Labor leader Kevin Rudd became Australia’s 26th prime minister as voters across the nation swept John Howard from power and likely dumped him from his Sydney seat.
The political career of Australia’s second-longest serving prime minister will end with defeat after 11-and-a-half years in office, and he is also likely to become only the second prime minister in history to lose his seat.
And at least two of his ministers also lost their seats in the 5.5 per cent swing to Labor that will seal the ALP’s hold on every government across Australia.
Labor needed 16 seats to claim an election victory for the first time since 1993, but it picked up 10 in Mr Rudd’s home state of Queensland alone and another seven in NSW.
Labor also won two seats in Victoria and three in South Australia, but looked like losing one seat in Western Australia, for a predicted 12-seat majority.
Mr Rudd thanked the many Australians who had voted Labor for the first time, or for the first time in a long time, for placing their trust in him and his team.
”I will be prime minister for all Australians,” Mr Rudd told ecstatic supporters at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
”And I make this solemn pledge to the nation: I will always govern in the national interest.
”I will never take their sacred trust for granted. I understand that this is a great privilege and I will do everything to honour the trust that has been extended to me.”
Mr Howard, who conceded defeat just after 10.30pm, accepted that he had also likely lost his Sydney seat of Bennelong after 33 years to Labor challenger Maxine McKew, although the result remained in doubt.
Mr Howard accepted responsibility for the loss and thanked the people of Australia for giving him the privilege of holding the office.
Supporters wept, clapped and cheered as Mr Howard gave his last speech as prime minister, declaring that he had led a government which had taken the country from deep debt to strong prosperity.
He expressed his ”gratitude, love and thanks” to his family, particularly his wife Janette, saying he loved her and was in her debt for all the support she had given him.
”Naturally I’m saddened by the defeat of the coalition tonight but I count myself very fortunate to have been the beneficiary of the support of the people of Australia for so long,” Mr Howard told the crowd at Sydney’s Sofitel Wentworth hotel.
”I thank them, I wish this nation well, I believe very profoundly that Australia’s best years lie ahead of her.
”I wish the government elected by the people today the very best of good fortune in the years ahead, thank you.”
Claiming victory a short time later, Mr Rudd thanked Mr Howard for his gracious words and praised him for his contribution to public life.
Flanked by his wife Therese Rein, his children and son-in-law, Mr Rudd said he would begin work immediately.
”Today the Australian people have decided that we as a nation will move forward,” he said.
”Friends, tomorrow the work begins.”
He paid special tribute to his deputy leader Julia Gillard, who will become Australia’s first female deputy prime minister.
Watching from the National Tally Room in Canberra, Ms Gillard had tears in her eyes as Mr Rudd praised her contribution.
”Julia, I know you’re not in Queensland tonight but you’ve got a fantastic reception from a Queensland audience,” he said.
”She has been fantastic as the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party, she’ll be fantastic as the deputy prime minister of Australia.”
Ms Gillard received a rock star reception in the tally room, with hundreds of excited members of the public repeatedly chanting her name and clapping as she took part in an ABC TV panel.
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