Media wrap & latest vote tally on Wednesday morning, 25 August 2010

AEC Virtual Tally Room
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Across Australia 14,088,260 electors enrolled to vote.
Currently 78.76% of the primary vote has been counted representing 11,000,292 electors.
The two party preferred count is 75.85% complete.
A total of 1,935,933 declation votes were issued, including postal, prepoll and absentee ballots.
619,905 informal votes were recorded.

This morning's reports on the scramble for a minority government, with Tony Abbott using the media to push his cause:

Independents set for long haul Sydney Morning Herald‎
'If they were good for the bush, I'm a Martian astronaut.'... Bob Katter said that during their 12 years in power the Coalition had done little for rural voters. Photo: Nicolas Walker THE three independents holding the key to who will govern the nation...
Greens will control ALP, says Abbott The Australian ‎
Independents Bob Katter, left, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott meet in Parliament House. Picture: Gary Ramage Source: The Australian TONY Abbott has warned that the Australian Greens would virtually control a minority Labor government...
Abbott's plea to independent MPs The Age ‎
With three seats still in doubt nationally, all eyes are on Hasluck for a result that may decide which party can form government. TONY Abbott, a renowned parliamentary head kicker, has promised a ''kinder, gentler polity'' if he becomes prime minister...
Abbott to drive gentle bargain to kingmakers ABC News
An Abbott government would be prepared to introduce a new, backbench-only Question Time and expose more of its ministers - even Tony Abbott himself - to the rough-and-tumble of the budget estimates process, the Coalition will tell crossbench MPs this week...
Rural MPs may finally meet leaders News.com.au
THREE rural independents who could decide Australia's next prime minister are formulating a roadmap to power which they'll present to both Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott...
Gillard has the real call, not Bryce‎ The Australian
Power to incumbent if count tied: Fraser The Australian
Oakeshott pushes unity government vision The Australian ‎

Provisional voters reminded to provide their evidence of identity to AEC by Friday 27 August 2010 to make their vote count

From Australian Electoral Commission media release 24 August 2010:

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is reminding all voters who cast a provisional vote on election day Saturday 21 August and didn't provide evidence of identity on the day, that they have until Friday 27 August to fulfil this requirement.

Electoral Commissioner, Ed Killesteyn said that voters may have cast a provisional vote on election day because their name or address could not be found on the list of voters or it appeared their name had already been marked off.

"The AEC must receive evidence of identity from provisional voters by 5pm on Friday 27 August 2010 or their vote cannot be counted," said Mr Killesteyn.

On election day a 'voter advice document' was provided to each voter who cast a provisional vote without providing an accepted form of identity. The document informed them of their obligation to provide evidence of their identity by this Friday.

These voters can visit an AEC office to show an accepted evidence of identity document or they can mail a photocopy of the document, provided it has been sighted and signed by an authorised person, to an AEC office.

Please note this requirement only applies to voters who cast a provisional vote on election day and did not provide evidence of identity on the day – and does not apply to any other voter.

Provisional votes are only counted after a careful check of enrolment records are made to confirm the provisional voter's eligibility.

For the addresses of AEC divisional offices, visit the Contact the AEC page or call the AEC on 13 23 26.

First Dog articulates our common fear.....

First Dog on the Moon reminds us that it will all inevitably happen again -AAAARRRRGGGHHH!

A bit about First Dog

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It's begun. Liberals attempt to smear Australian Governor-General in hope that state governor will have to decide next federal government

Media Statement 23 August 2010

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Saturday's federal election vote count was not even finished for the night when the first whispered attempts to discredit Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce began in an effort to have her stand aside, presumably in favour of NSW Governor Marie Bashir (current holder of dormant commission as Administrator of the Commonwealth), in the event of a hung parliament being confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission.

Though why the Coalition appears to believe that Governor Bashir would be more amenable to inviting Abbott to form a government is unclear at this point. Perhaps the ease with which she was spooked by tabloid newspaper The Daily Telegraph earlier this year has fostered some hope in Liberal breasts that she might cave under pressure.

