It would have been nicer if the margin had been bigger, or if the Liberals had managed to pick up another Canberra seat, be it House of Reps or Senate…but they’ll hold on to Gary Humphries’ seat, and the Greens won’t get a Canberra seat, so in the end I can’t really complain about that one.

Ultimately, we have managed to kick out an incompetent, wasteful government, and this is a great result. How the country will cope under a minority government is yet to be seen, however if the three independents follow their conservative roots, then the country should run quite well.

I’m happy with the result. I was expecting a close result, and as the recent days passed I became more confident of a narrow Coalition victory, so it’s great to see that it happened.

There was also a swing against Labor of about 5% to 6% in Canberra…admittedly much of it went to The Greens, but any reduction in the Labor primary vote in Canberra is a very welcome thing as this helps to make the seat more marginal and more relevant in the national discussion.

My most hearty congratulations to Tony and all of his team, including all of the tireless volunteers across the country who gave up their time to help get the party over the line.

There is still a little bit of a way to go before we will know the full makeup of our new parliament, but at this stage, it looks like the Australian public have made the right choice, and have thumbed their nose at all of those people who claimed that Tony Abbott was “unelectable” because he was “too conservative” or some such nonsense. That was always clearly an attempt at a smear campaign from people who were scared of some decent opposition…all of us who are conservatives can be proud that we have collectively managed to overcome such deranged smears, peddled (if not initiated) by the mainstream media and have managed to win back the hearts and minds of many Australians.

The task ahead now is for a sane and sensible government to return some stability to Australia, and for that government to remind the Australian public of just how much better life is when conservatives are in power. They already know how awful it is with Labor in power…we just have to prove to them on an ongoing basis that we can maintain the stability that they desire.

For now though, a great result, and one which we can cherish for a little while, but come the morning, it’s down to the business of negotiating with the independents.

On that note, I quite happily say to you “Happy Tony Abbott Victory Day”!!

Samuel

Samuel

It’s a big task ahead according to Tony…and he made one little reference to the responsibility ahead of him, which tells me that he is confident of being our next Prime Minister, but just doesn’t want to say it yet until he can secure the support.

Samuel

Samuel

Samuel

Nine have joined the ABC on a 72-70 margin favour the Coalition over Labor.

Samuel

Tony, just waiting on you now…

Samuel

Samuel

Samuel

Julia is still reminding us of her policies. Perhaps she should have done this yesterday instead of trying to scare everyone about Tony Abbott.

Samuel

That seems to be the gist of her message. She was also very careful to avoid saying “Mr. Rabbit”.

Samuel

Samuel

Nine
Labor 70 – Coalition 70 – Green 1 – Other 3 – Doubt 6

ABC
Coalition 72 – Labor 70 – Other 5 – Doubt 3

SBS
Labor 72 – Coalition 71 – Other 4 – Doubt 3

Ten
Labor 70 – Coalition 69 – Other 4 – Doubt 7

Seven
Labor 72 – Coalition 69

Sky News
Coalition 73 – Labor 71 – Other 4

Samuel

Samuel

Samuel

Meanwhile, with 73.34% counted, the AEC has:
Labor 60
Coalition 59
Greens 1
Other 3
Undecided 27 (of which three are in WA)

Counting must be about to wrap up in most places for the night, so it must surely be time for the speeches and then the going to bed.

Samuel

Currently according to the AEC, Labor have 60 seats, the Coalition 57 and there are four seats left in WA, 29 left in total across the country.

According to the TV network predictions:
ABC
Coalition 71 – Labor 70 – Other 5 – Doubt 4

SBS
Labor 72 – Coalition 69 – Other 4 – Doubt 5

Ten
Labor 70 – Coalition 69 – Other 4 – Doubt 7

Seven
Labor 72 – Coalition 70

Nine
They still haven’t put the useful graphic back on the screen, although they do put the Coalition at four seats short of 76…so Coalition 72 – Labor ???

Sky News
Labor 72 – Coalition 70 – Other 4

Samuel

Samuel