Rudd Defeats Howard in Australian Election

JOHN HOWARD led his Government to a humiliating defeat last night and was poised to lose his own seat as Kevin Rudd became Australia's 26th Prime Minister.

Families and Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough was another high-profile scalp on a night in which Australia called a definitive end to Mr Howard's 11-year reign.

More than 13.5m of Australia's roughly 21m people are registered to vote

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has admitted defeat in the country's general election, and looks set to lose his parliamentary seat.

Mr Howard said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".

Mr Rudd said the country had "looked to the future" and he pledged to be a prime minister "for all Australians".

With 70% of votes counted, Labor were on course to win the 76 seats needed to form a government.

More than 20 constituencies from a total of 150 are still to produce a result, but Labor already has 72 seats compared with 48 for Mr Howard's Liberal-National coalition.