Australia election ousts Howard

Chicagotribune.com, Nov.25.- Labor Party candidate Kevin Rudd swept to power in a landslide victory to defeat Liberal incumbent John Howard, the second-longest-serving prime minister in Australian history.

Unlike Howard, Rudd has pledged to pull combat troops from Iraq and to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a move that would leave the U.S. as the only major industrialized country to shun the global warming initiative. But the new leader is not expected to jeopardize the strong ties Howard has built with Washington over the years after a campaign fought mainly on domestic issues.
...

Rudd's victory, analysts say, was also due in no small part to the fact that the country was ready for a fresh start after more than a decade of Howard's conservative rule ...
[see The Economist analysis below]

One of the most successful conservative premierships of recent years may be coming to an end

Nov. 15.- An opinion poll on November 12th gave Labor a 10-point lead, after the distribution of second preference votes from small parties. This is the average poll advantage that the opposition party has maintained since January. Mr Howard warned Liberal parliamentarians a few months ago that such numbers meant “annihilation” for his government.

Mr. Howard ... after more than 11 years in power, has presided over Australia's longest boom in memory, and an economy entering its 17th year of uninterrupted growth. Queensland and other resource-rich states are enjoying a mining bonanza, thanks largely to demand from China.
...

Five days before his [campaign] launch, Australia's central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points, the sixth increase since Mr Howard campaigned successfully at the last election in 2004 on a pledge to keep interest rates low. The bank followed this up with a warning that inflation was likely to exceed 3% next year, suggesting more rises are on the way. Government spending, the bank added pointedly, was contributing to inflationary pressures.

Ignoring the warnings, Mr Howard promised more than A$9 billion ($8 billion) more spending at his launch, on top of pledges costing A$43 billion since the campaign started. The most remarkable one was a tax rebate of up to A$800 for parents, regardless of income, to set against the cost of sending children to private schools, including fees, uniforms and excursions. If this was meant to trump Mr Rudd on an issue (education) he has made his own, it may not have worked...

[ full text ]