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9 years later......Victory!

Australians wake up today to a new PM, Kevin Rudd. It is a testament to the man that he only entered Federal Parliament 9 years ago and only assumed the mantle of Leader of the Opposition on 4 December last year.

The task the new PM, and his Party, faces is formidable. Rudd's acceptance speech was a good portent of things to come.

Meanwhile, it looks like goodbye, not au revoir, to John Howard. Also gone - banished into Opposition - is the arrogance and often disgraceful and insulting behaviour of Peter Costello, the mad Monk Tony Abbott, Lord Downer of Baghdad and Nick Minchin.

The newspapers are covering the outcome of the election this way - Time, here, the NY Times, here and Haaretz, here and Times on Line here.

BREAKING NEWS: Just over an hour ago [12.50 pm AEST] Peter Costello announced that not only would he not seek leadership of the Liberal Party, but would leave politics. See the SMH report here. Now that's responsible! Within 24 hours of the election Costello will resign and cause a by-election - and a needless cost to taxpayers.

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