Darron CharlesworthAnd the verdict is: none of the above
August 23rd 2010 21:41
Category: No Category
With a hung parliament the most likely outcome of last weekend’s election the horse-trading now begins to form a minority government with the help of Independents. Gillard is claiming the victory with the highest overall vote on a two party basis.
A better indication of voter intent would be to look at the primary vote for both parties. According to the Australian Electoral Commission the results are thus:
Australian Labor Party – 38.51 %
Liberal Party – 30.32 %
National Party – 3.87 %
Liberal National Party of Queensland – 8.98 %
Greens –11.42 %
As an indicator of voter intent this gives a much clearer picture. Clearly Labor is well in front. Their primary vote is more than eight percent higher than the Liberals.
Look at this from another point of view: 61.49 percent of people do not want a Labor government and 69.68 percent do not want a Liberal government. This gives the picture a different perspective. How can either party claim any legitimacy from these figures?
What the Liberal Party uses to show it has some validity is by adding both the Nationals and the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) to its own vote and counting it as one. This is folly on the part of Mr Abbott.
Votes given to the National Party are not votes that Mr Abbott can claim as his own with any degree of sincerity. The Liberals compete against the Nationals where both parties have candidates. A long standing Liberal – Wilson Tuckey – has lost his seat this election to a National. It is therefore unfounded and deceptive of Mr Abbott to think that National’s votes are votes for Liberal. If people wanted the Liberals then that is who they would have voted for.
Compare primary votes this election to the 2007 election. The Liberals are in fact six percent lower in their primary vote this time around. This, Mr Abbott, is hardly a ringing endorsement. Labor has also lost ground dropping nearly five percent of their primary vote.
What is very clear from the weekend is that Labor is no longer in favour. The high number of informal votes – 5.64 percent, the Green vote – 11.42 percent, and the Independent vote – 2.57 percent, shows that nearly 20 percent of voters do not want either of the two major parties. Even if Labor salvage government from the wreckage of what was Federal Labor they are doing so on the whim of marginally of one third of the Australian People. The Abbott led Liberals would do so on less than one third.
The message from this election is the same one received during the preceding campaign – if anyone was listening. The people – do you remember them Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard – have had enough.
There is far too much poll driven politicking and not enough drive and decision making. Media advisor should be one person suggesting ideas not massive teams wording statements to best appease the masses. The people can see that they are being treated with contempt. The result of this election shows this.
Our political leaders need to stop their petty squabbling, take decisive action – without the need for a hundred highly paid consultants, derail the political gravy train and start acting like responsible leaders. Restore the democratic process, govern for the people, and take responsibility for your actions. This political game that is played affects real people and they have spoken. None of you were worthy of our unfettered support.
Are you getting the message yet?
A better indication of voter intent would be to look at the primary vote for both parties. According to the Australian Electoral Commission the results are thus:
Australian Labor Party – 38.51 %
Liberal Party – 30.32 %
National Party – 3.87 %
Liberal National Party of Queensland – 8.98 %
Greens –11.42 %
As an indicator of voter intent this gives a much clearer picture. Clearly Labor is well in front. Their primary vote is more than eight percent higher than the Liberals.
Look at this from another point of view: 61.49 percent of people do not want a Labor government and 69.68 percent do not want a Liberal government. This gives the picture a different perspective. How can either party claim any legitimacy from these figures?
What the Liberal Party uses to show it has some validity is by adding both the Nationals and the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) to its own vote and counting it as one. This is folly on the part of Mr Abbott.
Votes given to the National Party are not votes that Mr Abbott can claim as his own with any degree of sincerity. The Liberals compete against the Nationals where both parties have candidates. A long standing Liberal – Wilson Tuckey – has lost his seat this election to a National. It is therefore unfounded and deceptive of Mr Abbott to think that National’s votes are votes for Liberal. If people wanted the Liberals then that is who they would have voted for.
Compare primary votes this election to the 2007 election. The Liberals are in fact six percent lower in their primary vote this time around. This, Mr Abbott, is hardly a ringing endorsement. Labor has also lost ground dropping nearly five percent of their primary vote.
What is very clear from the weekend is that Labor is no longer in favour. The high number of informal votes – 5.64 percent, the Green vote – 11.42 percent, and the Independent vote – 2.57 percent, shows that nearly 20 percent of voters do not want either of the two major parties. Even if Labor salvage government from the wreckage of what was Federal Labor they are doing so on the whim of marginally of one third of the Australian People. The Abbott led Liberals would do so on less than one third.
The message from this election is the same one received during the preceding campaign – if anyone was listening. The people – do you remember them Mr Abbott and Ms Gillard – have had enough.
There is far too much poll driven politicking and not enough drive and decision making. Media advisor should be one person suggesting ideas not massive teams wording statements to best appease the masses. The people can see that they are being treated with contempt. The result of this election shows this.
Our political leaders need to stop their petty squabbling, take decisive action – without the need for a hundred highly paid consultants, derail the political gravy train and start acting like responsible leaders. Restore the democratic process, govern for the people, and take responsibility for your actions. This political game that is played affects real people and they have spoken. None of you were worthy of our unfettered support.
Are you getting the message yet?
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