Australia's Labour Party have retained control of Queensland in state elections but with an unexpectedly large swing of around 10 percent. In order to oust the national government in elections due at the end of the year, the party needs a swing of 0.6 to 0.8 percent nationwide.
Apart from a massive protest vote that gave outgoing state Premier Mr Peter Beattie up to 69 of the 89 seats in the local parliament, yesterday's vote in Queensland also confirmed the resurgence of the anti-Asian immigration One Nation party.
Having virtually disappeared since it won one million votes in the last general election in 1998, One Nation looks likely to win at least three seats in Queensland.
"You're going to see policy panic, you're going to see real panic, you're going to see leadership panic from the Liberal Party," said Mr Kim Beazley leader of Labour Party nationally.
Prime Minister Howard insisted today that Queensland had voted on local issues while admitting it would be foolish not to heed the message.
Labour governments now control five of Australia's six states, but most importantly have a stranglehold on the three big eastern states, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, which will determine the national election.
Meanwhile, right-wing antipathy toward Asian immigration and special treatment for Aborigines also played a small role in Queensland.The re-emergence of Ms Pauline Hanson's One Nation and the right-wing vote overall represents another headache for Howard. "There's no easy way out of any of this," said Mr Gerard Henderson, executive director of the Sydney Institute think-tank.
The coalition's next test is in four weeks with a by-election in the Liberal-held seat of Ryan, a Brisbane constituency.Final results of the election are expected later today.
Reuters