UK PM David Cameron Telephones New Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to Congratulate him after he Beat Kevin Rudd's Labour Party:
"It's great to be working with another centre right leader"
- Cameron tweets his approval for Australia's new British-born leader
- Abbott's pledge to cut overseas aid could put him at odds with British PM
- Abbot was once described as 'unelectable' by members of his own party
- Kevin Rudd's Labour Party had been marred by infighting and a carbon tax
By Daily Mail UK, 8 September 2013
David Cameron has congratulated Australia's new Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying how it will be 'great to work with another centre-right leader.'
British-born Mr Abbott, 55, stood before a cheering crowd after his resounding victory in the federal election today and declared: 'The government of Australia has changed!'
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: 'The Prime Minister offered his warmest congratulations to prime minister-elect Abbott and spoke of the very strong links between the two countries.
Victor: Australia's new Prime Minister British-born conservative leader Tony Abbott celebrates his election win
Triumph: Father of three Mr Abbott will begin his leadership with a massive majority in the House of Representatives which has left Labour leader Kevin Rudd reeling
British Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted to say how he had phoned to congratulate his new Australian counterpart
I lost: Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd tells his supporters he had rung his rival to concede defeat
'Prime minister-elect Abbott agreed and stressed his full support for the United Kingdom, saying that he very much looked forward to the closest possible cooperation during his time in office.
'The call lasted a few minutes and both leaders agreed to talk in more detail about policy issues once the initial excitement of winning the election had subsided.'
The convincing victory for the Liberal-National coalition ended six years of Labor rule after a campaign in which he pledged to boost a flagging economy and axe a controversial carbon tax.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called to congratulate Mr Abbott shortly after the results were confirmed
But Abbott has also said his government's deficit-reduction measures will include cutting overseas aid - a policy that will put him at odds with Mr Cameron's stance on development.
Tory MP Douglas Carswell seized on Mr Abbott's victory to urge Mr Cameron to adopt similar policies.
'I'm loving the way that the centre right in Australia have modernised - and won. Ought to inspire Conservatives here in UK!' he wrote on Twitter.
'Abbott won offering lower taxes, less immigration, an end to obsession with CO2 and less foreign aid. Go figure.
'Abbott's views are throughly modern. He seems to have seen through global warming fad, wants less government and is pro Anglosphere.'
There were some less complimentary assessments from Labour MPs.
Paul Flynn posted: 'Oz has elected a bigoted air-head to drag them backwards into mean prejudice and vainglorious chauvinism.'
Father of three Mr Abbott will begin his leadership with a massive majority in the House of Representatives while Labour leader Kevin Rudd, who managed to hang on to his seat, was left reeling by the landslide against his party.
Just a few hours after the elections result was confirmed, Mr Cameron tweeted to say that he had called Mr Abbott to congratulate him on his win.
Outgoing Prime Minister Rudd said he would be standing down as leader of the Party 'with a heavy heart'.
Nearly 15 million Australians went to the polls, but the race had been well and truly won by the Liberals weeks earlier with opinion polls pouring out constant bad news for Labour.
As Mr Abbott was claiming victory today, predictions as the vote-counting continued around the country - bringing more dismal results for Labour -showed that the Liberals would win 90 seats and Labour 56. The Liberals needed 76 seats for victory.
A little over four hours after voting closed in the eastern states, Mr Abbott, whose parents brought him to Australia from the UK as a child, told his supporters in his victory speech: 'I now look forward to forming a govt that is competent and trustworthy.'
Something very significant had happen, he said, that showed that the right to govern the country did not belong to him or Mr Rudd but to the people of Australia.
He said that in a week or so the Governor General would swear in a new government that says what it means and means what it says.
'Clear win': Tony Abbott, Australia's next Prime Minister, watches as his daughters Bridget, Frances and Louise and his wife Margie cast their votes in Sydney
Winner: An early exit poll showing Tony Abbott's Liberal Party-led coalition was well on its way to a sweeping victory against Kevin Rudd's Labor Party
Abbott, who was once regarded as 'unelectable' by many within his own party, is believed to have won a clear victory over a ruling party marred by infighting and a much-maligned carbon tax
Earlier, Mr Rudd, also 57, said he would not be contesting for the leadership of the Labour Party.
He told his supporters as predictions suggested the conservative Liberals would win 90 seats and Labour just 56: 'I gave it my all, but it was not enough for us to win.'
Labour has ruled since 2007 but he said that a short time ago he had called Tony Abbott to concede defeat.
Smiling broadly as his supporters chanted 'Kevin, Kevin!' Mr Rudd said that the good fight had been fought as the great Australian Labour Party.
'Tonight is a time to unite as the great Australian nation. Because whatever our politics may be we are all first and foremost Australians.
'The things that unite us are more powerful than the things that divide us, which is why the world marvels at Australia.
'This country which can manage its political differences peacefully ad conduct the most vigorous of debates peacefully and resolve our politics peacefully and with civility.
'This is why this country is such a great country.
'And in this marvellous tapestry of modern Australia… that we fashion such unity out of diversity. Therein lies the great Australian miracle.'
Australia's previous Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd and his wife, Therese Rein vote at St Paul's Church in Brisbane
Australia's previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his wife Therese Rein buy cakes at a Brisbane stall after casting their votes. Rudd's party has frustrated voters with years of instability and a much-maligned carbon tax
Protesters follow Liberal-coalition leader Tony Abbott as he visits a polling station in Maroubra, Sydney
Kevin Rudd appeals for calm as he addresses union workers at the West Tradies Club in Sydney, Australia
As many as 2,000 desperate people heading for Australia in wooden boats from the 'stop-over' country of Indonesia are believed to have lost their lives in disasters at sea, adding to the criticism levelled at Labour.
