Election Summary
August 22nd, 2010 at 12:20am
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
Entry Filed under: General News,Samuel's Editorials
8 Comments
1. davky | August 22nd, 2010 at 4:34 pm
You may have gone off too early here, Samuel (I have that problem too – the missus hates it)
I would expect, at this stage, that Gillard will get first crack at the minority merry-go-round but who knows how long that will last.
Its not exactly a victory for the libs (despite bumbling incompetence, they couldn’t manage to get a majority), but considering the odds they were up against, it was an awesome effort.
2. Pen 15 | September 7th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
…boy, is this awkward…
3. Samuel | September 7th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Nothing awkward about it. The independents have made a silly decision and we’ll be back at the polls in about a year once this whole thing crumbles. Regardless of which way they went, it was going to be tough to maintain a stable government, but to make it 76-74 is just crazy.
I won’t be at all surprised if, at the next election, the three amigos are tossed out by their electorates…the couple weeks and a bit of their deliberate ummming and aahing has been self-indulgent and shameful. Oakeshott’s ridiculous near-half hour ramble this afternoon was the worst of it.
4. Pen 15 | October 4th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
You’ve been awfully quiet lately, Sam. You can’t be still celebrating Tony Abbot Victory Day, surely?
5. nbrettoner | October 6th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
Hi Samuel,
Long time no read/contact.
Hope your just having a break from here.
Are you considering going to the “Back-to-Deni” week-long events next year?
regards,
Noel
6. davky | October 17th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Hey Samuel,
Did I spy you making a return to the riot act this week?
(forgive me if your return there has been happening for longer; I only just noticed it!)
I miss this blog too; but if time or inclination doesn’t permit you hanging around here, I understand – a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
7. Samuel | October 27th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
In reply to davky, nbrettoner and Pen 15.
Pen 15, no, just busy and otherwise occupied. That said, the fact that Tony Abbott and the Coalition received more votes than Labor but were not able to form government is an interesting conundrum. It’s a perfectly acceptable part of our political system, but also perhaps a sign of a flaw in that system.
As much as I am sure that the Coalition would be much better at running the nation than this cobbled-together Labor-Green-Independent mess, I take some comfort in the knowledge that this minority mess is doomed to fail, and of all the options, is the best option for creating the circumstances which could lead to a majority conservative government at the next election.
Noel, hello. It has been a while. I hadn’t heard of the Back-To-Deni events until you mentioned them. It’s certainly worth considering, but I don’t know at this stage.
Davky, hello also. You did, although I do tend to lurk there and read articles of interest. I have no intention of ever returning to regularly posting over there, but I will occasionally add the odd comment.
I miss this blog too. It’s just that every time the urge has come to write something, I’ve either been busy or distracted or apathetic or just too darn lazy. I have set myself the challenge of easing back in to writing here regularly. Hopefully it works.
8. nbrettoner | October 29th, 2010 at 8:05 am
Hi Samuel,
Deni details here:-
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=64723468326#!/group.php?gid=203747283114
http://www.deniliquin.nsw.gov.au/communityorgs/27650.html
Quite a few have ‘put their hands up’ to go. 🙂
I’m planning on being away from Coffs Harbour for up to 3 weeks, so I can visit friends & family. Some as yet not visited for many years.
Great to see you here (blog) again, look forward to maybe meeting you next year. 🙂