rehctub,

What's with low voter turn out line?

This Senate re-run is just as "compulsory" as the other elections. I know quite a few people that weren't going to be in town on the day who made sure they dropped in and voted before they went away. My mum voted early at her retirement village...etc

People here in WA took our second bite of the cherry seriously and approached it with relish. The polling booth I attended was busy "in the afternoon" when it's usually quieter.

This time Ludlum was returned with vehemence. Otb says the Greens can't make govt so they're not credible...but they can have impact in the Senate and that is why we vote for them.

As far as I can make out, LNP and Labor both fared badly in this re-run. Disaffected Libs moved their vote to Palmer - and disaffected Labor supporters moved en masse to Green - not to mention a great campaign by Ludlum as opposed to a lot of babbly ads by Palmer.

The Abbott govt is seen more and more as a deceptive outfit - so obvious in the swing against it over here.

As a WA voter, I can tell you that there was the usual long lines and crowds at the polling booth on Saturday!

I believe the results show that 85% of WA voters took to the polls?
That's not bad for a repeat election.
Where I live, there was a huge swing to the Greens, and I was not surprised.

We have a Liberal leader here in Colin Barnett.
His Treasurer and Transport minister, Troy Buswell, has just resigned after allegedly drink driving in his Ministerial car, crashing into several parked cars on his way home, and leaving the scene of all those crashes!

Now, that is bad enough, but Barnett keeps talking about when Buswell comes back to work!
No wonder West Aussies are sick of the Libs.

Paul 1405,

I am not and never have been the supporter of any particular party, least of all the one you mention.

Quite simply, it is always expected that a by-election will draw a higher protest vote. Which is why the Greens played their usual 'a pox on all parties' routine to pick up the protest vote.

The Greens,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH_MBwQhGgA

I was pleased to be a part of a Greens 'Meet The Candidates' Forum on the weekend. Where ordinary members are given the opportunity to both hear from, and question, people who have put forward their names as prospective candidates for political office. No member is above any other in The Greens, a parliamentarian, just as a first timer must face the party membership to be voted on when wishing to seek office on behalf of the party. This kind of "grass roots" democracy just doesn't happen in either of the dinosaur parties Labor or Liberal. When the membership put forward a candidate you get a Scott Ludlum, when the party impose a candidate you get a Joe Bullcock! I rest my case.

Beach,
Why not run your flag up the mast, to say "(I'm not a)supporter of any particular party" Judging by your past posting I'm sure there are a whole host of political parties out there who you would support, The Green don't appear to be on of them, its a democracy, free choice. The Youtube was funny the first time, getting a bit boring now. I don't know who posted it to Youtube, could have been a member of The Australia First Party for all I know.

Paul 1405,

As Julia Gillard said, and she had the experience with the Greens as Labor's sidekicks to know, the Greens are just a protest party.

It follows that the Greens have no compulsion nor it seems any inclination to put together a coherent set of policies that could work in government.

The Greens are fortunate that over all of the years of their existence and especially after the 'watermelon' faction displaced the original environmental concerns for social activism, that none of the media and least of all the ABC has ever taken the looking glass to the Greens policies such that they are.

Nor has there been any real assessment of Greens' policies when in government with Labor, which allows the Greens to escape the accountability that is occasioned upon the major parties.

What is known about the Greens however from Labor experience with the Greens federal and State, most recently Tasmania, is that they are always treacherous and cannot be relied upon. Also, that the Greens are relentless headline hunters, pursuing sensationalism. The Greens are never positive or constructive.

It is easy to throw mud at governments that are responsible for managing all needs and services as best possible and within the confines of a budget. The greens do not even attempt to do that and nor could they if they tried.

The Greens cannot lie straight in bed, which is the concern of most voters, as indicated by the few who vote Green and then only as a protest.