats needed to form a government.

Julia Gillard, the current Labour prime minister, and Tony Abbott, leader of the opposition are currently trying to win over the support of the three new independent MPs and one Green Party MP – each claiming to have the moral right to form government. The Greens already hold the balance of power in the Senate, Australia’s upper house.

But it could be up to 10 days before a final result is known. If neither Ms Gillard nor Mr Abbott is able to stitch together a working arrangement with the independents and Greens, the country could have to go straight back to the polls to settle the matter. >>> Mark Chipperfield, Sydney | Monday, August 23, 2010

Will Australia's First Woman Prime Minister Julia Gillard Have the Briefest Reign?
THE TELEGRAPH: She is the Welsh-born Australian prime minister who is fighting in a neck and neck race for every last vote, including those cast by Australians in Britain.

It was only in June that Julia Gillard, 48, seized the job from her former boss, in a ruthless internal Labour Party coup that she said was essential to keeping the Left in power – but which critics saw as a treacherous stab in the back for Kevin Rudd, her hapless predecessor.

Now, with less than a week left until the election she promised she could win, Australia's first woman prime minister is engaged in a frantic nationwide tour after opinion polls showed her neck and neck with the opposition leader, Tony Abbott, 52.

From a 10 point lead before the campaign began, Labour slipped to being just two points ahead of the rival Liberal-National Coalition, and some recent polls have even put the party behind.

The harsh reality for Ms Gillard is that, despite having strong support among women voters, she is in danger of becoming one of the shortest tenures of any Australian prime minister – because so many Australian men do not warm to her.

Talking to The Sunday Telegraph on her campaign plane, she refused to speculate on the reasons – and whether, as some suggest, her own lack of a family as an unmarried career politician makes her even more intimidating to already apprehensive Australian men.

"At this stage I will leave it in the hands of the Australian people, both men and women, to make their decisions on election day, but I believe it will come down to choices about what's better for people's futures for them and their families," she said.

But she defended her decision to oust Mr Rudd, whose popularity had plummeted since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in 2007, making clear she had no regrets about having moved in for the kill. >>> Bonnie Malkin in Tasmania | Saturday, August 14, 2010

John Howard Concedes Defeat in Australian Election
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Mark Alexander