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Aussies: Can I ask a few questions about your general election?

by John Henderson
21 replies
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Hi there,

Australia has just had a general election to elect members to the House of Representatives. According to the BBC, a political party needs to gain 76 seats to get a clear majority -- am I correct in assuming from this that there are 150 seats available?

The only major political parties that I could find any mention of were the Labor party and the Liberal party. Are there any other major parties in Australia?

2 or 3 independent candidates were mentioned in the news articles, and they are being courted by the leaders of the big parties to help form a government. Are there more independent candidates who could play a part in deciding which party governs Austraila, or are these 2 or 3 likely to be the only ones involved?

Many thanks,
JH.
  • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
    G'day John,

    It now looks like there will be 4 independents, and one member for the Green Party.

    This means that neither the Labor or Liberal parties will gain a mandate to govern in their own right. As you mentioned, these are the two main parties.

    This election has seen a third "force" rise up in the shape of the Green Party. Along with the seat in the HOR, they also gained nine seats in the Senate, which gives them the balance of power in that chamber.

    At the moment no-one knows what's happening, but I'm sure the phones are running hot.

    It must be bemusing for the Indies and the Greens, who after being ridiculed by the two main parties as crackpots, misfits and miscreants, to now find their dance cards suddenly full.

    First the UK, where neither main party gained a mandate, now Australia. Are we seeing the start of a trend sweeping the world, or just those that operate under the Westminster system. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next elections in Canada and New Zealand.

    In the meantime, no-one knows what the outcome will be down here for another few days, maybe weeks.

    Interesting times.

    There's more information than you need about the results at the Australian Electoral Commission's Virtual Tally Room.

    For a bit less detail the ABC has a good site here Australia Votes - 2010 Federal Election - ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
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    • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
      Cheers for the reply, WP. I hoped you'd come along & explain it all!

      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

      This means that neither the Labor or Liberal parties will gain a mandate to govern in their own right. As you mentioned, these are the two main parties.
      Oh, okay -- so without a third main party, there's little chance of a bi-partisan coalition government.

      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

      This election has seen a third "force" rise up in the shape of the Green Party. Along with the seat in the HOR, they also gained nine seats in the Senate, which gives them the balance of power in that chamber.
      That's interesting. Here in the UK, the very first Green MP has been elected to represent the city of Brighton (about 50km from where I am).

      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

      It must be bemusing for the Indies and the Greens, who after being ridiculed by the two main parties as crackpots, misfits and miscreants, to now find their dance cards suddenly full.
      That's a lovely way of putting it, WP. The same thing happened here, but the sudden change of heart was between political parties; the previous week's insults were suddenly retracted.

      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

      First the UK, where neither main party gained a mandate, now Australia. Are we seeing the start of a trend sweeping the world, or just those that operate under the Westminster system. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next elections in Canada and New Zealand.
      Yes, it will. You'll probably hear this too, but after our general election, many political pundits and news commentators said things like "The electorate has decided that no single party should govern" as if "the electorate" was some kind of hive mind that had collectively decided what the election result was going to be just before polling day. :rolleyes:

      I think it's more accurate to say that because today's political parties all give out exactly the same messages, the voters find it hard to distinguish between them.

      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

      In the meantime, no-one knows what the outcome will be down here for another few days, maybe weeks.
      Yeah, there's talk that the uncertainty will affect the financial markets in Australia, but again, that comes from journalists whose livelihoods depend upon a bit of controversy.

      Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

      There's more information than you need about the results at the Australian Electoral Commission's Virtual Tally Room.

      For a bit less detail the ABC has a good site here Australia Votes - 2010 Federal Election - ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
      Thanks for the links, WP -- they're very informative, and have confirmed my suspicion that there are 150 seats up for grabs.
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      • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
        Originally Posted by John Henderson View Post

        I think it's more accurate to say that because today's political parties all give out exactly the same messages, the voters find it hard to distinguish between them.
        It's funny how it worked out. The general feeling was "a pox on both their houses", and that's the message that was delivered to both of them. It couldn't have worked out better if it'd been planned.

        Yeah, there's talk that the uncertainty will affect the financial markets in Australia, but again, that comes from journalists whose livelihoods depend upon a bit of controversy.
        The markets will probably be flattish as the punters wait to see what sort of environment they're going to be playing in.

