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Australia yesterday shrugged off the political legacy of more than two decades by cleaning out the old guard of both sides of politics and installing new and possibly volatile leaderships.
Labor Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd announced a ministry injected with new blood, backed by a team of talented
newcomers swept into Canberra by Saturday's landslide, and appointed to serve their apprenticeships as parliamentary secretaries.
On the other side of the House, former Defence Minister Brendan Nelson gained control of the new Opposition in an upset win over former Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
But Nelson's narrow three-vote victory leaves the party divided and potentially unstable: Turnbull, and former Health Minister Tony Abbott who withdrew his candidacy at the last moment, are considered likely to mount new challenges at some stage.
For the first time, Australia has women as both Deputy Prime Minister and deputy leader of the Liberal Party, and Rudd placed four women in his Cabinet, and seven in the ministry, describing them as strong, talented and indicative of Australia's future direction.,
Rudd also created new senior portfolios to reflect the priorities of his Government, including climate change, innovation, broadband and the digital economy, infrastructure, and home affairs, which will embrace federal law agencies.
With the rise of new faces, other veterans dating back to former Prime Minister Paul Keating's Administration and the long years of the Opposition wilderness, were shunted off the front benches.
But the real surprise was in the Liberal Party room, where former deputy leader and Treasurer Peter Costello convened a meeting of surviving MPs including some whose seats have yet to be confirmed to decide a successor to deposed Prime Minister John Howard.
Costello had himself been the anointed heir-apparent, but his ambitions were frustrated by Howard's refusal to hand over the reins and - finally confronted with the prospect of years in Opposition - Costello stepped aside.
As Liberal MPs arrived for the vote yesterday, the clear favourite was multi-millionaire merchant banker Turnbull, whose stampede to the top appeared unstoppable.
But Costello emerged to tell reporters: "The Liberal parliamentary party has elected Brendan Nelson as its new leader."
There has been resentment against Turnbull among influential Liberals because of his raw and brash ambition, a belief that during the campaign he leaked details of a Cabinet split on climate change to shore up his own parlous electoral chances, and his more recent statements outlining future u-turns on key party policies.
Nelson, a former GP and one-time Labor member who headed the Australian Medical Association before entering federal Parliament in Howard's 1996 landslide, is a more subdued but experienced player.
His handling of the major portfolios of education and defence, party loyalty, and his construction of a solid network of support among his parliamentary colleagues worked to push him across the line.
Nelson's new deputy is former Education Minister Julie Bishop, who will now become shadow industrial relations minister in direct opposition to Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who now has a combined portfolio of education as well as industrial relations.
Turnbull will become shadow treasurer and square off against Wayne Swan.
In some areas, such as ratification of the Kyoto protocol, Nelson has indicated the Opposition will support Rudd. But in others - including Rudd's intention to replace WorkChoices - Rudd is likely to face a tough fight, especially as the Coalition's control of the Senate will continue until next June.
"Today is a significant day in the history of the Liberal Party of Australia," Nelson said after winning the leadership.
"I am very confident that over the next three years we will have ourselves in a position to make sure that we will be in a winning position."
But Rudd gave his ministers notice that survival in their jobs would depend on performance and that he intended them to ram home a massive, reformist agenda.
He pushed veterans Bob McMullan, Laurie Ferguson, Arch Bevis, Kate Lundy, Kerry OBrien and Jan McLucas from his front bench, kept former leader Simon Crean as Trade Minister, and installed Labor Party national president John Faulkner as Special Minister of State.
Former education spokesman Stephen Smith is now Foreign Affairs Minister, while Lindsay Tanner remains in finance, Joel Fitzgibbon in defence, and Nicola Roxon in Health.
Rising star Senator Penny Wong has been given climate change and water, with responsibility for associated international negotiations.
Wong now overshadows former rock star Peter Garrett, who retains environment, heritage and the arts, but whose role is now confined to domestic programmes.
Rudd also made room for potential future ministers - Maxine McKew who ejected Howard from his Sydney seat, former union heavyweights Bill Shorten and Greg Combet, former Defence lawyer Mike Kelly, and former party official and petroleum executive Gary Gray. They were made parliamentary secretaries to gain experience before possible elevation.