Election 2010

[The_Brown_Hornet]

I can tell you that the boat people question was a total non-issue for me. Didn't come into my thinking at all. The NBN, economic management and internet censorship were vastly more important. I don't think either party had a good immigration story to tell.

And I'll say this: the electorate sent a message to the shadowy machine politicians today. We decide who governs this country, not you.

EDIT: Sorry, half pissed from all the red wine from my birthday lunch. I should expand on the above: party men in the ALP thought they had outsmarted everyone by knifing Rudd and the Australian people have apparently repudiated that. It's probably not enough to take government away from them, but jeez it's bloody close when you consider the size of the majority they had going into this campaign. It's in my opinion a rejection of what has gone on in the ALP party room in the last few months.

 

[Ruggo]

Malcom Turbull has just become a very important man in the libs. He may hold all the cards and Abbott will have to protect his back very carefully.

What disgusts me is that we can elect a 20 year hold into a seat of parliament. His balls haven't even dropped, he can have no perspective of life has he has not even faced the real world to draw experience.

The big question is weather the independants are going to negotiate or chose to maintain their independant status and send us back to the polls.

 

[Ruggo]

I can tell you that the boat people question was a total non-issue for me. Didn't come into my thinking at all. The NBN, economic management and internet censorship were vastly more important. I don't think either party had a good immigration story to tell.

And I'll say this: the electorate sent a message to the shadowy machine politicians today. We decide who governs this country, not you.

I hope your right as this country is still under threat from being governed by under the carpet deals. Health and education are the issues I care about. A healthy and knowledgable population = economic stability. I hope the next govt who ever they may be builds this country to the future with vision and not to save their political hide in the present.
I

 

[cyclopath]

Malcom Turbull has just become a very important man in the libs. He may hold all the cards and Abbott will have to protect his back very carefully.

What disgusts me is that we can elect a 20 year hold into a seat of parliament. His balls haven't even dropped, he can have no perspective of life has he has not even faced the real world to draw experience.

The big question is weather the independants are going to negotiate or chose to maintain their independant status and send us back to the polls.

The 20 year old is an odd one, but to his credit, he seems to have a pretty level head. But yeah, I think back to what I knew at 20...
I think the independents will be very careful...this is their time, so I doubt they'll send it back to the polls, where history might suggest Labor would suffer more. A coalition majority would make them largely irrelevant. I think they will be pragmatic, and allow someone to govern, but remind them constantly of their presence!

 

[Lindommer]

What disgusts me is that we can elect a 20 year hold into a seat of parliament. His balls haven't even dropped, he can have no perspective of life has he has not even faced the real world to draw experience.

No, that particular electorate didn't elect a 20 year old, they specifically repudiated the sitting member from a party who took that elctorate for granted. The old saw, "oppositions don't win government, governments lose goverment", is particularly apt in this instance.

It took me until Friday afternoon to decide which way to vote, and I'm disappointed to say it came about from a negative point of view. This has been an appalling election.

 

[chief]

I cannot believe a 20 yr old has been elected, he has no feel for workplace relations, no clue about the cost of living, all he has is his leader's viewpoint.

Nick Minchin made the best point I've heard all week, ALP raised their standard far too hard, and tried to achieve far too much. Thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Smith, Kerry O'Brien's coverage. Channel 9's was far too messy, Costello was great, but Arbib and Joyce and Krogin were at each other all night I just didn't enjoy it, and found that the Today hosts did not have what it took.

Interesting to see what happens within the next few days.

 

[cyclopath]

Nick Minchin made the best point I've heard all week, ALP raised their standard far too hard, and tried to achieve far too much.

And failed in many of them - schools program budget blowouts and rorting, insulation debacle, the proposed white elephant NBN (IMO), all of which detracted from any good they might achieve. Their health plans were not quite there - some good, some less so. They lost too many good performers too, I think.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

It was almost like Whitlam v2.0: crash or crash through for the ALP this time. If they had been just a bit more modest in their programme in the first term, I think the electorate would have given them more time.

 

[cyclopath]

It was almost like Whitlam v2.0: crash or crash through for the ALP this time. If they had been just a bit more modest in their programme in the first term, I think the electorate would have given them more time.

For sure. They had a rails run into the second term, and over-reaching, and more importantly the lack of a ball-breaker to keep the factions under check screwed them. Beggars belief that a government with the levels of popularity they had could fall so fast.

 

[Ruggo]

The ball breaker was the ETS. That is where it headed south. They should of had the nerve and stuck to their convictions. So be it if it meant a double dissolusion. They would of maintained the public belief, Rudd would of been as popular as ever and this would of kept the factions at bay.

