Thread: Australia : Election 2010

Just came back from voting. My district is pretty boring, Labor always wins.

Pundits are predicting a hung Parliament with the Greens to hold the balance of power .

Oh NOES !!!!

I forgot to vote

Mark

fuck me can,t escape this shit anywhere..i just finished work, i did me duty 10 days ago..i hate polling day

It will be close but Gillard will win by a nose.

Exit polling tips Labor in tight race
August 21, 2010

Polling booths have closed in all states and territories except Western Australia, with the first results — in what is widely tipped to be one the closest Australian elections in living memory — expected within the next half hour.

RESULT MAY BE UNCLEAR FOR FORTNIGHT

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott maintained a hectic schedule during the morning, visiting marginal electorates in Sydney, before casting their own votes.


Geoff and Jessica Fleming of Warrnambool cast their votes shortly after tying the knot.
Photo: Angela Milne

Voting will continue in Western Australia until 6pm local time (8pm AEST).

A Sky News exit poll, conducted by Auspoll in 30 key marginal seats today, showed the two-party preferred vote went 51 per cent to Labor and 49 per cent to the Coalition.

A Nine Network exit poll is also predicting a close win to Ms Gillard, with Labor picking up 52 per cent of the overall vote to 48 per cent for the opposition.

But the poll also reported sharp swings against Labor in crucial marginal seats in Queensland and NSW, where both leaders focused most of their campaigns.

Former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke said while he was comforted by exit polling all three possibilities — a Labor victory, a coalition victory or a hung parliament — are still possible.

Former Democrats senator Natasha Stott Despoja expects a Labor victory.
‘‘I think that Labor will sneak across the line and I think that’s because of the deal they’ve done with the Greens,’’ she told Seven.

‘‘Those preferences, I think, will be crucial to hanging on to a number of seats.’’

Former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson is also expecting a narrow win.

The Coalition needs 17 Labor seats to win the election by garnering a uniform swing of 2.3 per cent across the country. But the government can lose its absolute majority if it loses 13 seats.

Fourteen million voters are enrolled or eligible to have a final say on who becomes prime minister.

If it comes down to the wire an outcome may be delayed as almost one-fifth of voters cast their ballot early.

The Australian Electoral Commission said 2.35 million voters voted early — either by post (950,000 — 140,000 more than in 2007) or at early voting centres.

The counting of pre-poll votes cast outside the voter's electorate, and postal votes, will not begin until tomorrow. Legally, the count of postal votes can not be finalised until 13 days after polling day.

Senior Liberal senator Nick Minchin said he would not be surprised if there is no result tonight.

Leaders cast votes in tight race

After spending part of the morning in the crucial western Sydney seat of Lindsay, Ms Gillard returned to her home town of Melbourne, beaming for the cameras and declaring ''there it is'' as she cast her vote for her health minister Nicola Roxon.

Due to a boundary redistribution, Ms Gillard's home suburb of Altona is no longer in her electorate of Lalor. She chatted with voters, some of whom kissed her or presented her with flowers.

''I'm exercising my own vote,'' Ms Gillard told reporters.

She said it was a ''tough, tight, close contest'', but she was ''very, very happy to be back in Melbourne''.

Mr Abbott voted at a surf club in his Sydney seat of Warringah, queuing up with his wife Margie and their three daughters, Louise, Frances and Bridget.
''This is a big day for our country,'' Mr Abbott said.

''It's a day when we can vote out a bad government.''

Mr Abbott is expected to arrive at the Liberal Party's election function at the Four Seasons hotel in Sydney around 9.30pm (AEST). Ms Gillard will be in Melbourne.

Polling day was overshadowed by the news that two more Australian soldiers have died in Afghanistan.

The latest casualties are 35-year-old father of two Private Grant Kirby and 21-year-old Private Thomas Dale, who were killed on Friday afternoon Australian time.

Their deaths, caused by an explosive device while on patrol, bring the tally of Australian deaths in Afghanistan to 20.

Political leaders took a break from their last-minute campaigning to express their sympathies over the deaths. Two extensive polls issued on Saturday showed the poll was on a knife-edge.

A Nielsen poll shows Labor with a slight lead, while a Newspoll has the major parties deadlocked.

Earlier today former prime minister John Howard said he thought Mr Abbott fought a wonderful campaign.

''He brought the opposition back from the dead only a few months ago and I don't think a bad government deserves a second chance,'' Mr Howard said.

However, Labor remained the bookmakers' favourite to win.

Centrebet took a bet of $60,000 at $1.60 on Ms Gillard's team before shortening Labor's odds to $1.39 this afternoon.

The Coalition meanwhile with Centrebet has drifted out to $2.90, from $2.38, and punters can help themselves to $2.55 for a hung parliament.

smh.com.au

Originally Posted by Mordechai

It will be close but Gillard will win by a nose.

Its 6.00pm in Perth and labor is losing shit loads of seats all over the flat.

If Gillard gets up it will be a friggin miracle, its so close its amazing.

For those of you who want to follow the seat count live, this is a good link...
updates automatically so just keep the window open...

At 4:50pm Bkk time
Labour 63
Coalition 50

Aussies caught in 2 minds

Labor 38.1 -5.3

68
Coalition 43.7 +1.5

62
Greens 11.6 +3.8

0
Others 6.6 -0.1
Looks like an extreme imbalance between %votes and seats.

Is it like the english system with simple majorieties for the seat per constutuency?

Is it me or does it seem that all the constituency redistribution has been
in favour of Labor

Smells like Gerrymandering to me

68

68

going to the wire

Maxine McKew dummy spit on ABC

76 is the magic number , we may not get there tonight

This is the guy holding the balance of power.

