September 9, 2006 - 2:34AM
Premier Peter Beattie said Queensland voters had given him "one more chance" despite clinching a fourth term in government with a third successive landslide state election victory.
In another disastrous result for the coalition, Labor looked set to possibly increase its current tally of 60 seats in the 89-seat parliament.
Coalition leader Lawrence Springborg conceded defeat just after 8pm (AEST) and said the government had "a strong mandate" for the next term.
He said Mr Beattie had a big responsibility to fix problems such as the long running troubles with the state's health system.
"This responsibility should in no way be squandered," he said.
Mr Beattie is the first Queensland Labor leader to win a fourth term as premier since William Forgan Smith in 1941.
But claiming victory he said he was not interested in "history" and his celebrations would be short-lived.
"Tonight we're going to have a few drinks but tomorrow we're back to work," said Mr Beattie, flanked by his wife Heather and three children in the electoral tally room in Brisbane.
Mr Beattie acknowledged the government had endured crises but he was determined to fix them.
"We knew we have had some problems with health ... we plan to resolve those," he said.
He said the voters of Queensland had given him and his government "one more chance".
"We're on notice," he said.
"We have to take that ... we can't betray (them)."
Mr Beattie commiserated with Information Technology Minister Chris Cummins, who was expected to lose his Sunshine Coast seat of Kawana to the Liberals.
But Labor even looked like holding the seat of Bundaberg, the centre of the Dr Death scandal that engulfed the government last year.
And in another indication of the coalition's woes, Labor appears to have won the three seats it lost to the coalition in recent by-elections, according to early poll figures.
Labor lost the seats of Chatsworth in Brisbane's east and Redcliffe north of the city to the Liberals last year, as well as the Gold Coast seat of Gaven to the Nationals in April this year.
But the three seats looked certain to go to Labor with a major coalition casualty being Liberal frontbencher Michael Caltabiano's seat of Chatsworth, which was set to be won by Labor's Chris Bombolas, a high profile sports broadcaster.
Despite crises in its last term over health and the water supply in the state's south-east, voters have shown confidence in Labor and Mr Beattie.
The coalition's chances had been setback by a failed bid by Mr Springborg to merge the Queensland Nationals and Liberals into a new conservative party.
The decision by Liberal MPs to dump leader Bob Quinn in favour of Bruce Flegg just before the election also seriously backfired.
Mr Springborg said it was disappointing the coalition had not capitalised on a possible protest vote.
"The protest vote which was obviously out there did not feel comfortable in coming to the Queensland coalition and that would indicate to me that we need to do much more to connect to the hearts and lives of the people in Queensland," he said.
He said he was determined to press on as coalition leader despite the devastating result.
"I will be working with my colleagues now to indicate quite clearly that we position ourselves in a better way in Queensland in the future," Mr Springborg said.
He thanked coalition voters "during this most difficult state election campaign".
"As we know it has been full of some challenges and with any state election campaign you could probably always say there's some things you would have liked to have gone a little better but that's what happens in the game of politics," Mr Springborg said.
He also thanked Dr Flegg, who was bombarded with negative media coverage during the election campaign.
Federal Labor treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said the election result showed voters had faith in Mr Beattie and did not trust the coalition.
"People have decided they'll trust Peter Beattie to fix their problems and not the coalition," he said.
Nationals matriarch Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen, the wife of the late Sir Joh, Queensland's longest serving premier, said the coalition had to work harder to make voters understand Labor was untrustworthy.
"It just shows that we have to keep working and working hard to try and persuade the people of Queensland that the Labor Party isn't a party that you can really rely on," she said.
"They make promises, they don't keep them, so we've got to sort of try and let people know that that's the way they act."
Federal Nationals MP De-Anne Kelly said the election result showed "that the spin has won over the substance".
"And it will be a Beattie victory substantially."
===Queensland: Beattie's labor government returned to power===
'''September 9, 2006'''

The Queensland state election has been won by the Peter Beattie led labor government. After a colourful campaign featuring disunity between the liberal-national coalition and a forecasted protest vote that failed to eventuate against labor, Beattie maintained his considerable margin in the 89 seat legislative assembly winning a predicted 60 seats with approximately 70% of votes counted. The nationals and liberals are predicted to pick up 16 and nine seats respectively.

===Paes and Damm win men's doubles title===
'''September 10, 2006'''

 and  crowned their first year as a pair on Saturday as they beat  and  6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the men's doubles title at the  tennis tournament.

Paes and Damm had lost the first set and their serve broken in the second set managed to win their first title of the year.

Paes said communication had been the key to his success with Damm. "I don't think there are enough words to express how much fun and how much learning I've actually had playing with Martin, because we're actually opposites on the court," Paes said.
"Martin is strong and plays more solid. I'm more flashy and a bit more quick. We really complement each other.
"It's been a fantastic year playing with him. I've really enjoyed it. I'd like to thank him for a wonderful year."

===Malegaon blasts: ATS arrives to probe blasts===
'''September 10, 2006'''

The situation in Malegaon is calm, two days after multiple blasts killed 38 people and left 200 others injured. The police are investigating cautiously and are yet to find definite clues or detain suspects.
A special ten-member team of Mahrasthra's Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) is in Malegaon to probe blasts.
National Security Guards (NSG) is inspecting the site as well.
Investigators admit that cracking the Malegaon mystery will be tough one and so for there have been no arrests or detentions.

'''Related news:'''
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===Aerobatics champ dies in tragedy at Aero GP season opener===
'''September 10, 2006'''

A mid-air collision has taken the life of Swedish aerobatics champion .  Shortly after the in-flight tangle, the two planes crashed into the sea as co-competitor Eddie Goggins of Ireland parachuted into the sea where Maltese Armed Forces rescued him.

The incident comes only days after Aero GP announced a sponsorship deal with Betfair, giving the Malta Aero GP the official title, ''Aero GP Betfair Grand Prix of Malta''.

The competition in the Aero GP involves a variety of skill tests for the pilots, testing their racing, dogfighting and target-bombing abilities.

===Strong earthquake in Gulf of Mexico causes rare tremor in Florida===
'''September 10, 2006'''

An earthquake struck in the Gulf of Mexico with a magnitude of 6.0, a strength very rare for that region of the world, at 10:56am EDT (14:56 UTC) on September 10.  Although no damage has been reported, it has been reported that tremors were felt in Orlando and  in the state of Florida.

According to the , the quake's epicenter was 260 miles (418 km) WSW (240°) of , Florida, and 329 miles (529 km) southeast (145°) of New Orleans, Louisiana, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km).

USGS officials stated that the quake was not strong enough to trigger a .  Tremor intensities as high as Force IV on the  scale were felt throughout Florida.