[Igor Antunov]

Footage of Abbotts early acceptance speech:

ABC just called it. Bye bye fiber broadband. It's not like IT service sector is the worlds fastest growing industry or anything. Wow, muppets all around me.

[GandalfTheGrey]

Rudd just resigned as leader - but no word on whether he will stay in parliament...

Defeat has not been nearly as bad as Rupert's conga line has been promising. Looks like a loss of 10-15, not 40 as news corp was predicting yesterday. Palmer united the real surprise package.

But of course what really matters is what happens in the senate. Unfortunately there is a very real chance, because of the inherent undemocratic nature of our senate voting system, that a handful of right wing nuts will hold the balance of power.

[Igor Antunov]

Hope labor and pals get their act together by next election.

For now: http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

[colliric]

Greens vote dropped 3%, and they lost two senate seats.

Bandt retained Melbourne this time without liberal preferences, but the Greens took a big hit in their "home state".

So overall they've had a bad result. The beginning of the end?

Palmer United came straight into a good minor party vote, and Clive has won his seat on preferences. They'll be stoked. They got a comparable primary result to the Greens... So looks like we have a new strong right-wing minor party(also with it's own lower house seat!)

Bob Katter kept his seat as well.

[Igor Antunov]

Wow...what a slimeball:

[colliric]

Wow...what a slimeball:

You'd be surprised how many people agree with him... After all PUP got a strong minority party vote.

Greens took a huge 8.5% hit in Tasmania, compared to just 1.5% and 2.2% in Vic and NSW... But they also lost 5% in both of the territories. That's gotta be worrying for them in the longterm.

The Greens took 30 years to get a Lower house seat and a few upperhouse seats... In 14 weeks the Palmer Party has done the same(1 or 2 Senate Seats and Palmer himself in the lower house!).

Greens got 8.1% and PUP got around 6%.

[GandalfTheGrey]

Greens vote dropped 3%, and they lost two senate seats.

Bandt retained Melbourne this time without liberal preferences, but the Greens took a big hit in their "home state".

So overall they've had a bad result. The beginning of the end?

They have not lost any senate seats. They have retained the 3 up for reelection, and gained at least one extra one. Unfortunately Simon Sheikh looks set to just miss out in the ACT - though its on a knife edge. Certainly the Green federal vote has been on the up and up in the ACT.

As for Melbourne, you've been crowing about how Bandt will lose for about 2 years. Something about the liberal preference decision going to ruin the Greens. Instead Bandt gets a phenomenal primary vote, and say "F U" to liberal preferences. You don't count the other lower house seats in which Greens stood, because this election the Greens literally threw everything they had in Melbourne alone. Yet even so, they still scored over 20% primary vote in a couple of other electorates.

8.5% is more than respectable in this current climate - especially coming off an unsustainably high percentage from 2010. Nothing near the imminent demise you have been predicting the last 3 years. Greens retaining seats everyone predicted they would lose - and then gain senate seats = "beginning of the end" - go figure

[Istanbuller]

What about immigration policy? Will Australia maintain its open door policy?

[Quantum]

Australia elects one puppet after another. Sounds like the Australian public is as naive as the rest of the West.

[colliric]

They have not lost any senate seats. They have retained the 3 up for reelection, and gained at least one extra one. Unfortunately Simon Sheikh looks set to just miss out in the ACT - though its on a knife edge. Certainly the Green federal vote has been on the up and up in the ACT.

As for Melbourne, you've been crowing about how Bandt will lose for about 2 years. Something about the liberal preference decision going to ruin the Greens. Instead Bandt gets a phenomenal primary vote, and say "F U" to liberal preferences. You don't count the other lower house seats in which Greens stood, because this election the Greens literally threw everything they had in Melbourne alone. Yet even so, they still scored over 20% primary vote in a couple of other electorates.

8.5% is more than respectable in this current climate - especially coming off an unsustainably high percentage from 2010. Nothing near the imminent demise you have been predicting the last 3 years. Greens retaining seats everyone predicted they would lose - and then gain senate seats = "beginning of the end" - go figure

Not sure where you are getting you're figure from, but according to the ABC's latest predicted results, they have lost 2 senate seats.

[colliric]

Looking at the last result in 2010, it appears to be that Labor has lost a seat or two to the Greens in Victoria and NSW, so you were correct about that, while the Greens appear to have taken a massive hit in Tassie, and due to the Palmer party winning seats(Dang right!), they've lost the "balance of power" in the senate. Given that the swing against Labor was expected, they didn't really gain anything substantial, lost 3%(8.5% in Tassie!) of the vote, lost the balance of power(potentially to the Palmer-Katter parties). Melbourne not going Labor is ultimately expected due to the party generally having a swing against it to the Liberals. Ultimately Labor probably expected that bad result, even though it was hoped the Liberal prefs would help them win it back. Liberal preferences did actually see Labor recieve some swings to it in seats usually "Labor VS Greens", but it didn't factor too much into Melbourne(Labor Primaries dropped enough for Bandt to win on that alone, but Labor did get a Liberal preferences boost) It appears we're both somewhat correct.

