Showing posts with label federal election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label federal election. Show all posts

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Federal Election 2016: Malcolm Bligh Turnbull's faux outrage


This was Coalition Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull frothing at the mouth in March 2016:


Now at the time writs were issued for the 2013 federal election there were 34 Liberal/Nationals senators, 31 Labor senators, 9 Greens senators and 1 independent.

After that election there were 33 Liberal/Nationals senators, 25 Labor senators, 10 Greens senators, 1 independent senators and 7 minor party senators.

With some senators resigning from minor parties in the first two years the mix is now 33 Liberal/Nationals senators, 25 Labor senators, 10 Greens senators, 4 independent senators and 4 minor party senators.

The Senate still functions - sitting days are per usual, estimate hearings go ahead as normal and committees function as well as they ever did.

So why all this faux outrage on the part of the Turnbull Government, which resulted in it introducing the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016 in the Lower House on 22 February and attempting to ram it through the Senate as I write?

Well it wasn’t because that very large Senate ballot paper led to a high informal vote – in fact 2013 saw the third lowest informal vote since 1977 when it came to casting votes for senators – and it wasn’t because the ballot result meant the Coalition had drastically fewer senators as they went from 37 senators in the 43rd Parliament to 34 in the 44th “hung” Parliament.

The real reason that Turnbull & Co are up in arms is because the Senate rejected the most punitive of its 2014-15 budget measures. You know, the ones that were blatant ideological attempts to begin the dismantling of universal healthcare, affordable university education and the welfare safety net.

The fact that the Senate was merely reflecting the outrage of much of the national electorate continues to be ignored, as Malcolm and his cronies blame those pesky minor parties and plot to comprehensively ‘own’ the Senate next time round.

Thursday 4 December 2014

Which NSW federal electorate will disappear in the electoral boundary redistribution currently underway?


The are 48 federal electorates within New South Wales with 48 sitting Members of Parliament.

As part of the current Australian Electoral Commission boundary redistribution process begun this month, one of these electorates will be removed from the map below before the 2016 federal general election.

Which one will it be?

ABC election commentator Antony Green suggests that it may be the Riverina electorate which will disappear completely.

However, a number of boundaries will have to be adjusted and The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 1 December 2014 :

Political pundits believe the biggest effects will be felt in the upper Hunter Valley and lower North Coast of NSW where enrolments have fallen the most dramatically.

This redistribution in NSW, WA and the ACT would not favour either an early federal election as Green points out or an unexpected by-election and, for the NSW North Coast would be particularly complicated:

The redistribution process will then take about nine months for NSW, possibly shorter for Western Australia. This will be an annoying complication for the Abbott government if it chooses to use any available trigger to request a double dissolution in 2015.
An early election in a state with an unchanged seat entitlement has no complications. The existing electoral boundaries would be used.
But under a High Court ruling from the 1970s, if a state's entitlement to seats in the House changes, then the changed number of members must be elected for the state at the next election.
This means that if an election is called mid-way through a redistribution in a state with changed entitlement to seats, then a method needs to be used to create or abolish a seat while leaving other boundaries in place.
The mechanism that has been in the Commonwealth Electoral Act since 1984, but to date never used, is a 'mini-redistribution'.
In a state set to lose a seat, the two adjacent electorates with the lowest enrolment would be amalgamated into a single electorate.
In a state set to gain an electorate, the two neighbouring electorates with the highest enrolment would be quickly divided into three electorates.
How would this operate in New South Wales ......based on enrolments at the end of June 2014?
On current enrolments, the National held seats of Page and Cowper on the north coast of NSW would be amalgamated into a single seat called Cowper-Page. On June statistics this joined seat would have an enrolment of 192,530.
The next four possible amalgamations would be Page-Richmond (192,839), Newcastle-Shortland (193,795), Farrer-Riverina (193,929) and Lyne-Paterson (194,377). Only one pairing of electorates would be merged, but which two will depend on enrolments when the election is called.
Cowper-Page combines two National held seats, Newcastle-Shortland combines two Labor held seats, Page-Richmond combines a Labor and National seat, while Farrer-Riverina and Lyne-Paterson combine a Liberal held and National held seat.....
and     
A double dissolution after the determination date but before the boundaries were finalised would require a mini-redistribution. That means this messy process would be used for a double dissolution between the end of 2014 and the last quarter of 2015.


