Howard concedes defeat in Australian elections

[Sunite]

 Howard concedes defeat in Australian elections

    * Story Highlights
    * Howard concedes defeat to Labor Party in Australian elections
    * Howard's own seat in Sydney in doubt with half the ballots counted
    * Howard is the second longest-serving leader in Australian history
    * Labor leader Kevin Rudd says he will start pulling troops out of Iraq
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SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia's conservative Prime Minister John Howard has conceded defeat in elections, clearing the way for center-left Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd to take power.
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John Howard concedes defeat to the opposition Labor Party on Saturday.
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With nearly 12 years in office, Howard was Australia's second-longest serving prime minister.

Howard delivered his concession speech after it became clear the Labor Party would gain at least 16 seats in parliament giving it a majority in the house that elects the prime minister.

Howard told supporters that he leaves government with Australia "a nation that is stronger and prouder and more prosperous than it was 11 and a half years ago."

He said he had phoned Rudd to congratulate him on "a very emphatic victory."

"I accept full responsibility for the Liberal Party campaign, and I therefore accept full responsibility for the coalition's defeat in this election campaign," Howard said.

In his victory speech, Rudd said: "Today Australia has looked to the future. Today the Australian people have decided that we as a nation will move forward ... to embrace the future, together to write a new page in our nation's history."

Australia's ABC television earlier reported that the Labor Party would hold at least 81 of the 150 seats in Parliament, a net gain of 23 and seven more than needed to form a new government.

In fact, Howard's own seat in a suburban Sydney constituency was in doubt as he trailed his opponent by just a few hundred votes with 73 percent of the ballots tallied.

His Labor opponent -- former television journalist Maxine McKew -- said the race was "on a knife's edge." Analysts said the votes sent in through the mail and which won't be immediately counted could decide the race.

Howard, 68, a staunch supporter of U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, found himself trailing in his quest for a fifth term despite a strong economy that has produced more than a decade of growth and record low levels of unemployment.

Voter fatigue with Howard's long tenure -- he is the second longest-serving leader in Australian history -- appeared to weigh on his support, along with unpopular cuts to worker entitlements and a record drought that put climate change front and center as an issue in the race.

Despite the differences between Howard and Rudd over Iraq, the war did not play a dominant role in the campaign. Howard had handily won re-election in 2004 in spite of public opposition to his Iraq policy.
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Rudd, 50, a former diplomat from Queensland, has said he would start a phased withdrawal of Australian forces from Iraq if Labor won the vote. However, after meeting with Bush in September, the Labor leader said Australia would continue its military presence in Afghanistan, and he expressed support for the Australian-American alliance.

Rudd, who served as a diplomat in Beijing and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, is expected to continue his party's long-standing policy of focusing more attention on relationships with its Asian neighbors.

Voters Saturday were picking all 150 members of the lower chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives.

Forty of the 76 seats in the Senate were also up for grabs, with Howard's center-right Liberal-National coalition trying to hang on to a slim majority in the upper chamber.
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While the Senate election has no bearing on who becomes prime minister, the outcome could have an effect on the ability of the winning party to get its legislative program through parliament.

Voting is legally required for Australia's 13.6 million enrolled voters, who can be fined if they don't cast a ballot. The unusual compulsory system resulted in a turnout of more than 94 percent in the last election in 2004. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend