NSW win a relief for Abbott

Tony Abbott has been spared a fresh bout of leadership speculation after NSW Liberal Premier Mike Baird cruised to victory in the State election at the weekend.

Labor tried to exploit the unpopularity of the Prime Minister, who was largely absent from the NSW campaign, but ultimately Mr Abbott did not have the same toxic impact as he did in losses suffered by first-term conservative governments in Victoria and Queensland.

But Federal Liberals seized on the outcome to attack Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, claiming the lesson was voters' rejection of populist opposition.

The State coalition looks likely to win 53 or 54 seats in the 93-seat chamber, down from 69.

Labor is set to claim 34 seats, up from 20 after it suffered its worst- ever loss in 2011. Its gains came in its western Sydney heartland and traditional Labor areas in the Hunter Valley and Central Coast, where a corruption scandal had engulfed the Liberals.

The Greens won two seats in inner-city Sydney and the party also snatched one seat and maybe a second from the Nationals on the north coast thanks to a backlash against coal seam gas.

Mr Baird, whose Mr Nice Guy persona translated into high approval ratings, claimed voters had given him a mandate to privatise the State's electricity network to fund a $20 billion infrastructure program.

Luke Foley, who became leader less than three months ago, said Labor voters had returned to the fold and put the party in a win- nable position for the 2019 poll.

If voting patterns were replicated at a Federal election, Labor would have a strong chance of regaining several seats it lost in 2013.

But the immediate result is to give Mr Abbott some clear air as MPs pin their hopes on next month's Budget lifting the Federal Government's stocks.

Mr Abbott flew out from Tasmania early yesterday for former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's funeral but said in a statement the win was an "unambiguously" good outcome for the party and the people of NSW.

Social Services Minister and NSW Federal MP Scott Morrison said the election proved tough reforms were still possible when the benefits were explained to the public.

"I think that should be a message for Bill Shorten, too - that fear campaigns and populist reactionary positions from the Labor Party just don't get you there," Mr Morrison said.

But deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said it was "extraordinary" that Mr Abbott, who hails from Sydney, was interstate on a NSW election day.