I think the assertion that the ALP - or indeed the coalition is the natural partry of government misses a few salient points.

The dominance of Labor from sea to shining sea is a refelection of organisational efficiency as much as it the delivery of good policy.

The ALP as made a virtue of breeding good machine men and women hence the effectiveness of thier campaigns and pretty long tenure in the states

Policy differences remain narrow to the point of being indistinguishable - and lets face it if Turnbull gets the gig as leader of Her Majesty''s opposition the differences will narrow further still - he was keen on Kyoto - perhaps for political reasons and a champion for the republic.

He still claims Liberals to be the party of free choice and free enterprise and small business -- but where is the evidence that the ALP is not either?

Rudd is a technocrat - it is a technocratic form of government we need to expect - pragmatic and while totally devoid of politics we wont see the kind of populist nonsense HOward produced almost seasonally.

All the potential Liberal leaders have avowed to rid themselves of failed policies - they now have nowhere else to go other than cosey up Kevin and his team - the parties per se are self declaring that in many respects each of them are past their used by dates.

"ALP - the natural party of government"

about as natural as my dog trying to mount my cat (and getting a good scratching in the process).

Oh, let the socialists gloat in this honeymoon period, when it is too soon to see the lies and deceptions and plain old incompetence (which is the hallmark of every socialist government).

Just remember the financial disaster which the socialists straddled this nation with back in the early 1990's and how the liberal government of the past decade "managed" - Yes, "MANAGED" the country out of the economic purgatory left by Keating.

The coalition did a useless job of campaigning and they are paying for it. However, it does not mean that a whole block of Australians do not still support the liberal policies, just the same as there is always a bunch of dullards who think a socialsit government is there to make life “fair” for them, regardless of their own apathy.

Ultimately, the floating voters might understand what they have elected into power once the unions start demanding to rule their dominion and maybe marginalizing Krudd out from his leadership

Col, you really think anybody still believes the absurd dichotomy between "socialist" and "economically liberal" policies anymore? Howard's government was no less "socialist" than Keating's, and some would argue more so.
Social spending and respect for free enterprise can and do go hand in hand, in virtually every successful economy in the world. It's all a question of balance.

Col, we need socialist governments every now and then to inject a bit of balance back into our economy and society. The Lib's have forgotten that its not always ideal to run a budget surplus - there's more to managing the economy than that. Economically speaking the Howard bunch moved a little far to the right for the comfort of most Australians. The impact of workchoices, whether real or media influenced, seemed to me to be the nail in the coffin. There were many reasons that they failed to win this election, but workchoices was a large one.

The implications of workchoices in the future of the Australian labour market is a big one. Instead of requiring our business to compete with those that employ children, have little or no safety restraints, pay subsistence wages and have little regard for environmental issues, we should look at implementing tariffs that are based on the business practices of the countries, or industries that we buy from. It will mean our prices will go up, but that will reflect the true cost of the products that we buy. It may also lead to Australian businesses (that DO abide by our reasonably strict HR and environmental laws) being able to expand, employ more staff, plus lead to a reduction in the CAD (given increase in local production). It is important though not to confuse protection of inefficient industry (which shouldnt happen), with the balancing of business conditions. Such tariffs should also be flexible enough to be easily reduced as overseas businesses conform to our HR and environmental standards. Think of it also in terms of encouraging green standards in business worldwide. I doubt any government including the ALP would have the balls to introduce such a policy, but its probably the only way to go in the short-medium term, otherwise we risk falling to the current standards of china in order to compete.

Wizofaus is on track. Sadly, many people still do not get it - it is no longer about socialist/fascists, right/left, us/them, etc.

Rudd knows this, so does Turnbull - Howard was lost in the past as were most of his right wing fundamentalists. I am looking forward to a Rudd/Turnbull parliamentary session.

Aside: My bet is Turnbull for leader with Julie Bishop as deputy (assuming of course the Libs 'get it').

Hang on to your old world view if you like, but leaders like Rudd and the like of Turnbull understand what has to be done. Jump on board, it will be exciting. Or, bury your head in the sand and continue with the archaic way of thinking.

Although I don't believe Labor's win will solve any of the problems the working class is confronted with - in fact they are likely to be far more dangerous than the Howard government - it amusing that Col Rouge is spitting chips.

As usual, Col's "analysis" is totally superficial. The Coalition has been decimated - they no longer hold state power anywhere - and their policies (or what passed for policies) have been thoroughly repudiated.

Far from the loss being due to a bad campaign, the old silent majority Col used to speak of so highly (when they voted his way) has now spoken. The landslide to Labor is not a vote for Labor, but a vote against the Howard government and its policies. However Rudd's policies are hardly different to Howard's.

Anyone out amongst the electorate during the election campaign and on polling day, speaking to voters, would understand the determination with which they wanted to get rid of Howard and the vileness he symbolised. They know Rudd won't be much different, but are hoping that he will.

It won't be long now before ordinary people come into conflict with the reality of a Rudd Labor government.