Australia's embattled government suffers state vote 'bloodbath'

Australia's embattled minority government has suffered a further blow after a big loss in a crucial state poll ahead of national elections next year. The Labor government for Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, was returned to power in a landslide after elections on Saturday.
Provisional results collated by national broadcaster ABC pointed to a 4.8 percent swing to Labor, and for the left-leaning party to hold 55 seats in the 88-seat state assembly - a result one minister described as a "bloodbath". "We shouldn't be in this position - we did a lot of things right but obviously something's gone horribly wrong," Shadow Attorney-General John Pesutto, from the Liberal Party, told the ABC.