Opposition edges out Labor in Australia polls

SYDNEY, Aug 22 (AFP) - Australia's opposition Liberal/National coalition is “back in business” and ready to govern, its leader Tony Abbott told an ecstatic crowd Saturday as the nation faced a hung parliament.“The Liberal and National parties are back in business, we stand ready to govern, and we stand ready to offer the Australian people stable, predictable and competent government,” he said after nailbiting elections.The conservative leader told a wildly cheering crowd in Sydney that while no clear winner had emerged from the polls, the ruling Labor Party could not govern with a minority in parliament.“We do not have a clear result from tonight,” he said as broadcaster ABC gave the opposition 72 seats in the 150-seat parliament to Labor's 70 -- both falling short of the 76 needed to rule in their own right.“What I will say is the Labor party has definitely lost its majority,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Julia Gillard's party “will never be able to govern effectively in a minority”.Abbott's coalition was kicked out of government unceremoniously in a November 2007 Labor landslide victory led by former prime minister Kevin Rudd and his deputy Gillard, who two months ago ousted Rudd in a party coup.(The unday Times)