Australian Federal Election thread - 2010 edition.

[weemadando]

Parliament has been dissolved and we're waiting on a date - there should be a press conference any minute.

Note to 'Muhricans. We'll show you how this is done. Four, maybe five weeks until we vote and we'll know that night who the victors are. None of this eighteen fucking months of primaries and other bullshit, then an election and then weeks of wrangling...

[bobalot]

Tony "Mad Monk" Abbott has only managed his current level of support by literally avoiding the media for months and not actually detailing any real policy. His disapproval rating is around 50%.

Once the election really starts, he will be massacred. If the liberals had anybody else BUT Tony, they might actually have a chance.

[weemadando]

It's a five week campaign - the date is set for August 21.

Enough time for Abbott to put his foot in his mouth, but if his advisors can keep a lead on him, it might also be enough time for him to develop a policy package.

Most intriguing are the Greens who stand to gain Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart lower house seats and possibly double their Senate holdings.

...and I've added a new Avatar to celebrate...

RELEASE ANTONY GREEN FROM HIS UNDERGROUND BUNKER!!!!!!

[mr friendly guy]

Abbott will just play the race card with those hordes of asylum seekers invading our country.

[weemadando]

I wish that this wasn't the case.

[JBG]

As is usual, the election is there to be lost by the Govt, rather than won by the opposition.

Notwithstanding the stellar job the PM et al are doing for the opposition at present, I have difficulty seeing Abbot take the prize.

My forecast is a labour victory but one achieved after much blood being spilled in those "key electorates" that saddle the major cities. Plus an increase in the Green vote.

In some ways it is merely a spectator sport for me as my electorate is in a Liberal heartland.

[weemadando]

I'm in Liberal heartland too - but with Petro Georgiou retiring, there may be a swing to the Greens here as well.

[JBG]

It's a five week campaign - the date is set for August 21.

Enough time for Abbott to put his foot in his mouth, but if his advisors can keep a lead on him, it might also be enough time for him to develop a policy package.

Most intriguing are the Greens who stand to gain Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart lower house seats and possibly double their Senate holdings.

...and I've added a new Avatar to celebrate...

RELEASE ANTONY GREEN FROM HIS UNDERGROUND BUNKER!!!!!!

LOL. The Liberals will develop a policy package but Abbot keep his foot, at least, nowhere near his mouth? You're dreaming

[JBG]

I'm in Liberal heartland too - but with Petro Georgiou retiring, there may be a swing to the Greens here as well.

Probably not in Sydney's NW/upper north shore.

Still, we have to wait and see.

PS, quite a visual difference in your avatar!

[Lusankya]

Mr Flibble and I are facing a conundrum in that our current (Labor) representative sucks*, and the Liberal candidate is actually quite a decent sort. On the other hand: Tony Abbott.

Our solution has been to come to an agreement so that one person preferences Liberal, and the other person preferences Labor, and our votes cancel each other out.


*Her accomplishments prior to entering politics include spending 7 years at Uni, failing to get an Arts degree.

[weemadando]

It's like in the Melbourne seat that Lindsay Tanner is vacating is having an ACTU secretary take the Labor slot on the ballot. Because putting a union hack on the card again is a great way to win back all those voters who are looking to turn Green.

[Stofsk]

Is the seat your in a marginal seat, is it a safe labor seat, or what?

As a lot of labor apologists have told us since Krudd was poleaxed, you don't vote for the leader of the party, you vote for your seat's representation!

For example, I live in a safe labor seat. It doesn't matter who the fuck I vote for, the incumbent in all likelihood will be returned to his seat.

[Lusankya]

Eh, it's Adelaide. “Safe" is a relative term when talking about Adelaide, because it's pretty diverse, demographically, and has a more fluid population than most seats. SA's also proportionally more likely to come up with wet liberals than the other states, so non-loons are more likely to vote for their Liberal candidate.

It's currently held at a similar margin to the equivalent seat in the state elections (a bit over 10%, which is considered "safe"). However, during the state elections Labor didn't do much campaigning in what they considered was a safe seat, with the result being a 14% swing in favour of the Liberals, and the local Education Minister losing her seat.

[adam_grif]

Any news on the status of the net filter? If Labor doesn't drop it asap I'll probably rank Lib higher, even if they start torturing babies and exhume my dead cat.

[Stark]

You mean that vapourware net filter that is a load of complete vote-pandering bullshit? I'd worry a tiny bit more about systemic Labor corruption and their structural weaknesses than something so useless.

That said, its just between Labor and Greens for me because I'm not retarded enough to even joke about voting for the Liberals right now.

[adam_grif]

You mean that vapourware net filter that is a load of complete vote-pandering bullshit? I'd worry a tiny bit more about systemic Labor corruption and their structural weaknesses than something so useless.

