A senior member of Australia's ruling Labor Party said her party had lost the national election Saturday, backing analysts and exit polls, and signaling a sweeping victory for the conservative opposition was all but certain, AP reports. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's party has also struggled to win over voters angered by a deeply unpopular tax on carbon dioxide emissions widely blamed for steep increases in power bills.
Health Minister Tanya Plibersek admitted that after 13 percent of the votes had been counted, her government's loss was inevitable
