Labor’s defeat in Queensland also marks a stunning reversal for the nation’s
conservative parties, which had been reduced to virtual irrelevance after
the election of Kevin Rudd as prime minister in 2007.
Labor held all state governments and the most powerful elected conservative in
Australia was the little-known Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman.
Now, Mr Newman has been elected Premier with a 16 per cent swing, joining
three other states to have dumped Labor in the past four years. At a federal
level, the Coalition led by Tony Abbott is comfortably ahead in the polls.
Ms Gillard and Labor officials have insisted the Queensland election had been
fought on state issues and the loss was due to the state party’s long hold
on power. It had governed the state for 20 of the past 22 years.
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