        The wheels of industry aren't going to grind to a halt though, so life for the rest of us will just go on as it will.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    LOL - HOR. That's a perfect acronym for us here in the US if we pronounce it phonetically. I like it.
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    • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
      Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

      LOL - HOR. That's a perfect acronym for us here in the US if we pronounce it phonetically. I like it.
      Sadly our HOR-house is filled with the same sort of HOR's as yours is.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

        Sadly our HOR-house is filled with the same sort of HOR's as yours is.
        WOW, FUNNY, SAD, TRUTHFUL, AND a quick description, ALL rolled up in one!

        NOW, if we could just get the pimps locked up, we'll be all set!

        It is a joke, though true, and not meant to elicit a political discussion.

        Steve
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Wright
          The chorus of a really crude traditional/rugby song years ago

          "Its the same the whole world over
          Its the rich that gets the pleasure
          And the poor wot gets the blame
          Aint it all a bleeding shame "

          Kind of relevant these days
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          • Profile picture of the author seasoned
            Originally Posted by Mike Wright View Post

            The chorus of a really crude traditional/rugby song years ago

            "Its the same the whole world over
            Its the rich that gets the pleasure
            And the poor wot gets the blame
            Aint it all a bleeding shame "

            Kind of relevant these days
            You can bet it is some poor lazy person that wrote that song! HECK, the term "WOT" kind of makes that obvious anyway!

            Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author sydneyblue14
    Can I ask a few questions about your general election? It is such an-human election.
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    • Profile picture of the author rypher21
      G'day!

      Yes, there is 150 seats available to win and a political party much gain 76 to be able to become elected.

      There are many other parties in Australia, but due to there few memebers they usually cannot be elected, and have to become a part of Labor or Liberal.

      Yes, 3 independent candidates are currently trying to be won over by the two parties. No other candidates can play a part, because these 3 candidates have won there seats in the house of reps.

      I hope this helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    One week later and still no government has been formed.
    Although they haven't even finished counting the votes, some are talking about holding another election. I certainly don't want to vote again. In my opinion compulsory voting is the reason we are in this situation!


    Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
    How long does it usually take to count all of the votes?
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  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    It could take another week because there are still many postal votes to count.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
    Could the remaining postal votes produce any surprises or is that unlikely at this late stage?
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  • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
    Finally, it's over.

    We now have a government and a Prime Minister.

    The Greens sided with Labor, as did three of the four Independents, giving Labor the required 76 seats to form a goverment.

    Further information for anyone interested:

    ABC News - Top Stories - Breaking news from Australia and the world
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  • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
    Crikey WP, Julia Gillard must be heaving a big sigh of relief. And considering that Tony Abbott thought he had this one in the bag, he must be feeling as sick as a pike.

    I wonder what secured the independents' backing?

    (Edit: I watched the interview video with Julia Gillard, and noticed that she uses the same choreographed hand gestures and tired buzzwords that our politicians use: "passionate", "challenge", "opportunity", blah, blah, blah :rolleyes: )
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    • Profile picture of the author Scott Kennedy
      Originally Posted by John Henderson View Post

      Crikey WP, Julia Gillard must be heaving a big sigh of relief. And considering that Tony Abbott thought he had this one in the bag, he must be feeling as sick as a pike.

      I wonder what secured the independents' backing?

      (Edit: I watched the interview video with Julia Gillard, and noticed that she uses the same choreographed hand gestures and tired buzzwords that our politicians use: "passionate", "challenge", "opportunity", blah, blah, blah :rolleyes: )
      Yup. Our first minority government since 1940. I dare say those independents will have an extremely hard time being re-elected next election.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Henderson
        Originally Posted by Scott Kennedy View Post

        I dare say those independents will have an extremely hard time being re-elected next election.
        They'll have a hard time convincing everyone that they're "independent" after siding with one particular party -- but then, how else would Australia get a government? :confused:

        P.S. I've just looked up Julia Gillard on Wikipedia to find out which part of Australia she was born in... only to discover that she's a bloody pom!!!
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        • Profile picture of the author whateverpedia
          Originally Posted by John Henderson View Post

          P.S. I've just looked up Julia Gillard on Wikipedia to find out which part of Australia she was born in... only to discover that she's a bloody pom!!!
          So is Tony Abbott.

          On your other question about what swayed the indies, the main thing seems to have been the National Broadband Network (NBN).