[GandalfTheGrey]

Not sure where you are getting you're figure from, but according to the ABC's latest predicted results, they have lost 2 senate seats.

They had 3 candidates up for re-election - and every one of them has been re-elected. The concerns were Hanson-Young and Ludlum - but ABC has already given them victory. In addition ABC has given the 5th Victorian seat to Janet RIce of the Greens - giving them +1 seat (so far)

[foxdemon]

Footage of Abbotts early acceptance speech:

ABC just called it. Bye bye fiber broadband. It's not like IT service sector is the worlds fastest growing industry or anything. Wow, muppets all around me.

It is very sad. Internet filter and old fashion infrastructure, all at high price. It is a very stupid way to do things.

You'd be surprised how many people agree with him... After all PUP got a strong minority party vote.

Of course you realize that doing away with public servants and screwing over welfare recipients is all about tax cuts for the rich while increasing government spending on the rich. This is both nasty and greedy of the better off segment of the community.



Australia has become a nation of people as nasty and greedy as they are stupid.

[colliric]

They had 3 candidates up for re-election - and every one of them has been re-elected. The concerns were Hanson-Young and Ludlum - but ABC has already given them victory. In addition ABC has given the 5th Victorian seat to Janet RIce of the Greens - giving them +1 seat (so far)

You have to admit it's still a worrying poll result this time around.

A swing to Labor in the next election, combined with Liberal preferences should see the Greens struggle further again. Part of that 3% loss is partly due to Palmer pulling votes.

[Igor Antunov]

You'd be surprised how many people agree with him... After all PUP got a strong minority party vote.

And it is pretty sad how easy it is to brainwash the masses with cheap media tabloid lines.

"Welfare scroungers" - he means the multitude of corporations who constantly have their hands out for tax cuts, tax incentives, tax breaks, tax credits and deregulation?

Or is he referring to children, mothers, elderly, disabled, mentally ill, and the smaller contingent who there are simply not enough jobs for?

Sad day - I really thought the population at large in this country was slightly smarter than the typical global stock - How far off I was.

[unbalanced zealot]

Just trying to think out the factional makeup in ALP caucus. Don Farrell made way for Penny Wong and missed out in SA. David Bradbury's gone but this is evened out by Dick Adams in Tasmania.

As for me I'm hoping Shorten doesn't get the top job, they may as well bring in Eddie Obeid as leader.

Interesting watchging Nick Xenophon on insiders talking about the preference deals, no one is standing for anything, it's all 'what-ever it takes' politics.


With China 'recalibrating' its economy Abbott may be getting a bit of a poison chalice. His opposition persona may come back to haunt him when he is in the accountable seat now.

[Igor Antunov]

Wow:

Man elected to Australian Senate by mistake


David Leyonhjelm, a libertarian of the obscure Liberal Democrat Party, has been elected to the Australian Senate because his party's name is very similar to the Liberal party, which is a major party in Australia.

Parties are placed on the ballot in random order. The ballot in the state of New South Wales featured 110 candidates. The Liberal Democrats were placed first and the Liberal party was placed well down the ballot. Many voters reportedly voted for the LDP thinking they were voting for the Liberals.

The primary vote for the LDP was 1.8% in the last election three years ago and 9% in this election. It seems very unlikely that such a large swing could have occurred genuinely

Leyonhjelm quit the conservative Liberal party in 1996 because of their gun control legislation.

He will serve in the Senate for a term of six years.

http://m.couriermail.com.au/news/specia ... 6712650821

[unbalanced zealot]

Hmmm ... Senate, not a bad job. I might run for the Australian Labour Party next time (as opposed to the Australian Labor Party).

[colliric]

There's "lucky bastards" in every election....

LDP happened to get a bit of it this time around.

[Capitalist]

While I'm glad to see a candidate from the Liberal Democratic Party win at the Federal level (there is currently a councillor in Campbelltown City Council who is a member of the LDP) I also suspect that a portion of their votes were due to the fact that many people mistaken them from the Liberal Party - the LDP were at Position A on the Senate ballot paper. The LDP nearly won a Senate seat in NSW back in 2010 due to preference deals but ultimately lost the last senate seat to the Democratic Labor Party. I hope the party takes this opportunity to promote themselves as a viable alternative to The Greens.

It doesn't surprise me at all that support for The Greens nationwide is beginning to wane when people are becoming less concerned with the issue of man made climate change. Also, when there is a concern for a slowdown in the economy environmental issues tend to take a back seat.

As for "lucky bastards" the Australian Sports Party managed to win a Senate seat in Western Australia with only 0.22% of the vote. The Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party won a Senate seat in Victoria with 0.52% of the vote.