Bennelong now certain after 3826 postal votes counted
The Bennelong result is now certain after 3826 postal votes have been counted. There may still be a few postals to come in up until next Friday, but with the postals only favouring the Prime Minister by 474 votes so far, and his overall shortfall currently at 2,184, there is not even the slightest shadow of a doubt - Howard is now only the second Prime Minister to lose his own seat, a fitting end to a career that, despite delivering strong economic performance, was marred by regressive, oppressive and discriminatory social policies, loss of individual freedoms, serious neglect of urgent environmental issues, and massive foreign policy failures that more than wiped out the economic successes, leaving his effect on the nation and the world far in the negative territory.