Conservative leader Abbott wins Australia election by landslide

Australia's conservative leader Tony Abbott swept into office in a landslide election Saturday, as voters punished the outgoing Labor government for six years of turbulent rule and for failing to maximize the benefits of a now fading mining boom.

Abbott, a former boxer, Rhodes scholar and trainee priest promised to restore political stability, cut taxes and crack down on asylum seekers arriving to Australia by boat.

"I now look forward to forming a government that is competent, that is trustworthy and which purposefully and steadfastly and methodically sets about delivering on our commitments to you the Australian people," Abbott told supporters in his victory speech Saturday night.

Despite overwhelming similarities between Abott and outgoing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on social issues like Australia’s burgeoning international refugee population, it was frustration with Labor’s leadership turmoil that cost the government at the polls.

Labor dumped Rudd in 2010 for Julia Gillard, Australia's first woman prime minister, only to reinstate him as leader in June 2013 in a desperate bid to stay in power.

"This was an election that was lost by the government more than one that was won by the opposition," former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke told Sky News.

Election officials said with about 65 percent of the vote counted, Abbott's Liberal-National Party coalition had won around 54 percent of the national vote, and projected it would win at least 77 seats in the 150-seat parliament. About 14.7 million electors cast ballots in the mandatory vote.

Party analysts said Abbott would end up with a majority of around 40 seats, ending the country's first minority government since World War Two. Labor had relied upon independent and Greens support for the past three years.

The election was been pitched as a choice on who is best to lead the A $1.5 trillion ($1.4 trillion) economy as it adjusts to an end to a prolonged mining investment boom, fuelled by China's demand for its abundant natural resources.

Abbott built up a strong opinion poll lead on the back of promises to rein in government spending, scrap an unpopular tax on carbon emissions and stop the flow of refugee boats arriving in Australia's northwest.

His campaign had support from media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his Australian newspapers, which have urged voters to reject Rudd's Labor government. Australia's other major newspaper group Fairfax also called for a change of government.

"They [voters] wanted stability. What Tony Abbott did was put up a unified team. It was the accumulative effect of six years [of Labor disunity] that played into the idea it was time for change," said Labor candidate Peter Beattie.

Rudd had painted Abbott's planned spending cuts as dangerous European-style austerity and said his government was best placed to manage an economy that is slowing but remains the envy of much of the developed world.

A record 1,717 candidates contested the election, including colorful mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who is holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

Abbott, a fitness enthusiast often photographed in his swimming costume at his local beach, voted early at a Sydney surf club on Saturday, accompanied by his wife and daughters.

But he spent election night in a private suite of a plush Sydney hotel, with his family and close supporters, including his political mentor and former Prime Minister John Howard.

Rudd spent election night at a sports stadium in his home town of Brisbane.

After calling Abbott to concede defeat, Rudd addressed Labor Party constituents in a speech. 

"I know that Labor hearts are heavy across the nation tonight, and as your prime minister and as your parliamentary leader of the great Australian Labor Party, I accept responsibility," Rudd said.

"I gave it my all, but it was not enough for us to win."

Speculation has already begun on who will replace Rudd after the Labor Party’s loss.

Labor stalwart Bob Hawke, who was prime minister from 1983-1991, said the party had underestimated opposition leader Tony Abbott in the lead-up to the election.

"Tony has historically been capable of some awful gaffes, as people will tell you," Hawke told Sky News Australia.

"But he's shown considerable discipline in his campaign."

Hawke tipped Bill Shorten, a former Labor powerbroker who helped initially topple Rudd and then Julia Gillard, his successor, to take the Labor leadership.

 Al Jazeera and wire services