Labor’s hegemony was an aberration matched only once in Australian history by a similarly brief period of conservative rule in 1969 and 1970. Projecting recent trends forward would see the defeat of the Bligh Government in Queensland next year, the Rann Government in early 2010 and the Rees Government in NSW in early 2011.

Labor’s longest-serving premier, Mike Rann, is in deep trouble in South Australia, where the ALP’s primary vote has been overtaken by the state Liberals, leaving tied after preferences. Labor’s primary vote in Queensland dropped five percentage points to 38 per cent, against 41 per cent for the newly merged Liberal National Party.

Malcolm Turnbull has always known what he wants, and why. He eased into the leader’s chair on Tuesday with an authority that immediately put the Government on notice that things were now going to be very, very different for it. On Turnbull’s team things will be very, very different, too. And not just because he’s leader.

West Australian premier-elect Colin Barnett has today unveiled a 17-member cabinet featuring three Nationals MPs and an independent, Liz Constable. The Liberals formed a minority government this week after gaining the support of the Nationals in the state’s hung parliament.

Outgoing West Australian Treasurer Eric Ripper has been unanimously elected Opposition Leader by the state’s Labor Party caucus. Incoming Kwinana MP Roger Cook has been elected deputy leader, party spokesman Kim Chance said. The legislative council will be led by former minister Sue Ellery and her deputy will be Kate Doust.

Colin Barnett’s administration is barely ready for government. Whle the front bench will include some talented performers, for the most part the Liberal Party has spent the past 3 1/2 years as a rabble. However the soon-to-be-minted premier is a substantial figure and will now carry the all-important gravitas of incumbency.

Labor’s hold on every government in Australia ended when state Nationals leader Brendon Grylls told a packed media conference that his party would form an alliance with the Liberals, their traditional political partners, to form a minority government. Until last week’s election, no Liberal leader had won a state poll since 1997.

Three state and territory Labor governments are at the heart of the storms buffeting Australian politics. New South Wales’ economy is shrinking and last week its government imploded spectacularly. The Northern Territory Government mismanaged the crisis of child protection in indigenous communities that led to the federal intervention last year. And the West Australian Government is on the verge of losing office after an opportunistic and cynical election campaign.

The problem for the voters of Lyne is that the high profile of newly elected independent MP Rob Oakeshott will not necessarily translate into real political achievement. Not unless the government of the day becomes dependent on one or more independents to sustain its majority in the House of Representatives.

With the outcome of the Western Australian election in doubt and upheavals in New South Wales, the aftershocks of the weekend’s ruptures in the Labor Party will be felt in Canberra. But other parties also have their problems. From coast-to-coast Labor governments to coast-to-coast confusion has taken a mere 10 months.