Republicanism, ratifying Kyoto and combat troops out of Iraq…these are just a few items on the table with the election of Kevin Rudd as the new Australian PM. So 11 years of conservative rule has been ended with the Labor Party coming to power.

After 4 terms John Howard is now out of the office and currently facing the ‘double whammy’ of losing the seat he has held for 33 years. Of note though is that the loss is not generally being contributed to the new Prime Ministers foreign policies that will lead to a distancing from the USA which has been a firm supporter of Mr Howard. Instead it was domestic issues relating to anger over workplace laws and rising interest rates that spelled the end with a swing of 6.3% to Labor.

So record levels of low unemployment and an excellent economy could not save Mr Howard his job! While Labor have 7 more seats then required to form the new government. Also the US finds itself with one less staunch supporter, with the loss of the UK’s Tony Blair earlier this year.