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Australia's Labor suffers state election reverse
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By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's ruling Labor Party was in fresh political turmoil Sunday after elections in the second-most populous state looked to have delivered another hung parliament, or worse, a surprise conservative opposition...
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By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA |
Sat Nov 27, 2010 9:56pm EST
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's ruling Labor Party was in fresh political turmoil Sunday after elections in the second-most populous state looked to have delivered another hung parliament, or worse, a surprise conservative opposition victory.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's home state of Victoria was facing days in political limbo as vote counting continued in the wake of state elections that left neither side with a majority, but with the conservatives looking slightly stronger.
The vote was a "refreshing rain of renewal," state conservative leader Ted Baillieu said, after balloting was marred by heavy rain and flash flooding, while the outcome will give heart also to Gillard's opponents nationally.
"I think this has been a very tough night for Labor, let's just call a spade a spade. We should have a long hard look at whether we have got some deeper problems we need to deal with.
I think wise reflections on this are necessary," said senior Labor lawmaker and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.
Gillard's Labor won a second term in August after dead-heat national elections, but only with support from three independents and a Green lawmaker, leading to concern her government might be unstable and not survive a three-year term.
The Victorian poll was fought over issues generally thought to be Labor strongpoints, such as health and education, as well as policing, and road and rail improvements.
The state, which accounts for a quarter of the national economy with a population of 5.5 million, is also a manufacturing base, and Labor's setback could now make Gillard's job of delivering promised economic reforms like carbon pricing and health funding more difficult.
State Labor governments had agreed to hand a third of consumption tax income to the national government to improve health services, and that deal could be in trouble if a conservative government emerges over coming days, as Australian Broadcasting Corp. was predicting.
A deeply unpopular Labor state government is also likely to lose power in New South Wales state next year, while the party's brand is also in trouble in the resource and agricultural powerhouse of Queensland state.
In Victoria, Labor suffered a swing of about 6 percent to the conservatives, and an ABC election computer had the conservatives picking up 13 seats and with 550,000 pre-poll votes still to be counted. The lower house has 88 seats.
Rudd, speaking to local television, said state issues did not necessarily reflect voter concern about national issues, like Labor's promise of a 30 percent coal and iron ore profits tax, and construction of a new $35 billion fast broadband, which will be the country's biggest and riskiest infrastructure project.
"I think what is clear from events in Victoria, clear from also what we see in terms of reactions against the state Labor government here in New South Wales, is that people very much making up their mind on state based issues," he said.
Labor had held power for 11 years in the state that is home to global mining giant and mining tax critic BHP Billiton, as well as the company most affected by the broadband rollout, Telstra Corp., which is Australia's dominant phone company.
Gillard had hoped to finish the year on a high after last week winning parliament's backing for a key reform pledge and boosting her chances of serving a full term in office.
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