Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott said Friday the time to savour victory was over, telling his party they had won the trust of Australia and their job now was to keep it.
The conservative ended six years of Labor rule last weekend, with the race to replace deposed leader Kevin Rudd now a two-man contest after former deputy prime minister Anthony Albanese announced his candidacy.
He will be up against ex-education minister Bill Shorten as Labor faces a rocky rebuilding from years of turmoil, with voters punishing them for the bitter in-fighting that saw two leadership coups in as many terms in office.
Abbott, who was rubberstamped as Liberal leader Friday at the first meeting of his party since toppling Rudd, told his colleagues they must deliver on their commitments.
“We have won the trust of the Australian people, our challenge now is to earn it and to keep it,” he said in some of his first comments since winning office as he adopts a lower-key approach after a frenetic, media-driven, election campaign.
“Our task is but briefly to savour the moment. Our task is to give a great country and a great people the better government that the people of Australia deserve.