Tony Abbott is the 28th prime minister elect of Australia after the Coalition swept back into office;
Mr Abbott has promised to govern for all Australians - not just those who voted for him;
Labor has suffered a comprehensive defeat but senior MPs say they expected it to be worse;
Kevin Rudd has stepped down as Labor leader;
the Australian Electoral Commission has declared the Coalition has won 91 lower house seats, Labor has 54, the Greens have one and the independents Bob Katter and Andrew Wilkie have held on (there are two seats still undetermined); and
the Senate remains more uncertain but the Coalition has not won control in its own right.
Take a bow Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen - your work has been, as always, incredible.
Thanks also to the network of Fairfax Media reporters, photographers and production staff.
But my biggest thanks goes to you for reading, commenting and having fun with us.
Andrew, Alex and I will be back in the morning. See you then.
Note that Mr Murdoch is replying to his own tweet (see 11.04 pm post):
Let me direct you to some slightly lengthier coverage.
More of the Abbott family photo bomber (see 10.50 pm post).
The leadership issue is likely to be address at the next Labor caucus meeting which could be held in Canberra on Thursday or as late as September, Judith Ireland reports.
Under the rules introduced just before the election, Labor has to put an interim federal leader in charge until a ballot of MPs and rank and file Labor members is held.
That is most likely to be deputy leader Anthony Albanese.
Nominations would be open for seven days and the ballot, which could take several weeks, is weighted 50 per cent caucus MPs and senators and 50 per cent grass roots members.
Where does this leave the leadership of the Labor Party? Other than empty.
The front runners are deputy leader Anthony Albanese, Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke ruled himself out earlier in the evening.
Former prime minister Bob Hawke yesterday suggested a leadership combination of Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek but tonight Mr Hawke was more circumspect saying it would not be helpful for him to make suggestions.
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Ummm:
This is the most we've heard from Julia Gillard in about ten weeks:
I now have the full transcripts of the speeches made by Mr Abbott and Mr Rudd.