Australian elections: Abbott topples Labor

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd conceded defeat to the conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott when voting was only 80 per cent counted. But it was clear that the opposition was in line for a trimphant win.

Australia’s electoral commission projected 81 seats to Mr Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition and 54 to Mr Rudd’s Labor party, with 12 seats undecided in the 150 seat lower house.

Australia’s new prime minister told a jubilant crowd: “From today I declare that Australia is under new management and Australia is once more open for business.”

The conservative leader campaign was built on a promise to restore political stability, cut taxes and crack down on asylum seekers arriving by boat.

Labor leader, Mr Rudd, told his own supporters: “I know that Labor hearts are heavy across the nation tonight. As your Labor leader I accept it as my responsibility.”

He added: “I gave it my all, but it was not enough for us to win.”

A win for Mr Abbott, aged 55, was projected early on, with exit polls showing support for Mr Abbott at 54.5 per cent.

David Cameron said that he had congratulated Mr Abbott on his victory, and that it would be “great working with another centre right leader”.

I’ve just phoned and congratulated the new Australian PM @TonyAbbottMHR – it’ll be great working with another centre right leader.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 7, 2013

Labor punished

The ex-boxer and Rhodes scholar is a controversial figure, known for sexist jibes and political gaffes.

He was labelled a misogynist by former prime minister Julia Gillard in an impassioned 15-minute speech last October. She said he had brought sexism into parliament and repeated comments he had made about her having no children – and a comment that abortion was “the easy way out”.

“If he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he doesn’t need a motion in the House of Representatives, he needs a mirror,” she said.

His win will be seen as a vote against the ruling Labor party, rather than for the opposition, and as a punishment for Labour’s turbulent in-fighting and its back-tracking on carbon tax.

An election parody poster hangs at a polling station in Brisbane.

Labor got rid of Kevin Rudd in 2010, voting in Australia’s first female prime minister Julia Gillard. But Mr Rudd was then reinstated as leader in June 2013 in a desperate bid to stay in power.

The row over carbon tax was a thorn in the side of the Labor Party, especially after Ms Gillard broke an election promise and agreed to impose the tax in a bid to form the coalition which the party needed to stay in power.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Abbott again vowed to scrap the tax from July 2014 – two years after it was implemented – and has instead promised to introduce taxpayer-funded incentives.

Video: Asia Correspondent John Sparks reports on the elections on the eve of the results.