The government basically went to the election with two slogans, "axe the tax" and "stop the boats" and they were elected. I didn't vote for labour at the previous election. Some people I know did believing "there will be no carbon tax..". They really were pissed off and still are, mostly at themselves. Whilst it might not be a "mandate" it is clearly what the electorate wanted and are entitled to see these policies enacted.

Further, I would like to know where the figures of 70% to 80% in support of gay marriage and euthanasia come from. Figures that high would seem to be a fanatasy or wishful thinking. If they were really that high, one would have thought those policies would have been part of the electoral platform. They were not and I'm sure the majority of voters wouldn't give a toss about them anyway. There are far more real issues facing the country. And for the record I live with my very long standing same sex partner.

Get with it Mikk, you are sooooo 18th century.

The real growth area in "law and order" these days is with vilification and discrimination -- whole ruddy swathes of it.

And I'll give you one guess as to which side of politics is all for it?

And what makes this new type of 'law and order' all the more galling. is that under this new 'law and order' one is often guilty till one can prove oneself innocent (and your accuser gets all the free legal aid) AND, it only recognises discrimination or vilification from one angle/side.

The only way any vote can be considered a mandate is if that is the ONLY policy voted on.

As has been said before, 45% of the vote means the majority voted against it.

While I proudly voted for Abbott, and his quest to abolish this tax, I still say his parental leave policy is a shocker and I hope it gets blocked.

Yes, indeed we first elect a parliament, not a government, and the party that is able to form a government in the House must deal with the Senate. As to mandates, apparently only Conservative governments have legitimate "mandates". Opposition LNP politicians in the past have done their best to destroy Labor governments, the attacks on the Whitlam government being the most notorious example, obviously Labor didn't have a mandate in 1972.

I love it when a post starts with " the sheer unabashed hypocrisy of the left" (or right for that matter). Saves me the trouble of reading it.

JKJ,

"The sheer unabashed irrationality and hypocrisy of the left wing really is their main characteristic, isn't it?"

Talking about hypocrisy...Economist, Steven Koukoulas tweeted this info this morning:

"Hard to keep up with govt borrowing! Govt just borrowed $1.5 bill, short dated T-Notes. Gross borrowing since 9 Sep now $21.9 billion"

The Abbott govt, far from address their fictitious "budget emergency", appear to be having an absolute ball.