Doug PollardWe Don’t Want Either of You
[cross-posting from Rainbow Reporter]
Voters decisively reject both Abbott and Gillard.
Sunday morning and the election result is clear, even though it has not produced a result.
The left won the vote but the right, with the aid of the partisan mainstream media, will probably steal government, at least for a little while.
Nationally, there was a 5.5% swing against Labor, but most of it – 3.7% - went to the Greens and not to the Liberals, who could only scrape up a 1.8% swing, robbing both sides of a mandate.
Half of all voters, 49.4% voted for either Labor or the Greens, while the Coalition could only muster 44%. 6.6% went to Indepedents, giving them the kingmaker role.
It’s a clear sign that the majority of the Australian people want a left-leaning, progressive government. It’s what they thought they were getting when they voted for Kevin Rudd, until he lost his nerve and began tracking right on refugees and climate change. Then they abandoned Labor.
When Julia Gillard continued and even accelerated the rightward drift, they punished Labor by depriving it of power. It’s a clear defeat for Labors right factions.
The most likely outcome is a period of horse-trading which will see the cobbling-together of an unstable temporary majority with scant authority. We will be heading back to the polls before too long.
Who will head this temporary government? One conventions says Labor, as the incumbent, should have the first chance. Another says that the Coalition, as the largest single party, should get first crack. But either will lack legitimacy.
In Europe hung parliaments are the norm rather than the exception, and caretaker governments remain in power for as long as six months while the horse-trading continues and a government is finally formed. The sky does not fall in as people make the discovery that politicians are not that necessary after all.
But Australia, with its convict history, is probably not yet sufficiently politically mature to be able to tolerate an extended period without the illusory comfort of a settled authority in place.
Voters decisively reject both Abbott and Gillard.
Sunday morning and the election result is clear, even though it has not produced a result.
The left won the vote but the right, with the aid of the partisan mainstream media, will probably steal government, at least for a little while.
Nationally, there was a 5.5% swing against Labor, but most of it – 3.7% - went to the Greens and not to the Liberals, who could only scrape up a 1.8% swing, robbing both sides of a mandate.
Half of all voters, 49.4% voted for either Labor or the Greens, while the Coalition could only muster 44%. 6.6% went to Indepedents, giving them the kingmaker role.
It’s a clear sign that the majority of the Australian people want a left-leaning, progressive government. It’s what they thought they were getting when they voted for Kevin Rudd, until he lost his nerve and began tracking right on refugees and climate change. Then they abandoned Labor.
When Julia Gillard continued and even accelerated the rightward drift, they punished Labor by depriving it of power. It’s a clear defeat for Labors right factions.
The most likely outcome is a period of horse-trading which will see the cobbling-together of an unstable temporary majority with scant authority. We will be heading back to the polls before too long.
Who will head this temporary government? One conventions says Labor, as the incumbent, should have the first chance. Another says that the Coalition, as the largest single party, should get first crack. But either will lack legitimacy.
In Europe hung parliaments are the norm rather than the exception, and caretaker governments remain in power for as long as six months while the horse-trading continues and a government is finally formed. The sky does not fall in as people make the discovery that politicians are not that necessary after all.
But Australia, with its convict history, is probably not yet sufficiently politically mature to be able to tolerate an extended period without the illusory comfort of a settled authority in place.
