Unfortunately, we're not any kind of republic.

Personally, I quite like the idea of a hung parliament - they could start with Abbott ;)

Seriously, Hasbeen - most economists acknowledge that it was Keating's reforms that prevented the Australian economy going the way of a 'banana republic', and paved the way for the Howard/Costello show.

It was a great election for the Greens :)

Australia has woken up to the fact that they cannot afford Labor.

What I can see in the Labor's future is s night of the long knives for the incompetents that brought Labor to its knees. For Julia as architect of the BER rort, a short walk to the knacker's yard.

What we need is to see how far down the rot has gone with Royal commissions into the BER and the insulation debacle.

CJMorgan, " most economists acknowledge that it was Keating's reforms that prevented the Australian economy going the way of a 'banana republic', and paved the way for the Howard/Costello show"

Yes, pro-Labor economists. It was the utterance of the term by Keating that put Australia on suddenly shaky ground. He inherited a AAA rating and ground that down. He deregulated banking, which has been further license for them to print money. He was his own greatest hero...he was a clock-sucker. (and if you know anything of Keating, you'll see the truth and humour of that).

Not wanting to divert your thread Hasbeen, but there is a bit of work required from all youse self-opinionated whingers on another thread to strike a blow for OLO and help it have an assured place on the shortlist for the Reinhard Mohn Prize. See: http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=3903

Youse can all get back to yer whingeing after youse have VOTED (yet again).

Although I am the opening poster on that thread, this is not meant as self-promotion: GrahamY only received notification of the closure of voting for the shortlist rather late himself, so this one is for OLO, and ultimately, for yourselves. ('Youseselves' doesn't look quite right, does it?)

GetDown! and VOTE online! NOW!

Massive protest vote. Abbott can wail all he likes, but no-one voted his government in any more than Labor - hence the 'hung parliament', duh.

Our political system needed a good shake up, now it has had one. Maybe what will result is a coalition (Labor/Greens) that governs for the future instead of being mired in the past (Lib/Nats).

Dear Mr Gump, I won't be voting for OLO. But good luck on yer spruikin'.

Interesting watching each seat being called; so many with only one or so percentage points dividing the major parties.

This zero-sum process in every electorate across the whole country decides who get to dictate terms and who must obey for the next three years.

And this is the great all-knowing god that rationalises all the so-called market externalities? It is nothing but mere snout-in-the-trough, unprincipled grabbing.

The one overwhelming impression is the absence of any ethical dimension. If a mere majority gives moral authority to take people's property, destroy people's livelihoods, stop people from using lightglobes or whitegoods in their own home, wipe out whole industries, and reduce food production when there are people going hungry in the world, why not to kill people? Oh that's right, the government is currently killing people in Iraq and Afghanistan. If a majority were in favour of rape, on the democratic rationale, that'd be 'the will of the people', 'the public interest', 'the national interest', the 'collective will', right?

Right?