Yes, the independents should hurry up to begin the Abbott govt.

There is just one small problem with the two-party preferred vote – it is based on the compulsory preferential voting system, which means that all voters were COMPELLED to declare preferences.

Of course, this just totally flies in the face of what should be the voter’s democratic right to choose to allocate preferences or not.

With such a disgusting oxymoronical system in place, there is just NO WAY that we can talk about the notion of legitimacy to govern based on the outcome of the 2PP vote!

If we had optional preferential voting, then yes, legitimacy to govern could be interpreted from the larger 2PP vote count.

Hey, it should come down to the number of seats…. and NOT be dependent on independents’ decisions as to who to back!

Came a bit of a gutser there SM by end of this days count ALP was back in front.
AND 8 seats did not get in the count how? total who voted for each side surely is the measure?
Now no spite, no prodding I truly THINK THAT that Julie Bishop is the worst female politician in the world/universe see her spite today?
Good grief she is dreadful.

AAAh CJ.. the political megalomania comes out eh... "when WEEE get (balance of) power.. ohhh well show-em"

Well.. please do... dish it out and make lots of enemies... way2go.
I suppose my side of politics would use such an opportunity too, but I think in our case we have history on our side.

Well.. let's just hope the Greens go the way of the ratings for creatures like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow MSNBC.....

"we have not yet begun to fight"

But for your encouragement, the Green long term strategy seems to be working... a checkout chick studying at Latrobe said to me at safeways the other day "ALLL my friends are voting Green"

I managed to save her...and told her I'm available to rehabilitate the rest of Brown's victims, but.. no calls yet.

I have issues with the greens but Boazy?
WHY are eight seats not counted.
The idea surely is the total that in two party preferred all who voted be counted?
Without that the result is as false as Tony Abbott.

Belly,

Compared to Julia Gillard's non stop taunting of the opposition over the last couple of years Julia Bishop is a rank amateur. This triumphal-ism she lost no opportunity to display was probably a greater motivation for TA to shove her overly generous proboscis into the dirt than Labor's incompetence.

As far as the 8 seats not counted for the 2pp, perhaps you would care to read the reasons on the AEC's website, noting that 4 are strongly Labor biased and 4 strongly coalition biased. These principles have been used before, and were not made up recently to bias against Labor.

Depending on which hypothetical criteria you use for preferences the count in the 8 seats could go either way, and whilst you might like to use Bob Brown's criteria which favours Labor, the other versions are equally valid.