Nice summary Si. Katter's a loose cannon, that's for sure. You wouldn't have to grow up in North Queensland to know that. They're holding out for whatever they can get. Windsor knows a minority parliament can't work because he's been in one before. Abbott knows this as well.
This election just keeps on giving. Julie Bishop has made some startling proclamations that Labor can't possibly form government because the latest figures show more people voted for the coalition (not Liberal mind you, Liberal alone got far less votes). She has announced triumphantly that Julia Gillard should concede right now. But pretty much immediately it was revealed that the figures released from the AEC have in fact excluded eight seats for some odd reason, and that if these are included Labor is still in the lead. Which means Ms Bishop should right now be pushing Mr Abbott to throw in the towel, right? Also, only 80% of the votes have actually been counted. They could go anywhere from here. They'll almost certainly go Liberal's way, if current trends are anything to go by. But nobody actually knows. Also, total votes means pretty much nothing. It meant nothing when Ms Gillard was saying it does last week. It meant nothing when the Greens got 11.5% of the vote in this election but only .75% of the seats. It meant nothing in the 1998 election when Liberal held government even though more votes went to Labor. Ah politicians looking stupid. It makes a dreary and concerning process fun.
I keep hearing that a large reason for Labor's undoing in NSW and QLD is because of the pathetic record of the State Labor governments. The question has to be asked then... how do they keep getting voted in then?
Todd, the answer is there's effectively only one party in each state. State Liberal, and the LNP in Queensland are an unelectable shambles. So state Labor, like all monopolies, grows inefficient, lazy and corrupt. So it might be lucky for us that on the federal level both parties are an equally unelectable shambles.
The Liberals would never win without the Nationals. It's only happened once in living memory, when Howard got over in 2001 I think, on the back of the terror scare (that was also a "boat people" election). If they're serious about 2PP, it should be measured Labor v. Libs, not Labor vs. Coalition.
That's something I've found funny all along, Lib supporters bitching and moaning about Labor "only winning because of the Greens". They do realise what the word "Coalition" means don't they?
Haha yes, the tools. Julie Bishop's just a fucking idiot. I've not seen too many signs of intelligence in her.
Tony Abbott has repeated the lie, and claimed that he no longer has an opposition but a government in waiting. There's not much chance, but god I hope he loses just to see the look on his face.
He won't admit defeat... just keep pushing the lie that the Lib's "won". In truth, no-one's come out of this election smelling like roses
So, all the morons at the NT detention center. Let's charge them with escaping lawful custody and then deport them.
if you want impressive, you always look to a very devote Asian Buddhist have done some amazing acts of faith and yet never feel the need to crow over other faiths or forth conversion (to a degree) I'll never be that devoted to Buddhism but at least there are people out there looking out for Us Sinners
Brazilian clown elected to congress A professional clown has picked up 1.3 million votes in the Brazilian election to represent Sao Paulo in congress. Tiririca, a 45-year-old television humorist whose real name is Francisco Oliveira, received the highest number of votes for any federal deputy across the country. His TV campaign ads, featuring him dancing around in a tiny hat and multi-coloured outfit with a cheesy smile, were easily the most irreverent spots in the lead-up to the general elections. "It couldn't get any worse. Vote for me," was his campaign slogan, which were followed by a number of riffs tapping into public cynicism about politics. "What does a federal deputy do? I have no idea, but vote for me and I'll let you know," went one of his ads. "Vote for me as federal deputy so I can help the needy, especially my family," he said in another. In yet another, he took a dig at the more traditional politicians in Brazil's congress, which is frequently plagued by corruption scandals. "Are you tired of those slimy characters? Vote for Tiririca for federal deputy," he said. "If you vote for me, I will be in Brasilia, I will in reality be doing that thing for our lives, for Brazil, for our lives, for our moment, for our something." Tiririca's mocking approach to the elections wasn't appreciated by all. His detractors tried to have him barred from taking up his seat by lodging a lawsuit alleging he was illiterate, an automatic disqualification for a federal deputy. A judge threw out the case. Source ; ABC