KEVIN RUDD'S chances of having the states accept his health reform plan have been bolstered by Mike Rann's expected narrow victory in South Australia and the prospect of a hung parliament in Tasmania.
But he has delayed the meeting by more than a week until the victors are officially declared, particularly in Tasmania.
As the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, cited strong swings against Labor in both states as a sign of discontent with the Rudd government, Labor was buoyed at the better-than-expected showing in South Australia.
By the latest count, Mr Rann's government had dropped from 28 seats to 25, one more than the minimum tally required to govern in its own right.
The Liberals had gained four seats to hold 18 and there were four independents, three of whom would be likely to side with Labor should it lose more seats and need to form a minority government.
In Tasmania, the Greens will have five seats and Labor and Liberal 10 each. The Liberal leader, Will Hodgman demanded the right to form a coalition government with the Greens given the Liberals polled more votes than David Bartlett's Labor government, which suffered a 12 per cent swing.
In South Australia the swing against the government averaged 7.4 per cent but was far more severe in the seats held by Mr Rann and his ministers.
Mr Rann is confident of a third term in government but his opponent, the Liberal leader Isobel Redmond, was refusing to concede defeat yesterday.
There are about 100,000 postal votes to count and at least two Labor seats remain in the balance.
A Council of Australian Governments meeting has been scheduled for April 19, where Mr Rudd needs all the states to agree to his health policy. There had been fears within federal Labor that Ms Redmond would have helped Tony Abbott by obfuscating or opposing the plan.
Mr Rann is a keen supporter of the plan as is Mr Bartlett.
Mr Hodgman said yesterday that if he became premier, he would take a constructive and considered approach but needed more information.
Mr Rudd said he would work with either leader. ''Working families want better health and better hospital services and I will be working with any premier from any state, Labor or Liberal, to bring that about,'' he said.
Mr Abbott said the strong anti-Labor swings signalled ''the Australian public are getting heartily sick of governments which are more spin than substance''.
''This is Mr Rudd's problem, he's about political management, not really about making a difference.''
The Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, said the results, especially in South Australia where Mr Rann endured a saga about his private life, had few implications federally. ''Basically, spin is a reality in modern politics across the board, whether any of us likes it or not,'' he said.
Mr Abbott dismissed the government's claim of state factors being the main factor, noting that in Tasmania at least, Mr Rudd featured in some of the Labor advertising.
He played down the poorer-than-expected showing in South Australia, saying the Liberals always expected to do well but never expected to win.
''I think that the South Australian and Tasmanian public are the ones who are likely to feel disappointed this morning because they plainly voted to change governments.''
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