Belly,

Julia wanted the position just as much, and sold out her credibility with the great big lie on the carbon tax, the pokie reform etc.

Tony Windsor is trying to justify his position, as is RO.

To RO and TW, the conservative nature of their electorates was clear, and the whole group hug compact was there to ensure that if they chose to support labor that labor could govern without interference from Abbott, and if they got 3 years of competent government, they could sell their choice to their electorates. It was a complicated sleight of hand that fell to pieces when TA tore it up after realising it was a con job.

The consequences for RO and TW, is that since their deceit, they have got nothing from Juliar, they are now tied to a government lurching from failure to failure, and an electorate that is angry, not only because their representatives did not represent them, but because they helped bring in the most incompetent government in decades.

In their electorates the voters' anger is palpable, which is why neither of them seem to be showing their faces in their own electorate much.

SM
Do you really believe the promises of the Liberal Government to gain power via the Independents were not equal to that of the ALP?

C'mon man you know better. Abbott had already previously backed a Carbon Tax and are you that naive that he wouldn't have put it on the table to win government. Responses to climate change were already ingrained in Coalition policy.

The Independents claim that Abbott went on bended knee begging for their support and Gillard proved the better negotiator and not quite so 'alarming' in her grovelling. Abbott pushed all sorts of bribes to the Independents to win their support.

This is just more sour grapes.

Oakeshott might be gone in Lyne but so what? This is a democracy and it is not 'news' no matter how you spin it that people might change their support. Clearly the people of Lyne were not satisfied with either of the major parties, that is why Independents win votes.

My own take on hung parliaments as far as Independents go is to ascertain which party was the 'preferred' in their electorate and follow that lead, even if it might go against personal leanings (unless the result was that close it is hard to ascertain). From there attempt to do as much for your electorate as is possible including introducing the reforms for which you were elected.

Pelican,

There is nothing to show that Abbott promised anything directly compromising a promise he made to the electorate. Getting elected on a solemn promise of "no carbon tax under the government I lead" and then bargaining it away without a qualm is a lie that has cost her her integrity. This is reflected on Oakeshott and Windsor.

It would be interesting to see what informed posters,with balance think about this.
You too if you wish shadow minister.
It is my view, no matter what changes, for our foreseeable future 85% of voters always will vote Labor or Liberal.
It could well be more, currently Greens are bouncing between 12 and 14.
I talk of those who vote.
Not the silly beggars who complain constantly but do not.
Clearly a group, about ten percent now, of Labor voters may go conservative, but in my view not green.
6% have left to vote green and preference Labor.
LIBERALISM is a bit under the weather right now, the hard headed hard right [ welcome home SM] number no more than 8 or 10%
But those likely to switch sides? less than 3%.
So why the over representation in print on the net of those Tea party types.
In my view they can not bring as many new followers as they push away, and the extremes within both party are illnesses not promises;.
We will not make ground with SM or his like,conservatives will, one day, unload their illness.
Labors task then, will be eminence.
Another number for consideration.
If only those in control of my party would listen
Julie Gillard right or wrong can not take back those words not win an election.
Planning for a rebuild after a defeat is gutless and betrays every ALP member and our party.
Julia gos? our polling rises 6 points the next day.

Belly,
I haven't been reading this thread simply because I think Oakshott is a fool and I am not interested in him, as he is gone next time.

Just had a look this morning and you said you live as close as you can get to the mans electorate and then you mentioned truth.

Come on! I understand you live in a small villiage on the Southern Highlands and that is a long, long way from Port Macquarie and Oakshott's electorate.

That would put you in either Hume or maybe Throsby. You could just get to Lyne on a tank full of fuel, if you were lucky.

I have never had reason to doubt you before, but your statement here is grossly incorrect. Your local knowledge of Lyne has to be nil.

Banjo
Maybe Belly has moved.

SM
In a perfect world and idealistically, I agree Gillard should have kept her election promise. However with a hung Parliament and negotiations with the Greens, the choice was either a Coalition led Government with a Carbon Tax or a Labor led Government with a Carbon Tax. The electorate would still have a Carbon Tax. Abbott knows it, his paty knows it, that is what makes the hysteria all the more dishonest.

If I was Gillard I would have stressed to the Greens that the election promise was sacrosanct but offer other direct action policies in response to climate change concerns. There are other ways to address climate change than a tax.

You are dreamin' if you think it would be any different under a Coaltion government.

If your only concern is the 'broken promise' you should look to the passing of WorkChoices legislation which was never taken to the electorate and while you won't believe it, stuff that has not yet been revealed about AWB. You don't think Children Overboard saga was fraught with lies and a self-serving immigration policy agenda?

Abbott's promises don't seem to mean much given not everthing he says should be taken as gospel (in his own words) and including flip-flopping support for property owners on the Liverpool Plains and the mining vs agriculture/water protection issue in NSW.

If it is a choice between two incompetents it is difficult for me to see the Coalition as the better of the two.