30 August 2010

The Hung Parliament Blues

| johnboy
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The ABC reports that while the nation waits for two loveable yokels and a mad old fascist to decide who can give them what they want the fair and reasonable trio of wise and statesmen like rural independent to finish deliberating on the future of Australia’s Government… Well it ain’t pretty for the ACT economy:

Restaurants and retail outlets are suffering as Canberra’s public servants reign in spending while they wait to see who will form the next government.

Sadly the best outcome for the nation is probably another election (and with it more uncertainty) than letting Bob Katter have any power.

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Gungahlin Al said :

That is more than enough to even out any differences of opinion over particular issues. What we’ll see is akin to having every vote a conscience vote, every decision resolved on the merits of the issue, rather than party strategy to have the greatest inmpact on “the other side”.

And that will be a good thing.

+1

astrojax said :

presumably the same number as in every other nsw electorate..?

Yes. My bad. I meant to say NSW not the specific electorate I voted in.

Me no fry said :

Do you know how many candidates there were for the senate in Eden Monaro? That’s a big ask, numbering that lot.

But yeah, I agree, up to a point.

Well, that is a problem. Maybe you should only have to number the first 10 or so? But that have all been done over in the past.

Do you know how many candidates there were for the senate in Eden Monaro?

presumably the same number as in every other nsw electorate..?

i am still liking oyster’s solution, to date, but take ummmm_no’s point and am suitably afraid as this is of course too plausible. that, or they’d get the overbelly gangsters to expand their business, and that would be worse…

p1 said :

I think they should abolish above the line voting. If you can’t count to a high enough number, or can’t be bothered, then you probably shouldn’t be voting anyway.

Sure random luck will probably result in some weirdos getting in, but what’s the odds of the result being worse then now?

Do you know how many candidates there were for the senate in Eden Monaro? That’s a big ask, numbering that lot.

But yeah, I agree, up to a point.

I think they should abolish above the line voting. If you can’t count to a high enough number, or can’t be bothered, then you probably shouldn’t be voting anyway.

Sure random luck will probably result in some weirdos getting in, but what’s the odds of the result being worse then now?

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster said :

I have a suggestion on how to run a new election (…) and then government sponsored hit squads visit the homes of those who voted Green or informal and shoots them dead.

And if the government outsource it to DHL or TNT or “Fast”-whatever, you’d better hope their neighbours voted the same way, too.

Deano said :

phototext said :

The trains are still running, water still gushing, lights still lighting……

Nor have we been blown to pieces by terrorists or overrun by boat people.

They’re the same thing, if some people are to be believed…

WonderfulWorld9:13 pm 30 Aug 10

Long live the Queen. At least somebody is looking over (A)us.

phototext said :

The trains are still running, water still gushing, lights still lighting……

Nor have we been blown to pieces by terrorists or overrun by boat people.

phototext said :

The trains are still running

That’s odd, we didn’t even have trains before Caretaker…

The worry for the politicians is if it takes too long we may start to wonder if we need them at all.

The trains are still running, water still gushing, lights still lighting……

Hells_Bells745:32 pm 30 Aug 10

The only problem there Noisy one is that then all the Liberal supporters would want to take out all the Labor supporters and so forth and then there would be all but one left.

Oh wait..

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster5:22 pm 30 Aug 10

I have a suggestion on how to run a new election. Everybody must show ID and provide their Tax File Number at the polling booth, and the TFN is then written on the ballot papers by the polling official. When the votes are being counted all Green and informal votes are put aside and not counted. The Tax File numbers on these ballot papers are noted and then government sponsored hit squads visit the homes of those who voted Green or informal and shoots them dead.

Hells_Bells745:16 pm 30 Aug 10

Oh I hate when I muck up an intentional typo.. I meant the Mad Katter Party of one of course.

Hells_Bells745:14 pm 30 Aug 10

I can’t see myself ever liking the guy but who better to decide Australia’s fate than the Mad Hatter Party of one and I’m sure we could liken the other two to a couple of characters belonging to the same story.

It’s all bonkers anyhow!

Think there may even be a Queen of Hearts somewhere in there too hehe

ozmreeee said :

It is a shame that we in the ACT are represented by party hacks in both the House of Reps and the Senate.

You might want to look into the backgrounds of the two new house of representatives MPs – they’re not party hacks, and both defeated the candidates which had been lined up through factional deals. Hopefully they’re able to make a mark.

I agree with Al et al (so to speak). I think there is the potential to actually achieve something. Many jurisdictions nationally and globally have or have had some form of minority government, so this isn’t at all unusual.

