标题: [转自news.com.au]Labor loses edge in vote count [打印本页] 作者: lookaround 时间: 31-8-2010 09:24 标题: [转自news.com.au]Labor loses edge in vote count JULIA Gillard's claim to government on the basis of winning the two-party-preferred vote in the election has collapsed, with the Coalition overtaking Labor last night by almost 2000 votes.
Tony Abbott has begun preparing to capitalise on his gains with plans to give a greater share of government spending to rural and regional Australia to appeal to the three rural-based independent MPs whose support he needs to form a government.
As horse-trading to determine the nation's next government finally began yesterday, newly elected Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie staked a late claim for recognition from the major parties, declaring poker machine reform and a new Royal Hobart Hospital were the issues he would consider when deciding which major party to support.
But Mr Wilkie said the only guarantee he would provide either party was that he would not block supply or support any "reckless" no-confidence motions.
More than a week after the election, the Coalition has 73 House of Representatives seats, Labor 72, with four independents and one Green.
Seventy-six seats are required to form government.
After the election produced the nation's first hung parliament since World War II, the Prime Minister asserted Labor had a right to govern on the basis that it won more of the two-party-preferred vote than the Coalition.
Last Monday Ms Gillard, pointing to Labor's lead, urged Mr Abbott to accept its importance.
"It is clear that the government has attracted the majority share of the two-party-preferred vote," Ms Gillard said. "What that means is that the majority of Australians wanted a Labor government."
But the Opposition Leader argued after the election weekend the Coalition had a greater claim to legitimacy because it won 500,000 more primary votes than Labor.
Last night it had extended its lead on primary votes to more than 618,000.
Yesterday, as the independents converged on Canberra for formal talks, counting showed the Coalition edging ahead of Labor on the two-party-preferred count.
By 10.30pm last night, with more than 80 per cent counted, the Coalition was ahead by 1909 votes after the AEC removed eight seats from its two-party count on the basis that the major parties did not run first and second.
In a stunning measure of the closeness of the election, the Australian Electoral Commission website had the parties locked at 50.01 per cent for the Coalition to 49.99 per cent for Labor with close to 11 million votes counted.
While Ms Gillard made no public appearance, her spokesman said last night the most important resolution was the delivery of "stable and effective" government.
Coalition sources said the shift in the vote would increase the legitimacy of Mr Abbott's pitch to win the support of three independent rural MPs - Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor - to form a government.
The sources also said the election result had underlined to Mr Abbott the need for greater resources for all of rural and regional Australia - not just the seats of the independents.
Nationals MPs met for the first time since the election, with re-elected leader Warren Truss emerging to remind reporters that his party, which lifted its House of Representatives numbers from nine to 12, also had "a mandate".
Mr Truss said the Nationals wanted to be part of a government that delivered for all of regional Australia, not just a few seats.
"We'll be fighting for all of the regions," Mr Truss said. "We have made commitments in the election campaign that we expected to be delivered."