Australia's First Elected Female Premier
QUEEN OF QUEENSLAND: Anna Bligh after her win in the tally room. Glenn Milne
March 21, 2009 04:00pm
LABOR'S Anna Bligh has made history in the Queensland election by becoming Australia's first elected female Premier.
With 66% of the vote counted Labor had won 51 seats, the LNP 30 with others taking four. The ALP, only needed 45 for victory. In the end, despite published polls showing a knife-end outcome Mr Springborg fell well short of expectations.
The newly formed Liberal National Party needed a swing of 8.4 per cent to win power in its own right. Going into the vote yesterday, Natioanal Party strategists were hoping for at least a hung Parliament.
The ABC's election computer is predicting Labor will win 54 seats, with the LNP taking 32 and other parties ultimately winning only three.
Ms Bligh, 48, succeeded where Victoria Joan Kirner and West Australia's Carmen Lawrence failed giving Labor its fifth successive election victory.
Both Ms Kirner and Ms Lawrence inherited the top job in their state -- as did Ms Bligh when former premier Peter Beattie quit politics in September 2007 -- but they lost at their first election.
Ms Bligh took the Labor Party on her back from the moment she called an early election on February 23 and carried them to victory.
The entire Labor campaign focussed on their popular leader -- and not a government considered incompetent by many voters. While the LNP led in almost every pre-election poll, Ms Bligh's popularity continued to increase over her rival Lawrence Springborg.
That translated to the polling booths yesterday with the majority of Queensland's 2.7 million voters supporting Ms Bligh, not necessarily Labor. She went to the electorate pleading for a mandate on jobs security and stability during the current global financial crisis.
The fact that voters stuck to the incumbent in troubled ties will hearten Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and further rattle the Federal Coalition under Malcolm Turnbull.
Voters stood by the Premier and turned its back on LNP plans to wipe $1 billion from Budget, which threatened more than 12,000 public service jobs. Mr Springborg's third election defeat meant he was almost certainly facing an early exit as LNP leader.
The LNP leader conceded formally conceded shortly before 8:30 pm Queensland time congratulating Ms Bligh on her victory. He said he recognised his days as Oppostion leader were now numbered.
It was now time, he said, to depart the job and spend more time with his children.
The LNP failed to make big inroads in Brisbane where Labor held 34 seats in the greater metropolitan area, compared to only one notional seat to for the LNP – Clayfield – after the most recent redistribution.
Exit polls were predicting Premier Anna Bligh's Government would retain control of the state despite the swing against it. (Source: News.com.au)
Watch the speech given by Anna : http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200903/r351658_1613126.asx
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