Within minutes of Tony Abbott winning the election on Saturday night, British PM David Cameron called him to offer warm congratulations. He talked about the very strong ties between Britain and Australia.
PM Abbott, born in London to Australian parents who were living there temporarily, and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, agreed on the importance of the relationship and looked forward to working very closely together.
Foreign Secretary William Hague also spoke to his new opposite number, Julie Bishop, on Saturday. They already know each other quite well and have an excellent relationship. Chancellor George Osborne called his counterpart Joe Hockey and had a friendly exchange too.
The Australian election has been followed closely in London, and I know our reporting cables have been read with interest there. I have found it interesting to get out and about to observe the contest in different cities. On Saturday morning I popped round the corner to our local polling station at the Canberra Girls’ Grammar School, to watch people casting their vote.
I was impressed with the Australian tradition of having a “sausage sizzle” at polling stations. Perhaps we should think about following suit.
The final results are still coming through, because of the complexities of the transferable vote system, particularly in the Senate. One consequence of transferable voting is that it makes it easier for minority parties and independents to win seats in the Senate, even from a very low share of the vote on first preferences.