A fter16 years in power, and reeling from political scandals, the Labor government of New South Wales was expected to lose the state election on March 26th. But the scale of its defeat stunned even party diehards. With a swing against it of over 16%, the biggest for any Australian government in 60 years, the party has been left with barely a quarter of the seats in the state's lower house. This cataclysm in what was once Labor's heartland will be felt in the federal capital, Canberra, unsettling Julia Gillard, the prime minister, as her minority Labor government tries to push through reforms.
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