Archive for August, 2010
Well it’s time to call it a night, and I think Tony Abbott reflected the outcome of the election nicely. It’s quite clear that Tony Abbott is almost certain to be our next Prime Minister, and he recognises that. His speech was almost what you would expect to hear in a victory speech.
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
August 22nd, 2010 at 12:20am
Tony saved the best for last, declaring that he will negotiate with the independents to secure a Coalition government. That has to be the best news of the night.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:59pm
Tony Abbott rightfully claims that the Coalition should be proud of their result, but notes that it’s too early to declare victory. The room is much more pleased than Tony appears to be…that said, Tony looks like he’s just playing down how pleased he is.
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
August 21st, 2010 at 11:53pm
Tony is making his statement now.
August 21st, 2010 at 11:48pm
It’s now more than safe to say that Labor will hold Eden-Monaro. They currently lead it 44.16% to 42.08% with the preferences going to take Labor over the line.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:48pm
Tony Abbott’s on his way in to the room to make his statement.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:46pm
Only Seven and SBS now believe that the Coalition will end up with less seats than Labor. ABC, Nine, Sky and even Ten now agree that the Coalition will win this.
Nine have joined the ABC on a 72-70 margin favour the Coalition over Labor.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:38pm
2GB are staying on-air with their election coverage until 2am. I’d probably push myself to do the same if I didn’t have to get up early in the morning.
Tony, just waiting on you now…
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:33pm
I’ll stay for Tony Abbott’s statement which is coming up shortly, then I’ll wrap up and go to bed. I’m clearly not going to get much sleep tonight!
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:28pm
2GB are predicting that the Coalition will have 73 seats. If you add the three independents, then they have enough to form a joint absolute majority.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:24pm
The Nine computer has put the Coalition in front of Labor 71 to 70.
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
August 21st, 2010 at 11:20pm
Julia declares that it’s too close to call and that she will remain in charge until the counting finishes.
That seems to be the gist of her message. She was also very careful to avoid saying “Mr. Rabbit”.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:18pm
Julia Gillard about to make her statement now.
August 21st, 2010 at 11:13pm
The Electoral Commission have announced that counting will continue until midnight in local timezones, so the WA counting won’t finish tonight until 2am Eastern.
Samuel
August 21st, 2010 at 11:12pm
The Nine graphic is back at last, so a quick summary of the TV predictions.
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
August 21st, 2010 at 11:05pm
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