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Howard's reign in Australia is over

SYDNEY, Australia - Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd earned a sweeping victory in Australia's elections Saturday, ending an 11-year conservative era and promising major changes to policies on global warming and the Iraq war.

Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio reported that Prime Minister John Howard's aides had said Howard had phoned Rudd to concede defeat.

Rudd's win handed Howard a humiliating end to a career in which he became Australia's second-longest serving leader - and who had appeared almost unassailable as little as a year ago.

Potentially adding insult to injury, Howard was among government lawmakers in danger of losing his seat in Parliament - he would be only the second sitting prime minister in 106 years of federal government to be dumped from the legislature.

Official figures from the Australian Electoral Commission showed Labor far in front with more than 60 percent of the ballots counted. An ABC analysis showed that Labor would get at least 81 places in the 150- seat lower house of Parliament - a clear majority.

"On the numbers we've seen tonight, Labor is going to form a government," deputy Labor leader Julia Gillard said on ABC television.

Howard's four straight election victories and 11 years in power make him one of Australia's most successful politicians, and he has presided over an unprecedented economic boom fueled by demand from China and India for coal and other resources dug from Australia's Outback.

But, at 68, Howard suffered widespread perceptions that he has stayed too long.

Rudd, a 50-year-old former diplomat who speaks fluent Chinese, says Howard is ill-equipped to deal with new challenges like global warming and a high-speed Internet network.

He has said his first priority if he is elected would be to sign the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, something Howard has refused for years to do.

Rudd also says he would withdraw Australia's 550 combat troops from Iraq, leaving twice that number in mostly security roles. Howard says all the troops will stay as long as needed.

Howard has been one of President Bush's staunchest allies, and reshaped Australia's image abroad with his unwavering support for Bush's war against terrorism.