          As most of the indies represent rural areas, which have dodgy internet and mobile phone coverage this was a big issue for them. They also have fairly high unemployment compared to the cities. The NBN would allow companies to move out of the cities and into some of the regional towns. Cheaper rents, costs, etc.

          Congestion and overcrowding of the cities was also an issue, so the NBN would allow two birds to be killed with one stone.

          Gillard, the Labor Party and Indies are going to get a hard time from the local media, mostly controlled by NewsCorp. They were mostly in the Abbott camp and so are very disappointed by the outcome.

          Once again the NBN is involved. NewsCorp owns half of the pay/cable/subscription television service monopoly in Australia (FoxTel). The NBN will allow people to bypass FoxTel, and watch TV and movies online. So we can expect a lot of vitriol from Murdoch's Marauders aimed at the "usurpers" (as NewsCorp sees them).

          On the other side of the coin, we can expect the government to seriously look at diversity of media ownership, and foreign ownership. Payback for media coverage that was neither fair nor balanced by NewsCorp and the TV networks.

          Newscorp moved its corporate headquarters from Adelaide to Delaware in the U.S. a few years ago, and controlling shareholder (Murdoch) is a U.S. citizen. So it will be interesting to see if the new government passes a law stating that no foreign registered company or citizen can own a controlling stake in any media outlets in Australia.

          The irony of that is that Murdoch renounced his Australian citizenship to allow him to acquire U.S. media assets. He'll have to make a choice between Australia and the U.S.

          Interesting times we live in.
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          • Profile picture of the author Scott Kennedy
            Originally Posted by whateverpedia View Post

            So is Tony Abbott.

            On your other question about what swayed the indies, the main thing seems to have been the National Broadband Network (NBN).

            As most of the indies represent rural areas, which have dodgy internet and mobile phone coverage this was a big issue for them. They also have fairly high unemployment compared to the cities. The NBN would allow companies to move out of the cities and into some of the regional towns. Cheaper rents, costs, etc.

            Congestion and overcrowding of the cities was also an issue, so the NBN would allow two birds to be killed with one stone.

            Gillard, the Labor Party and Indies are going to get a hard time from the local media, mostly controlled by NewsCorp. They were mostly in the Abbott camp and so are very disappointed by the outcome.

            Once again the NBN is involved. NewsCorp owns half of the pay/cable/subscription television service monopoly in Australia (FoxTel). The NBN will allow people to bypass FoxTel, and watch TV and movies online. So we can expect a lot of vitriol from Murdoch's Marauders aimed at the "usurpers" (as NewsCorp sees them).

            On the other side of the coin, we can expect the government to seriously look at diversity of media ownership, and foreign ownership. Payback for media coverage that was neither fair nor balanced by NewsCorp and the TV networks.

            Newscorp moved its corporate headquarters from Adelaide to Delaware in the U.S. a few years ago, and controlling shareholder (Murdoch) is a U.S. citizen. So it will be interesting to see if the new government passes a law stating that no foreign registered company or citizen can own a controlling stake in any media outlets in Australia.

            The irony of that is that Murdoch renounced his Australian citizenship to allow him to acquire U.S. media assets. He'll have to make a choice between Australia and the U.S.

            Interesting times we live in.
            Yeah, I can't wait to have faster internet in 8-10 years time when the techonology will have to be updated once again. How on Earth this company expects to deliver this on budget when all other competitors were tendoring bids at 100b is beyond me. Maybe I'll eat my words. High chance that I wont though. I just hope the Government allows me to view the sites I want to view and I don't have some faceless, unelected public servant determining what is morally right for myself and other individuals.
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    • Profile picture of the author peter_act
      Originally Posted by John Henderson View Post

      Crikey WP, Julia Gillard must be heaving a big sigh of relief. And considering that Tony Abbott thought he had this one in the bag, he must be feeling as sick as a pike.
      I don't think Tony is too upset.

      After all, the independents screwed Julia (metaphorically speaking!) for all they could get, and you can bet they will still want more, and more. They will hold her to ransom on every vote in the House.

      Also Tony is now secure in his job, while Julia nearly lost an unloseable election. She had better watch her back more than Kevin Rudd watched his.

      And even one of Julia's new friends admitted that Tony will win the next election, which won't be too far away.
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