Australians go to polls in national elections

(Vatican Radio) In Australia, Tony Abbott is set to become the country’s next prime minister as his Liberal-National coalition won a resounding victory in parliamentary elections.
An estimated 14 million Australians went to the polls on Saturday to vote in the country’s general elections.

Leading the liberal-National coalition was Tony Abbott, who was the predicted winner according to opinion polls. Abbott ran against Kevin Rudd who has been Australia’s prime minister and leader of the Labour Party since Jun 27 of this year.

Speaking ahead of the election results, some voters expressed their concerns about where the country might be headed after these elections. “It feels like we’re at the end of good times,” one woman told the BBC.

Australia’s election commission revealed that some 3.2 million ballots were cast ahead of the day’s elections in early voting, the highest number in history.

Listen to Ann Schneible’s full report: