The Labor government in the Australian state of Victoria won an unexpectedly large majority in an election that analysts say is a warning to the country’s ruling conservative government ahead of national polls due in six months. Victoria is Australia’s second most populous state, and the poll is seen as a barometer of voter sentiment towards the nation’s conservative Liberal and National government. The governing coalition has been a minority government since October when they lost their one-seat majority after former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, ousted by conservatives in a party-room coup, resigned.
In Victoria, the incumbent Labor government campaigned on big infrastructure projects including rail, roads and schools, while the opposition Liberal Party focused on crime, and law and order.
Labor, which went into the election with a one-seat majority in the 88-seat Victorian legislative assembly, is expected to take up to 55 seats once counting is finished, based on figures from the Victorian Electoral Commission.
Full Article: Landslide state election loss rattles Australia’s minority government | Reuters.