Bickering within the party resulted in Mr Rudd winning back his old job from Miss Gillard in June this year - but any hopes that the party hierarchy held for him to breathe new life failed and they are all now bracing for today's disastrous results to flood in.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph - which has urged the nation to vote for the Liberals - warned voters about giving their tick to some of the minor parties, none less than eccentric businessman Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party who claimed this week that Rupert Mudoch's ex-wife, Wendi Deng, was a Chinese spy.
Fitness fanatic and ex-Oxford University boxer Abbott says an election win will not interrupt his morning run
The paper said that when it put a number of basic questions to five of Mr Palmer's candidates, two could not name the year Australia became federated and only two of the five could name the Head of State - the Queen.
But Mr Palmer, who is building a replica of the Titanic with a Chinese company and is completing a Jurassic Park of plastic dinosaurs in Queensland, fought a tough campaign and won his seat, against all predictions that he would fail.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has conceded defeat in the general election with the British-born conservative politician Tony Abbott set to become the country's new leader.
Mr Abbott's Liberal Party-led coalition has swept to power in a national election and ended six years of Labor Party rule.
Mr Rudd, 57, told his supporters as predictions suggested the conservative Liberals would win 90 seats and Labour just 56: 'I gave it my all, but it was not enough for us to win.'
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (above) was brought in by the Labour party to replace Australia's first female PM Julia Gillard (bottom) in the hope it would revive their standing in the polls
Quote:
THE 'UNELECTABLE' 'MISOGYNIST' SET TO BECOME AUSTRALIA'S NEXT PM
Conservative challenger Tony Abbott appears poised to become Australia's next Prime Minister
All it took was an unpopular government bloodied by infighting, relentless cheerleading from media mogul Rupert Murdoch and a multibillion-dollar campaign promise aimed at the women he has frequently alienated.
Tony Abbott has never been very popular nationally. His Liberal Party colleagues elected him their leader by just a single vote in 2009.
The 55-year-old conservative was notoriously branded 'a misogynist' and 'sexist' by Australia's first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard, in a speech to Parliament in 2012 that was lauded by feminists around the world.
Married with three grown daughters, Abbott is a supremely fit volunteer surf lifesaver and firefighter whom cartoonists often depict in nothing but Speedos and the iconic red-and-yellow cap of the Australian lifeguard.
Ever the action man, he was an amateur boxer at Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He's also known for using his fists at Sydney University: In a fight over rugby, He knocked out Joe Hockey - now a lawmaker poised to take over the treasury portfolio in an Abbott government.
A student newspaper editor took a 20-year-old Abbott to court, accusing him of groping her during a student debate in 1977. A magistrate dismissed the indecent assault charge. Last year, an old political rival from his university days alleged that he punched a wall next to her head in an attempt to intimidate her, which Abbott denied.
Abbott spent three years in a Sydney seminary training to become a Roman Catholic priest. That experience, his family name and his conservative views inspired a nickname: 'The Mad Monk'.
He has said his religion does not dictate his decisions and that a government led by him would not change a decision made by the Labor government in June to provide taxpayer subsidies for mifepristone.
During the election, Abbott attempted to reinvent himself as a champion of women who is not beholden to Catholic doctrine.
His chief of staff, Peta Credlin, said in an interview with the women's magazine Marie Claire that Abbott supported her efforts to have a child through in vitro fertilization - which is opposed by the church - and even allowed her to keep her fertility drugs in his office refrigerator.
What Abbott refers to as his signature policy of the campaign is a paid maternity leave plan that would cost 5.5 billion Australian dollars ($5 billion) a year. It has proved to be one of the campaign's most divisive policies. Even Abbott's allies complain that it is unaffordable and too generous toward the wealthy.
Mothers would get the taxpayer-funded equivalent of their salaries for six months to stay home with newborns. Currently, the government gives new mothers 18 weeks of minimum-wage pay: AU$622.10 a week.
The proposed benefit would be capped at AU$75,000, regardless of how wealthy mothers are. Labor dismisses it as 'AU$75,000 for millionaires.'
He wished Mr Abbott well in coping with the strains of high office that lie ahead.
Speaking to Labour supporters across Australia, he said the Party remained a viable fighting force for the future.
Nearly 15 million Australians went to the polls, but most believed the race had already been won months ago.
During the past few weeks of campaigning the news just got worse for Labour so that in the last few days it was impossible to find any newspaper, tv network or radio station talking about a win for Mr Rudd's party.
Former Labour Treasurer Wayne Swan, who just held onto his seat, admitted that 'divisions within the Party' had caused much of the damage the damage.
Observers watching Labour slide down the polls as Mr Abbott clambered over Mr Rudd as preferred Prime Minister agreed that a string of broken promises by Labour - with some political treachery thrown in - have turned voters against the party.
First there was Julia Gillard's successful coup in 2010 when she deposed Kevin Rudd, only to lead Labour into turbulent waters. She had promised that under her leadership there would be no carbon tax - yet it wasn't long before she introduced it.
There had already been problems for Labour with the death of a young man laying insulation pads in a house as part of a nation-wide Labour plan and then came the controversial decision to open the door to asylum seekers arriving by boat.
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