Reuters first as Australia’s Labor gets to form government after knife-edge election

It took more than two weeks for a winner to emerge after Australia’s inconclusive elections, which left a handful of lawmakers holding the balance of power. Finally, on Sept. 7, Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Labor Party needed the backing of just two of those MPs to stay in government. The first announced that he was supporting Labor, so it all hung on the second who kept the country and financial markets waiting for his decision until the end of a very long speech: when his announcement came at last, Reuters flashed the news 12 seconds ahead of Bloomberg. Shares in top Australian mining firms BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto dropped on the news as the return of Labor means a proposed new tax on iron ore and coal mining profits is now likely to go ahead.