 

[Scarfman]

I think you're selling a vast number of voters short. I was dismayed by the "Turn back the Boats" rubbish too, but I think there is a whole lot more to Labor's self-immolation than that. The evils of the NSW and Qld right in the Labor party are coming back to bite the Federal party hard, and about time. I think a lot of people were disenchanted for a lot of reasons, and hopefully it was not all about a small number of refugees / asylum seekers.
Of course it remains to be seen whether the Coalition can or will deal appropriately with all those other issues you mention.

Good points, cyclo. I agree that the shift was broader than that. but don't forget what motivates "Howard's Battlers". These are people whose economic interests are almost definitely better served by Labor. Howard won them over with wedge politics, and the left has been unable to rewrite the agenda.

The ALP really needed a strong leader to set the tone, and not play the sort of game that suited the Libs.

But the thing I most felt going into last night was: ok, the ALP have been machine-gunning themselves in the foot, but surely no sane human can want The Mad Monk as PM? I mean, he's a Peter Debnam-type from the lunatic religious right. I seriously doubt his sanity. If it was Turnbull or even Hockey I could understand it, but Abbott really seems to me to be unelectable. Shows how out of touch I am from "ordinary Australians".

 

[cyclopath]

Abbott cleverly reined in the "mad" stuff in this campaign, and presented himself as less of a right wing nutter. Except for the Stop The Boats slogan which we mentioned before.
You are right, I think, about Howard's Battlers being better served by Labor...BUT if they had continued their economic frivolity with the NBN on top of the recent misplaced spending, I'm not sure any of us would be dramatically better off.
I am not sure the other lot have an answer either, but therein lies the rub with politics - you don't have to convince everyone you are right, just that the other lot are worse. Labor actually went a long way to dudding themselves. It is the nature these days, just as the character assassination that goes on in the US with Presidential elections is the way.
Sad but true.

 

[barbarian]

I agree with Cyclo in that one of the reasons Abbott has done so well in this election is shedding the 'religious lunatic' tag. He has run a very disciplined campaign- I honestly think Labor were playing it very safe in the first two weeks becuase they expected Abbott to make a heap of fuckups, like saying 'women belong in the kitchen' or making a crack about the gays. Because that was what he used to do. But to his credit he has stepped up here, and now is knocking on the door of the lodge.

As for Wyatt Roy, I am not opposed at all to a 20 year old in Parliament. I am very much opposed to THIS 20 year old, who is nothing more than a party lacky who will blindly toe the party line without speaking up on any issues that mean anything to Gen Y. He will be voted out at the next election, hopefully.

 

[chief]

I have no clue whatsoever who these independents are going to side with. We all know the Greens candidate will side with Labour, unless the Coalition gives them a ETS (can't see it happening).

Any clue anyone?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

A few of the IND's are ex National Party guys, like Bob Katter.

 

[Ruggo]

Kerry O'brian just interviewed the 3 of them on the ABC. They all seem very impartial. They all were very scathing of the Nationals so don't bet on freindships there.

Will have to wait for the count to finish before we know how much influence they will have.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

We live in interesting times politically and not in a good way.

 

[Blue]

And failed in many of them - schools program budget blowouts and rorting, insulation debacle, the proposed white elephant NBN (IMO), all of which detracted from any good they might achieve. Their health plans were not quite there - some good, some less so. They lost too many good performers too, I think.

I voted at a school who got a hall they did not want. Halfway through the project the builder went belly up. Half the school yard has been a building site for six months with nothing happening. Standing in the queue I thought I'd piss around a bit and asked the Labor person handing out flyers if they knew what Labor's project plan was to save the project. He had no idea. I said I'd vote Labor if either he was able to tell me by the time I reached the front of the queue or if he bought me a cake from the cake stand. He did neither. I voted for Ab the Fab and bought my own cake.

I asked the Green if their flyer was printed on recycled paper. He wasn't sure and lost his sense of humor. Go figure.

 

[Blue]

Kerry O'brian just interviewed the 3 of them on the ABC. They all seem very impartial. They all were very scathing of the Nationals so don't bet on freindships there.

Will have to wait for the count to finish before we know how much influence they will have.

I really hope they are being genuine.

They mostly had very low Labor numbers in their seats. Their constituents won't be too happy if they went the Labor way, surely?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

This could end up being a lot like the situation over here in WA a couple of years ago when the Carpenter government got spanked by the electorate, but not quite enough for the Libs to claim power by themselves. It took a lot of fast talking by Colin Barnett to get the Nats to play ball.