Hey Belly, Pal here(mucked up my re-rego). Looks like neither of us won our bet, altho gotta say I was closest to the pin.
Strikes me that both sides got what they deserved-the end of the worst govt. in 30 years and the Libs. not ready for it yet. We're in for an interesting few weeks.

Hi all,
I do not think either major party won. Their constituents are and have been unhappy with their performance for a long time.
I believe the message sent by the public for this election is: remember who put you there. Govern for the people and not just the party politics. I hope the message has gone out loud and clear to the states as well. We have a Labor government in Victoria that has lost touch with its constituents and governs for the developers rather than the people. I am active with many community and environmental issues and find that e.g. going to VCAT to get justice is difficult as although it was a Tribunal for the little people to seek justice it has become captive of the legal fraternity and it cost too much for the average John and Joan doe to afford its services. Public concerns do not have the same weight as legal argument.

Interesting times ahead that's for sure...
And whether either Party gets to form a
Government or we go to the polls again,
either way, I wonder if the pollies have
learned anything from the message that
the voters have sent them? Putting
Party allegiances ahead of consituents -
does not get good results.

I kept switching channels on Saturday night,
and watched the disgraceful attacks of Kroger
on Wayne Swan, and saw Barnaby Joyce's unsuccessful
attempts to pressure Tony Windsor. These guys
reminded me of the old saying, "A politician
should do 2 terms - one in office and one in jail!"

The outcome of this Election should serve as a good
lesson. And who knows, perhaps in the future we
may get the type of Government where Party allegiance
will no longer be important. Where local issues will
be resolved in Parliament by people who will be committed
to doing the right thing for the country, rather than the
Party.

That would be something to look forward to.

It has been clear to me for some years that the two tribe mentality (Red V Blue) is the greatest impediment to democracy in this country and is largely if not totally dysfunctional.

It is a great sadness to me that both sides are running around like chooks pecking at each other rather than being sensible enough to roll with the punches, learn and put the country before the party.

Logically I know that the entrenchment of the tribal approach to government is as deep as it is visceral. The reasons for this are many and varied. Among is the deeply ingrained cultural arrogance that there are the rulers and the ruled (Malthusian determined and politics is a means of POWER. Competence, integrity, morality, objectivity are optional and guile, manipulation, ambition and ruthlessness are preferred.

This is manifested in the unresolved conflict in the West between Capitalist amorality (i.e. it's only wrong if you're caught) and what I call the Human Sustainability. The latter is often miss labeled as the linear opposite to Capitalism, Socialism. In fact it is an entirely different ideology and in a totally different multiple dimensional paradigm.

This election was a clear and unequivocal public warning to these power groups to change or be come extinct. Sadly the lust for power for power sake is a hard one to lay. e.g. Howard, Rudd, Abbott, Latham, Hawke et al all are it's victims. it is too soon to tell with JG despite her start to the top.

Part 1

Part 2
Abbott/Joyce and other coalition extreme hype/posturing on and since the election eve maybe calculated to suppress the independents' expectation and to gain a better Liberal negotiation position.

This is much like what Rudd did with the Mining tax but overplayed his hand ending disastrously. It took the pragmatism of Gillard to improve the position for tribe Labor.

I suspect that Gillard's skills are not so much in the Labor hype and posturing, but in the pragmatic "get it done" role. Therein lies IMO her strength as a better PM than Rudd, her pragmatism and focus to the task. (more Tanner - ish)
In my mind, I wonder if the roles of Gillard and Rudd been reversed would there have been better outcome for labor.

Then again Rudd's uber ambition would and is a problem. I hope the needed pruning will suffice. He will be a far better Minister than PM.

To me the two party preferred is the morally the rightful leader of a minority govt.

Failing that back to the polls and you watch the pendulum then.
The other mammoth in the room with diarrhea is who and how is that campaign going to be funded.
IMO it won't happen and we'll have interesting times. (ref Chinese curse) :-)

First past the post voting is not fair. Maybe we should look at Tasmania. Some kind of regional preferential might be a goer. Divide the country up into regions with multi members, not unlike the Senate. Winner take all as it is now is not stable or productive.

No, it does not worry me. If they start voting against everything, they will gain little support at the next election. This is the problem with Abbott. We know what he is against, everything that Labor has introduced. We do not know what he stands for. We do not know what his vision is. I suspect if he told us, we would run a mile.