While Tony Abbott is keeping his head below the parapet for now, yesterday the art of the sly smear was being practiced by Liberal Party donor and mining magnate Clive Palmer:

MINING magnate and government critic Clive Palmer has questioned the role of Governor-General Quentin Bryce in determining whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott is allowed to form a government.
Ms Bryce's daughter Chloe Bryce is married to ALP powerbroker Bill Shorten, who was instrumental in Ms Gillard toppling Kevin Rudd for the prime ministership.
''We need to make sure that the Governor-General is totally impartial,'' Mr Palmer told The Age. ''If the Governor-General finds she can't be impartial, she should stand down and they should get someone else to fulfil that role.''

In response to this and other speculation in the media Government House released this brief statement:

The Governor-General is seeking advice on concerns raised about her personal position in the current political circumstances.

It's almost a given that sometime in the next three weeks Abbott will be at the Court of Disputed Returns and the Federal Court trying to claw back as many seats as he can in order to form government in his own right; but what is also highly probable is that should either Bryce or Bashir issue that all important invitation to Julia Gillard instead of to him, Abbott will go straight to the High Court asking that the decision be overturned and then a constitutional crisis really will be upon us all.

It wouldn't surprise me if Abbott is rather relying on a national cringe at the thought of a prolonged Coalition dummy spit of this kind (argumented by motions of no confidence and 2008-style disruptive antics in the House once Parliament begins another term) when he argues that the return of a Gillard Government would destabilize the political landscape.

Hogan no hero in Page

The Northern Star 23 August 2010:

KEVIN HOGAN'S eyes were red-rimmed and his movements terse as he watched results pour in from across the Page electorate.

The people had spoken and it took Mr Hogan and his Page Nationals colleagues less than two hours to work out what they had said: "We want Janelle Saffin."

After nearly 10 months of hard campaigning by Mr Hogan, his wife Karen, and even their children, it was a difficult message to hear, but he said he would do it all again in a flash.

Speaking after his 8pm call conceding defeat to his Labor opponent, Mr Hogan said running in the campaign had been a 'great personal experience'.

The Greens - winning and grinning in 2010

Whatever the outcome of the peculiar and slightly distasteful political ménage à quatre - formed by Labor, Libs, Greens and Independents - presently trying to resolve itself into a workable federal government, it seems the Australian Greens prove the saying that winners are grinners.

Taken from a Greens email sent by Ebony Bennett to supporters on 23rd August:

• We won a Senate seat in every State, including our first ever Greens Senators in Queensland and Victoria. This gives us the power to shape the agenda of the new Government and achieve real outcomes on issues like climate change, a fair go for asylum seekers, same sex marriage, and improving public schools and hospitals;
• Our first ever lower house Greens Member of Parliament has been elected in a general election - congratulations to Adam Bandt who won the seat of Melbourne with a massive 13% swing to the Greens on primaries!
• More than 4,500 of you signed up online to volunteer over the course of the campaign - knocking on doors, handing out how to votes, holding Greens stalls and events, and much more;
• Together, we raised more than $300,000 from small online donations to run our fantastic, positive campaign advertising on TV, on billboards in capital cities, in major newspapers, and to build the biggest online advertising presence we've ever had; (with special thanks to the talented creative team at Make Believe for all their work on this campaign)
• More than 20,000 people became Facebook fans of the Greens- and dozens of State and local Facebook groups sprung up to spread the Greens' message online

For me, as Campaign Manager, the last few months have been both exhilarating and exhausting. What's kept me going is the knowledge that you - the people out there reading these emails - have been working tirelessly in your own communities.

You've shared the Greens' positive vision for Australia with your neighbours, your colleagues and your families, and that's what's led to these stunning results.

You are the heart and soul of the Greens.

Having the balance of power in the Senate from July 2011 isn't a magic wand, but it does mean we'll be in a powerful position to make legislation better, introduce new ideas to the Parliament and push both sides of politics to deliver smarter, more constructive and progressive outcomes for our nation. The results of this election won't be clear for another few days - or even weeks - and the Senators and I will be in touch with the latest developments.