The morning after the election night before

Well the fat lady sang early last night and Australia now has an incoming Labor federal government, with the Nationals no longer able to dominate on the North Coast of New South Wales.

Neither Sue Page or Chris Gulaptis can console themselves with the thought that it was merely a national electoral swing which saw them fail to win the seats of Richmond and Page.

Gulaptis in particular was reaping the results of his develop-unsustainably-and-damn-local-quality-of-life voting pattern; first a Maclean shire councillor and mayor and later as a Clarence Valley shire councillor.

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye

John Winston Howard conceded electoral defeat on behalf of his government late last night.

It is expected that he will eventually be forced to also concede defeat as the Liberal Member for Bennelong.

Make no mistake, despite his long time in Parliament and as a holder of the office of Prime Minister, this man deserved to go.

Australia was not only tired of Howard and his Coalition Government, it was increasingly afraid of being governed by these neo-fascist bullies.

The majority of Australians were afraid of both where he had taken our country and where he might lead it in the future.

It was obvious as he spoke last night that John Howard hopes that history will treat him kindly. He does not deserve a generous re-writing of history and Australia cannot afford to forget just how close it came to having its character and culture irreparably distorted and corrupted by this now outgoing Federal Government.

Labor wins 2 out of 3 NSW North Coast seats

Justine Elliot retains the seat of Richmond for Federal Labor. This strong win was never in doubt from very early on in the vote count.

Janelle Saffin gains the seat of Page for Federal Labor. Her comfortable win was buttressed by Green preferences.

Luke Hartsuyker retains the seat of Page for the Federal Nationals. His seat remained officially a close call for some part of election night but he pulled ahead to a winning position midway through.

 

None of these seats have been officially declared by the Australian Electoral Commission at the time of posting. However the results are not in doubt.

The Howard Government is gone, gone, gone....

and I'm so glad, glad, glad!

Australia votes 2007: AEC Virtual Tally Room and ABC election coverage online links

Australian Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room federal election vote count from 7,700 polling stations across the country, with information across 1,200 pages and updates every 90 seconds beginning after 6pm:

http://www.aec.gov.au/index.htm

 

Australian Broadcasting Corporation website:

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/

Last word from local media as the NSW North Coast heads to the ballot box

"IT would take a brave, almost reckless, bet to try and pick the likely election winner in Page.

A poll in The Daily Examiner two weeks ago hints at a Labor win in the contest between Labors Janelle Saffin and the Nationals Chris Gulaptis in Page, but points to a result so tight that it could easily go either way.-----

The other party to watch in the counting tonight and tomorrow is The Greens. The party has run an unusually vigorous campaign in Richmond, largely due to the efforts of its candidate there, Giovanni Ebono."

The Daily Examiner full article today:
 http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3756341&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

 

"THE choice for Australia's 13 million voters today is to stay with a familiar team, or vote for change.

We endorse the view that it is time for change. It is time to vote out a Government that has no case for re-election and is leading this country down an increasingly narrow, selfish and short-sighted path.

Kevin Rudd's Labor team has recognised the best features of John Howard's Coalition policies and kept them, chief among them being economic responsibility and stability.

But the differences that Labor offers are fundamental.-----

Our foreign policy has spilled into domestic affairs. The Government drafted internal security laws befitting an old-style Communist state and the public is encouraged by TV advertising into paranoid neighbourhood spying. Is this the sort of Australia we want?

Mr Rudd's team is yet to be tried, but if elected today it will know that Australians are looking for a new style of leadership, one which will encourage fairness and open-mindedness. It will need to be leadership that allows this country to breathe again."

The Northern Star editorial opinion today:

http://www.northernstar.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3756359&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

Last minute campaign stupidity leaves 'em laughing: Robb on GetUp!

The Liberal Party's Andrew Robb once again makes us laugh as he attacks GetUP!

 

He forgot to factor in the high non-response rate of Coalition candidates in some electorates. If candidates didn't register their responses to the questionnaire it would be nigh impossible for the online computerised How Should I Vote? program to throw up their names in response.

Something that everyone on the NSW North Coast who tried this program would be well aware of, as local Nationals candidates also appear to have ignored this possibility.

 

When Andrew Robb couldn't get the computer program to advise him to vote for himself, he ran to the media with: "This outrageous website is likely to deceive thousands of voters, especially young voters who are genuinely seeking information from the internet".

 

The response was measured.

"Getup! executive director Brett Solomon said most Liberal candidates and the party had not submitted policy details for the site, meaning they were listed randomly after those who did.

"The system itself does not allow for parties that don't complete the form to have a rating because there's no data," he said."

 

Truly Andrew, you've excelled yourself at introducing last minute red herrings this week.

GetUp! didn't shoot you in the foot - you did that all by yourself.

 

GetUp! and Robb article:  

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22812209-29277,00.html