wa labor lost but liberals have not won

Neither major party leader has claimed victory in a nail-biting Western Australian election, with Premier Alan Carpenter predicting a hung parliament.

With four seats still in doubt, it is clear the Labor Party has lost its outright majority and the most likely government will be a Liberal/National combination.

The ABC's election computer predicts Labor will win 27 out of the 59 Legislative Assembly seats, the Liberals 25, Nationals four and others three.

The Liberals have gained five key northern suburbs seats, with the seats of Forrestfield, Riverton, Collie-Preston and Albany still too close to call.

The Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter has said it may be some time before a definite result is known, with a hung parliament the most likely outcome.

Mr Carpenter began his address to supporters by congratulating his Liberal Party opponent Colin Barnett on his campaign.

"We are in an interesting situation," he said.

"It has not been the sort of night and the sort of day that we had hoped.

"The result is still undetermined ... the result will not be known definitively tonight."

He said he was proud of what Labor governments had achieved in the state.

"It is clear though that the community expects more and better and I accept that.

"My heart goes out to those people, the many good people who have lost their seat.

"I would like to be able to stand here and deliver a result one way or another, but we are not in that position yet, so we have to wait."

Mr Barnett also congratulated his opponent, but added that the voters of Western Australia had clearly rejected the Carpenter government.

"The voters of Western Australia have clearly expressed their viewpoint today," he said.

"They have rejected the Labor government and they have created the situation where we could form a government.

"However there is still some discussion and negotiation to take place.

"I believe that the people of Western Australia have expressed their trust in myself and my colleagues... they have given us an opportunity and if that comes to pass we will accept that opportunity.

"We're not quite there yet but we're not far off."

Regardless of the count, both the Liberals and Labor will be looking for the support of the Nationals in the lower house.

Nationals leader Brendan Grylls has indicated that Mr Barnett should not take his party's support for granted. Mr Grylls says he is prepared to talk to Labor and the Liberals.

"This is a very important position it's something that I take very seriously and it's not something that needs to be rushed or any decisions made tonight," he said.


Fallout

Just weeks ago, the Liberal Party in Western Australia was in disarray, resurrecting former leader Mr Barnett after a series of embarrassing incidents and bad polling forced the resignation of Troy Buswell.

The reasons behind the large swing suffered by the Labor Party in Saturday's poll are already being debated, before a definite result is known.

Former WA MPs Bob Kucera and Bob Pearce have slammed the four-week campaign, calling it one of the worst ever.

Federal Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop says the result has federal implications.

She says the introduction of a tax on gas condensate in the last federal Budget was a major issue.

"This is an issue that really hit in Western Australia," she said.

"This $2.5 billion tax will flow through to domestic gas and electricity users in Western Australia."

But Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says there are no federal electoral implications in the WA vote.

"In my view it's longevity, it's the time of the cycle," he said.

"There are of course implications for cooperative federalism."
----------------------------------------------------
This is why as I posted I did not bet on this election as it really was too close to call, and there will be no clear winner.

Dave R.