NSW savages Labor in record swing
The Sunday Age
Sunday March 27, 2011
THE Liberal-National Coalition has seized power in New South Wales with a thumping statewide swing of about 16 per cent, in a massive landslide that ended 16 years of rule by a scandal-ridden Labor Party.The LNP could win as many as 69 seats in the 93-seat chamber, with Labor set to be reduced to 21 seats. Labor suffered heavy losses in Sydney's western suburbs, and former regional strongholds around Newcastle and Wollongong, delivering its worst result in more than 100 years.With 66 per cent of the vote counted, the two-party preferred result was the Coalition at 63.9 per cent, and Labor at 36.1 per cent.Liberal leader Barry O'Farrell will become NSW's 43rd premier, toppling Kristina Keneally, who Labor turned to at the end of 2009."This is the victory for everyone who wanted to make NSW number one again," Mr O'Farrell said in his victory speech last night.He outlined an ambitious reform program, and immediately pledged to take the fight up to the Gillard government on the proposed carbon tax.Conceding defeat, Ms Keneally said she took responsibility for the loss, and announced that she would be stepping down as Labor leader, and indicated she would return to the backbench.Ms Keneally said Labor accepted the verdict of voters "with humility and with grace". "The people of NSW always get it right," she said.The landslide is one of the worst results in Labor's history, and the swing the largest in modern Australian political history. Until last night, the largest swing was 14.6 per cent that toppled the Victorian Cain Labor government in 1955 after the Labor split.Swings of more than 20 and 30 per cent against Labor were being registered in some seats. In Parramatta, a safe Labor seat where the Coalition was last night holding its election celebration, the swing was about 25 per cent.Labor campaign spokesman and Upper House MP Luke Foley said the result was "a massacre, a slaughter the likes of which none of us have seen". "The heartland is gone," he said on ABC TV, noting that Labor will not hold a seat by more than a margin of 10 per cent."People lost all faith in our ability to govern and our integrity in government."Former premier Nathan Rees, replaced by Ms Keneally, was still in the fight for his western suburbs seat of Toongabbie, where he suffered a 15 per cent swing. He conceded the election before his leader, warning there was no point sugar-coating the result and the party had to be brutally honest with itself.Former union chief John Roberston, tipped to be the new Labor leader, appeared to have held the seat of Bankstown.The NSW result shifts the balance of political power in Australia. With the Liberal victory in Victoria last November, the two most populous states are under conservative rule, along with resource-rich Western Australia.Mr O'Farrell has already flagged he wants Victoria and NSW to work together to drive reforms where national agreement can't be reached.The NSW Coalition also wants to seize major events from Victoria. Mr O'Farrell has nominated the grand prix and the Australian Masters golf as events he wants to poach from Melbourne, along with big theatre productions. He also plans a new convention centre to compete with Melbourne.The Greens were struggling to secure their first lower house seats in Sydney's inner-west. With strong showings in Balmain by Labor education minister Verity Firth, and by deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt in neighbouring Marrickville.Victories for the Nationals in the NSW state seats of Tamworth and Port Macquarie are a blow for the independent MPs, Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor.Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson last night appeared to have failed in her bid to win a seat in the NSW upper house, gaining only 1.8 per cent of the vote.The defeat of the Keneally government ends an embarrassing era for Labor federally, which managed to successfully hold seats in Sydney's west at last year's federal election despite the unpopularity of Labor at a state level.But the rout will severely weaken the party's organisational structure in the state, home of the powerful NSW Labor Right.Mr O'Farrell has nominated the state's struggling transport system as his personal top priority in government, where better services in Sydney's north, south and western fringes. Health and education are also key areas of reform.The Labor government has struggled since its failed attempt to sell off the state's electricity assets in 2008, which lead to a party revolt. In a key strategic move, Mr O'Farrell defied expectations and opposed the sell-off.But Labor was also caught in a mire of scandal. In Ms Keneally's reign, four ministers were forced to resign. The last was in September, when ports and waterways minister Paul McLeay quit when he admitted to using his parliamentary computer to access adult and gambling websites.Mr O'Farrell, 51, entered state politics 16 years ago after working as an adviser to John Howard in the mid-1980s during Mr Howard's first stint as opposition leader, and for state minister Bruce Baird.The son of a professional soldier, the Melbourne-born Mr O'Farrell has strong Victorian roots. His grandfathers were a Ballarat policeman and a Footscray milk bar manager.
© 2011 The Sunday Age