Wednesday 30 July 2014

The NSW Nationals have been whispering about it for quite a while, but this is the first time I have seen it in print


Former Labor MP Janelle Saffin is considering taking on the sitting Nationals MP Kevin Hogan for the federal seat of Page at the next general election.


Snapshot from The Northern Star 29 June 2014

Hat tip to Clarrie Rivers for supplying this.

Saturday 14 July 2012

Fast food franchisee to stand against Elliot in Richmond



And here he is in all his glory………
Matthew Fraser, co-owner of two Hungry Jacks (Competitive Foods Australia Pty Ltd) fast food franchises, in an obligatory shot with Wollumbin (Mt. Warning) in the background.


Matthew’s main claim to fame on the Internet is the exploding oil dumpster incident in 2009.

Saturday 30 June 2012

Nationals' Kevin Hogan to have second tilt at Labor's Janelle Saffin at next federal election



A Twitter entry today appears to indicate that the NSW North Coast Nationals are so sure the Page electorate is in their pocket that they are again willing to run Kevin Hogan against sitting Labor MP Janelle Saffin.

Because he was so forgettable last time he stood for election and has never taken any interest in the electorate since then, many local voters may find they have little memory of him.

So here is a short reprise:

After getting Federal Nationals pre-selection
unopposed in 2009 Kevin Hogan took keeping a low profile to ridiculous length.

Hogan was (and probably still is)
in denial about an ongoing Coalition commitment to dam and divert certain North Coast rivers.

He
supports the coal seam gas industry and particularly Metgasgo, whose operations in the Casino district have led to fines concerning water management documentation and orders for improperly disposing of contaminated wastewater and for badly constructed ‘holding’ ponds.

Hogan allowed his National Party supporters free rein to
post abusive and sexist remarks on his Facebook campaign page.

Like his fearless leaders, he appears to
consider the truth to be a highly flexible commodity and even makes false claims about his election campaign giveaways.

During the 2010 federal election campaign, Hogan
accepted ‘help’ from a paid staffer of a sitting NSW Nationals MP – then denied all knowledge when this breach of the rules became known.

Was so cavalier about election campaign rules and conventions that
he thumbed his nose both online and in print.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Abbott and Co out to emasculate the NSW Nationals?


All is not well between the Liberal-Nationals Coalition in the lead up to the next Australian federal election and strong language is the order of the day in this letter (originally published by The Australian) in reply from Nationals NSW President Christine Ferguson to Federal Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos on 5 March 2012.
 
Nationals NSW President Christine Ferguson's Letter To Federal Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos

Sunday 8 April 2012

Trust me, I'm Tony Abbott


The face of things to come?
I'll still respect them in the morning
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's attitude
on the eve of the
Federal General Election 2013

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Nationals in Richmond: Desperate times call for desperate measures


National Party candidate Tania Murdock's sudden exit from the race to win the seat of Richmond at the next Federal election has left the Nationals in the lurch.

Murdock was the only person to put her hand up when the Nationals called for nominations last year and it seems there's no one waiting in the wings to fill her shoes.

In their hour of need former National MP for Richmond Larry Anthony has said he won't be putting his hand up for another shot at winning Richmond.

Anthony said his reason for not wanting to stand was the same one he had when he decided against running in 2007.

"In politics you are a rooster one day and a feather duster the next. It can be pretty ephemeral.

"When I'm on my death bed it will be my children by my bedside, not the people who voted for me."

So, who will the Nationals turn to?

Nationals Richmond chairman Alan Hunter said people from outside the party are welcome to apply for preselection.

Interested in being the National Party candidate in Richmond?

Call Richmond Nationals Vice Chairman Alan Martin on 0400 402 106
or (07) 5524 6938 or email alanmartin1117@hotmail.com




Source: The Northern Star