I’m a bit torn about being thankful that the mad element such as Ironbar have gone, and wishing that there was a little more colour among our elected representatives. This uniform shade of gray across all parties is not only boring, but democratically destructive.

I’m more stimulated by the fact that the ABC came up with a travesty like “reign in expenses”. Shurely, since the idiom originally came from horses galloping out of control, they would rather “rein” them in.

Holden Caulfield2:56 pm 30 Aug 10

Funky1 said :

Gungahlin Al said :

$50 million wasted on another election? Entirely unnecessary.

I think the Times are more concerned about the lack of job vacancy advertising they are getting in the meantime. BTW, those combo APSC ads must be hurting the Times badly…

I heard that another election would cost around $120 mil!

Think of the stimulus!

+1 Al / Trevar

It is a shame that we in the ACT are represented by party hacks in both the House of Reps and the Senate. If ever any area needs to be divorced from the main stream parties at Federal level, it is us. Both parties have displayed total animosity towards the ACT and its residents – so much so that they have turned Canberra bashing into a national sport … and our elected representatives huff and puff and do nothing, because they are not allowed to do anything.

Hear, hear to the independents – can we have 4 please?

Restaurants and retail outlets are suffering as Canberra’s public servants reign in spending

A pretty poor reasoning in the ABC report: ACT Chamber of Commerce says there is a slump around election time. Unions ACT says public servants are concerned about cuts by attrition. Therefore public servants are to blame.

I’d suggest it is the lack of politicians, their staffers and the armies of lobbyists that is the cause of the downturn in restaurant trade. And the unusually cold weather for this time of year.

Gungahlin Al said :

$50 million wasted on another election? Entirely unnecessary.

The major parties wouldn’t be looking forward to another campaign so soon after having just drained their war chests.

We cannot have another election for quite a while, just because of the various processes that must be gone through to get to that point. If that’s what businesses in Canberra are hanging their plans on, they’re going to have a very bad 2010.

Gungahlin Al said :

$50 million wasted on another election? Entirely unnecessary.

I think the Times are more concerned about the lack of job vacancy advertising they are getting in the meantime. BTW, those combo APSC ads must be hurting the Times badly…

I heard that another election would cost around $120 mil!

The cat did it12:11 pm 30 Aug 10

Independents will be very aware they need to be judicious in pushing for special advantage for their electorates, because it is very likely that after the next election, they will cease to hold the balance of power. What goes around, comes around. The blog ‘Things Bogans Like’ put it nicely-

“For the next three years, the passage of key legislation is likely to mysteriously coincide with the unveiling of monorails in four particular electorates. Equally strangely, the incoming majority government after the next Federal Election is expected to be able to think of four very good places to situate nuclear dumps.”

I’m with Al, only moreso… this looks like it may be the best Parliament yet. Unless the two major parties combine to form a majority government the outcome looks very good. Neither party will be able to do too much damage under with this arrangement, and the balance of power seems to lie with some very balanced thinkers as well as Bob Katter (who might be unbalanced but is nonetheless a thinker).

Another election would be just as likely to result in a minority government, and more uncertainty for Canberra’s economy. But that’s not much of an issue. The economy will bounce back as soon as a government is formed.

Long live the Indies! Can’t we have one too? It’s kind of embarrassing to have a walk-in representative…

Gungahlin Al11:25 am 30 Aug 10

I am entirely relaxed about the prospect of a minority government, and even more so of having both houses of parliament able to be held accountable, instead of the lower house just being a rubber stamp with no vote ever anything other than a foregone conclusion. Apart from a couple of notable cases, many other countries with minority governments have not come apart at the seams.

Mad (not really – just very clever) Katter would be a worry if he was the only one. But he isn’t. There are four other people on the cross benches (five if WA Nats are to be believed). Oakeshott and Windsor seem solid people with hearts in the right places. Likewise Adam Bandt and Andrew Wilkie.

That is more than enough to even out any differences of opinion over particular issues. What we’ll see is akin to having every vote a conscience vote, every decision resolved on the merits of the issue, rather than party strategy to have the greatest inmpact on “the other side”.

And that will be a good thing.

$50 million wasted on another election? Entirely unnecessary.

I think the Times are more concerned about the lack of job vacancy advertising they are getting in the meantime. BTW, those combo APSC ads must be hurting the Times badly…

p1 said :

I am all for another election, so long as none of the people who ran the first time are allowed to run again.

Agreed!!!!

georgesgenitals11:21 am 30 Aug 10

zig said :

Bob Katter for PM!!!!!!

They call him ‘The Kat in the Hat’…

I am all for another election, so long as none of the people who ran the first time are allowed to run again.

Bob Katter for PM!!!!!!

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