People have been shouting "it'll never happen" since the announcement, but Labor has been pressing forward, rolling out tests and so on. Do you have any kind of proof that it's going to fall apart soon? I'm thrilled if you do. I know for a fact that the other parties oppose it (except for shit like Family First), but even now when Labor has had the opportunity to back down on several issues without loosing any public face, as far as I know they haven't done so on this one.

That said, its just between Labor and Greens for me because I'm not retarded enough to even joke about voting for the Liberals right now.

I don't vote for Liberal, I vote for Independents, then Greens, then everybody else. But the filter status is how I decide which to rank higher.

[Stofsk]

They've quietly buried it. There's a thread in N&P about the filter and dipshit Conroy calling a fellow Labor member a pedophile-by-implication. They've put it on ice for another year so that it doesn't blow up into an election issue to bury them.

So instead general Labor corruption and incompetence can be the issue.

[Lusankya]

You mean as opposed to Liberal corruption and incompetence?

[Stofsk]

Well of course they're corrupt and incompetent as well. But they're not the ones in power, so they're not the ones who are looking to be re-elected.

That's how I look at it. It's the sitting government that has to prove to me that they deserve to be re-elected and thus win my vote. If they don't, I'm not going to vote for them. Ditto for whoever's in opposition, but they get evaluated slightly differently (and in second order). I made the decision months ago to vote for the Greens this election.

[xt828]

My seat's member was turfed out of his party quite recently, so we have a non-party candidate who'll probably get a solid vote in what has been a pretty safe seat. We have just been redrawn, though, so there may have been a change coming anyway.

I think that the Senate vote is quite important this time round, as I'd like to see the balance of power situation continue, without anyone having a majority.

[Archaic`]

Labor's official reason for shelving the filter is because they want to review what exactly is meant by "Refused Classification". There's a fairly large group of people seeing that as a way for them to widen the scope of what would be on the filter off the radar.

I'm in what should be a safe Liberal seat, but like the poster before me, my rep got himself kicked out of the party. He's going to contest as an independent, but personally I'd be shocked if anything changed in the seat. People here tend to vote strictly along party lines.

Sadly, given that I really can't bring myself to vote Green given their shoddy economic, industry, mining and energy policies....I'll probably have to go Liberal. Or at least preference them above Labor, Green and Family First (though the Independents in this seat tend to be non-existent or nutters). I'd vote for them enthusiastically if Malcolm was still in charge, but with the mad monk....leaves me with a very dirty feeling.

[Stofsk]

i can't help but feel that if Turnbull hadn't been poleaxed himself last year, the Libs would look like a really attractive prospect. I'd be keen to vote for Turnbull-led Liberal party.

I wonder what will happen to Krudd after the election. Wasn't he on the news recently talking to Ban Ki Moon?

[weemadando]

Labor's official reason for shelving the filter is because they want to review what exactly is meant by "Refused Classification". There's a fairly large group of people seeing that as a way for them to widen the scope of what would be on the filter off the radar.

I'm in what should be a safe Liberal seat, but like the poster before me, my rep got himself kicked out of the party. He's going to contest as an independent, but personally I'd be shocked if anything changed in the seat. People here tend to vote strictly along party lines.

Sadly, given that I really can't bring myself to vote Green given their shoddy economic, industry, mining and energy policies....I'll probably have to go Liberal. Or at least preference them above Labor, Green and Family First (though the Independents in this seat tend to be non-existent or nutters). I'd vote for them enthusiastically if Malcolm was still in charge, but with the mad monk....leaves me with a very dirty feeling.

So don't vote for them. Preference them above Labor if you want, at least give some minor parties a chance to flip the bird.

[Twoyboy]

i can't help but feel that if Turnbull hadn't been poleaxed himself last year, the Libs would look like a really attractive prospect. I'd be keen to vote for Turnbull-led Liberal party

Agree so much. But then, I am kind of looking forward to a Gillard led Labor and what may change. Although, Conroy and Swan won't change... so that's one bummer.

Of course I'm in a marginal seat that, for some odd reason, no one wants to run for, so we get the cast offs. It's all kind of weird. I think I'll vote independent with preferences to Labor if at all possible.

I cannot vote Liberal while Abbott is at the helm. I know I don't vote for him directly, but in a marginal seat I can't bring myself to do anything that would help that retarded fucking cunt one fucking iota. And when he puts his foot in his mouth, it upsets me even more that the fucking Lib fanboys come out of the woodwork to defend him, even when its something obvious like admitting he lies all the time on the campaign trail.

[hongi]

This'll be my first time voting, pretty psyched. Is that sad?