Exit polling from the first wave of voters in Australia’s general election indicates a decisive victory for the Liberal-National coalition led by Tony Abbott, who has won strong support from Australia’s mining industry.
Earlier this week, delegates at an event held by Australia’s Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) spoke openly about their desire for a change of government, with Labor’s 2010 implementation of the Mining Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) as the major driving force.
Abbott, who ran a relatively steady, risk-averse campaign, committed in late 2011 to scrapping the MRRT and the country’s carbon tax.
Current Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who reclaimed leadership of his party from Julia Gillard only two months ago, rushed to announce an end to the carbon tax, and promised no new mining taxes, but this hasn’t seemed enough to sway mining professionals.
While no final results had been reached when this article was published at 6 pm EST (Australia) on Saturday, projections of exit poll results see the opposition adding 25 seats in the lower house, bringing their total to 97, with Labor dropping 21 seats to end up with 51.