personally I see no difference in having Turnbull or Phelps. They are of the same paddock.

The prestigious seat of Wentworth - an electorate that
has been a safe seat for the Liberal Party since
approx. 1944, has now lost its majority in the House
of Reps.

Dr Kerryn Phelps - a well known and highly respected
member of the community, an Independent, and the former
head of the Australian Medical Association has been
declared the winner. And rightly so. A very capable
professional - who'll put the interests of her electorate
first.

Commentators tell us that the Liberals' desperate
campaigning in the weeks leading up to the election
clearly did not help. We're told that the ill-conceived
announcement by Scott Morrison that the government may
move Australia's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem in an attempt to win over the 12.5% of
Jewish voters in the electorate appears to have backfired.

However - the major issue that weighed on the minds of
Wentworth voters was the dumping of their much loved
local member - Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, and a
perceived capturing of the Liberal Party by extremists,
lead by former PM - Tony Abbott.

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for
that man, and his role in the instability that has all but
crippled the Australian government.

Mr Abbott's seat of Warringah may well be the next to go
in the next election. There may also be recriminations
against the extreme right of the party - led by figures
like - Mr Abbott, Peter Dutton, Eric Abetz, Kevin Andrews,
Zed Seselja and Alex Hawke - to mention just a few.

For now though, the Morrison government has to rely on
crossbench MPs to retain power and guarantee supply (and cash).

Will an election be called sooner than later?
Time will tell.

Hi Foxy,

A government that has to rely on the vote of 'The Mad Katter' to stay in office, says it all.

Well I'm against a hung parliament , if Hilary can go to jail then that's fair enough.

The people the Liberals need to take notice of are definitely not those in Wentworth
ttbn,
cheers for that. I've been waiting for a long time for somone else to think like that.

is Mise,
leave Sunnyvale out of this.

Paul,

If I could, I would present you with a prize for spotting the typo; price would be no object.

I had a laugh this morning at Katter's 0.50% of the vote. He did beat Fred Nile's candidate though: he/she got 0.00%. A look at the list of other unsuccessful candidates revealed that there are a lot of fruitcakes in Wentworth.

I don't know why Cory Bernadi did what he did. I'll bet that you would have done the same, rather than go through the rigamarole that you think he should have. You won't remember this in five minutes time, but the AC are interested only in the senate because they don't have any money to do anything else. A straightforward, practical thing to do, I think. If you had a look at their intentions, you wouldn't have to carry on as though I were Bernardi's keeper. I have never met the man, and I don't intend to. He is just a politician who happens to be the closest to my political stance. He is not a “so called” conservative, either. And, I don't think a Green like you has a leg to stand on calling AC candidates names. If you want the name of another fruitcake, you demented leader is one.

I notice that the Green vote in Wenworth was under 9% - as usual.

A hung parliament is no big deal. Australia is one of very few countries that have governments with an outright majority. Most places couldn't remember if they ever had one. Gillard managed to get support, so will Morrison, even though his performance so far suggests that he doesn't deserve it.