Australia’s conservative Liberal-National coalition Prime Minster-elect Tony Abbott has begun his first day in the job saying his top priorities are to abolish the country’s price on carbon emissions and to stop asylum-seekers arriving by boat.
Mr Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition ended the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) six-year rule in a sweeping victory yesterday.
His government would “swiftly implement Operation Sovereign Borders” aimed at “intercepting vessels and turning them around”, Mr Abbott told media outside his Sydney home this morning.
Outgoing Labor PM Kevin Rudd has said he will not stand again for Labor leadership.
The Australian Election Commission confirmed on its website that the Liberal-National coalition had won 88 seats in the House of Representatives, and Labor 57.
The result is already being assessed as not so much a ringing endorsement of the conservative Liberal-National coalition but a rejection of the disunity with the Labor government.
The biggest issue for Mr Abbott wil be a very confused situation in the upper house Senate from July next year when as many as eight independent Senators will take seats they won yesterday.
Most are from almost unheard of political organisations and some have virtually no policies.
Mr Rudd called the election after defeating the former Labor PM Julia Gillard in a leadership challenge in June, amid dismal polling figures.
Under Mr Rudd, Labor initially saw its figures improve, but Mr Abbott, who enjoyed the strident support of American media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, then widened the gap again.
The main election issues were how to tackle an expected economic slowdown, whether to keep the Labor-introduced carbon price legislation, and how to reduce the number of immigrants arriving in Australia by boat.
Mr Abbott told the media his government was poised to “deliver on our commitments, starting from day one”.
He made the statement as he headed to receive his first briefings from public servants, in order to begin implementing policy changes.
“Scrapping the carbon tax and stopping the boats are the two most urgent priorities,” Mr Abbott said.
However, it would seem to be easier said than done as Labor and the Australian Greens Party will jointly control the upper house Senate, which must sanction all legislation, until July next year and both parties have said they will not permit abolition of the Clean Energy Act legislation.
“Obviously, we will swiftly implement Operation Sovereign Borders and one component is a much more active program of intercepting vessels and where possible turning them around, rather than escorting them to Christmas Island.”
However, the new leader also insisted he intended to be a “consultative, collegiate prime minister”.
“You have to govern for everyone including the people that didn’t vote for you and the people who probably won’t ever support you, that’s the nature of the job,” he said.
He has also vowed to reduce the foreign aid budget by $4.5 billion.
That has already been criticised by the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key who warned the cuts would strain small Pacific island nations, a major beneficiary of Australian aid.
“These are countries that need a lot of support and help, so if there is less money coming their way, they’ll obviously feel that over time,” he said.