69

69

duce

Labor 70

Coalition 72

Geoff and Jessica Fleming of Warrnambool cast their votes shortly after tying the knot.

She's a BIG girl...definitely a block and tackle job for sure!

Voters wake to political turmoil
Emma Rodgers


Neck-and-neck: Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
(Getty Images)

A handful of independents are set to decide Australia's political future after an inconclusive election delivered what seems certain to be the country's first hung parliament since World War II.

In a history-making day for Australia, a national primary vote swing of more than 5 per cent against Labor left Julia Gillard fighting to hold onto the prime ministership she took over just two months ago from Kevin Rudd.

Tony Abbott, meanwhile, has declared the Coalition is "back in business".
Key points of the 2010 election:

• Australia set for first hung parliament since 1940
• Greens hold balance of power in Senate with nine seats
• Liberal Ken Wyatt elected first Indigenous member of Lower House in WA seat of Hasluck
• Adam Bandt first Greens member elected to the Lower House at a general election
• LNP's Wyatt Roy, 20, becomes youngest person ever elected to Parliament in seat of Longman
• Veteran Liberal MP Wilson Tuckey loses O'Connor to Nationals candidate after holding it since 1980
• Labor's 2007 star recruit Maxine McKew loses seat of Bennelong

The final state of play may not be known for days and the three re-elected independents - Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Bob Katter - have vowed to work with whichever party can provide stable government.

After a night of surprises and firsts, whichever party forms government will also have to deal with a Greens member after Adam Bandt took the seat of Melbourne from the ALP.

A fourth independent is also in play with former intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie a chance to take the Tasmanian seat of Denison.

Both leaders will be talking to the independents in coming days as postal votes continue to be counted in seats still too close to all.

Short of a majority

As counting wound up on Saturday night Labor was left with 70 seats after being hit by a massive 9.4 per cent swing against it in Queensland and 6.9 per cent in New South Wales.

After picking up a slew of seats in both states the Coalition can claim 72 seats, four short of the number needed to form government in its own right.

ABC election analyst Antony Green was predicting Labor would have 72 seats and the Coalition 73 when the counting is done.

Ms Gillard was the first to address her supporters in Melbourne late in the night as the prospect of a hung parliament became clearer, telling her supporters the nation faced "anxious" days ahead.

But she vowed to fight to form government in the coming days and flagged her willingness to work with the crossbenchers.

"We have always believed that the best days of country are ahead of us," she said.

"In this camp we have fought for a positive plan for those better days.

"In these days, as the election result is being determined, the conventions of our wonderful democracy ensure that I will continue to lead the Government and provide strong and stable government until the outcome of the election is clearly known."

'Back in business'

Not long after, Mr Abbott fronted the party faithful in Sydney to declare to the cheering crowd that the Coalition was "back in business".

While he warned supporters not to get ahead of themselves he said it was clear Labor had lost its majority.

"What that means is that the Government has lost is legitimacy," he said.

"The Australian people have decisively rejected factionalism in all its forms. This is a night for pride in our achievements, for satisfaction at the good results that have been achieved.

"This election has to some extent at least been a referendum on the political execution of a prime minister."

In Queensland, Labor has lost Bonner, Dawson, Flynn, Forde, Leichhardt and Longman as well as the notionally Labor seats of Dickson and Herbert, with Brisbane still in doubt.

The Coalition also made gains in New South Wales by snatching Bennelong from Maxine McKew and retaining Gilmore and Macarthur, which were notionally Labor.

But Labor managed to hold on to Greenway, in Sydney's western suburbs, which was up for grabs after the sitting Labor member contested another seat.

In Victoria, Labor was able to pick up La Trobe and McEwen from the Liberals and looked likely to retain Robertson, Dobell and Lindsay in NSW and Corangamite in Victoria.

In the Northern Territory Labor appears to have lost Solomon.

Green day

As widely tipped, Greens candidate Adam Bandt won the seat of Melbourne, becoming only the second Greens member to sit in the Federal House of Representatives.

He will sit alongside the independents Mr Oakeshott, Mr Windsor and Mr Katter as well as, possibly, Tasmanian independent Mr Wilkie.

Mr Wilkie, a former intelligence official, came to public prominence in 2003 after raising concerns over Australia's involvement in the Iraq war and has a chance in the seat of Denison.

All the independents say they have spoken to the major parties and are committed to doing whatever they can to form a stable government.

In Western Australia, Ken Wyatt has become the first Indigenous MP to sit in the Lower House after taking Hasluck for the Liberals from Labor's Sharryn Jackson.

The Liberals also look likely to pick up Swan, but veteran MP Wilson Tuckey has lost to Nationals challenger Tony Crook.

Mr Crook's election adds another twist to the result as he has already flagged not always voting along party lines.

Senate

In the Senate the Greens are the big winner, now holding the balance of power in their own right with nine seats.

Making an appearance in the tally room in Canberra, Greens Leader Bob Brown said the party would use its power carefully.

"I assure the people of Australia every vote that has gone to the Greens will be valued," he said.

"We'll be looking to the whole of the electorate of Australia when we make decisions."

In the Senate the Liberals have 35 seats and Labor 31. Family First Senator Steve Fielding has lost his seat.

xxx.xxx.xx

Mr Crook's election adds another twist to the result as he has already flagged not always voting along party lines.

What a perfect name for any politician, no wonder he won!

Originally Posted by Mordechai

This is the guy holding the balance of power

bob katter can string 3 words together we are fvucked

78.4% counted.

Updated Mon Aug 23 07:23PM

Labor 72

Coalition 69

http://www.xxx.xxx.xx/elections/federal/2010/