Not much more can be said, Malcolm.

Except, perhaps, that Labor and the Greens avoided any discussion of their preference deal before the election, both Gillard and Brown pretending they had nothing to do with it.

Then, lo and behold, there's a post-election "alliance" - neither party had a mandate for that, but at least we now know what we're dealing with: an utterly and permanently comprised Labor Party which is heading for extinction because it is abandoning the political centre and doing deals with the extreme left of Australian politics.

Then again, I suppose that since Labor was planning to destroy the economy by shutting down the coal mining industry via a carbon tax, they haven't had to move very far.

The Laborites have thus far been living off the credit created by Howard and Costello.

Malcolm Colless is dead right when he infers that business which abhors uncertainty and policy vacuums will avoid investing.

It doesnt matter whether its individual investors and developers here in Australia, or external international investors, we will be on the nose from now on.

First of all business sentiment will decline then we will be in free fall as the certain troubles that will be created by the looming idiocies of a Labor-Green Alliance + Independants Demands start to appear...plus a by election or two.

..and all because that pretentious and incompetent creep from Qld got in originally.

"Big business" doesn't like the Greens.

Who'd have thought?

I thought the Government of the day was for the people benefit not big business? Big business operates in every country in the world no matter what type of government is in, so your argument on the front doesn't make any sense at all. I hear Halliburton did quite well in Iraq....
"And it is hard to believe that the Greens will not use this increased power to drive their own agenda in areas critically affecting the future of the Australian economy such as coal mining. "
Are you saying that the greens shouldn't try to drive an agenda that they were voted by a large number of people to do. What are you saying that once elected the Greens should follow what the two big parties do and ignore what these people who voted for thought they were going to get?
One of the defining aspect of the Australian media is just how out of touch they are with the public at large. Stop telling us what we think and start listening.
I voted Green for the first time this election because I was unhappy with Labours back down on Climate change action. The lack of vision by both major parties on the new economies is breath taking. . I grant that a fair bit of the green vote this election was as protest against the major parties, but you have to acknowledge that that protest vote went left in a greater measure then it went to alternative right wing parties

What a lot of pigs slops. A vote for the greens was a vote for labour, it was all over the place.

Maybe the 11.5% of the vote the greens got is the usual 10% of any population who are idiots and a few (1.5%) protest voting.

Ever considered that?

All the people I saw interviewed who were going to vote green, had no idea why, most said it was because they didn't want to vote ALP or coalition - if I was in the greens, I would not be happy with that, certainly it is not a stable voting base is it?

People were voting for a brand, not for policies, not for the people in the green party, they were voting for "green" and nothing to do with the actual goals - so just as easily, they could vote for something else, since they seem to be totally unprincipled people .. or idiots.

I loved the Chasers skit on green/watermelon voters, near wet myself!

Yes, I had posted this earlier on anther article, it just seems to fit here, and you'll all be happy to know, I recycle!