Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott is determined to keep his job despite what has been described as the "catastrophic" loss for the Liberal National Party in the Queensland state elections.
Tony Abbott Photo: AFP
The Australian Labor Party achieved one of the biggest swings in Australian political history in Saturday's state election, which saw Premier Campbell Newman and a swag of his Liberal National Party MPs lose their seats.
Labor went into the election holding just nine seats but has so far secured 43 in the 89-seat parliament.
It needs 45 for a majority with four seats still in doubt.
Some in Mr Abbott's own coalition party have said the result delivers a terminal blow to Mr Abbott's leadership and there must now be discussions about the future of his leadership.
The ABC reports Queensland MPs Jane Prentice and Warren Entsch have both said there now need to be "discussions" about the leadership issue.
Mr Abbott has brushed off the talk of a threat to his leadership and said he is determined to stay on.
He attributed the LNP's Queensland defeat to state issues, but did acknowledge that his decision to knight Prince Philip last month had hurt the party's campaign.
Mr Abbott was reported on the ABC as saying "the people of Australia elected me as Prime Minister and they elected my government to get on with the job of governing our country."
"The important thing is not to navel-gaze, it's not to look at ourselves, it's to get on with the job of being a better Government."
