…so the Poll Bludger reports. Looks like Alan Carpenter is taking a leaf out of the Peter Beattie book and dashing to the polls while the opposition is still mired in leadership confusion and disunity.
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It’s a pity Troy Buswell stood down as Liberal leader the other day. Despite the conventional wisdom giving him no chance of winning the election, I thought he was in with a sniff.
Unfortunately Spiros, Troy had to give up her parliamentary seat…
Bra Zen
The sound of
one strap
snapping
+ + + +
“You guys have focussed on the wrong episode in his political career”, said the bloke who was more a bra-strap sort of bloke than a seat type of bloke.
Not the first pollie to seize a chance like this: Malcolm Fraser dashed off to see the G-G when he heard that Labor was about to dump Hayden and install Hawke. The G-G kept him waiting. The public turfed him out.
Mark – in your tags you have Guy Barnett – - it’s Colin Barnett (as in the Liberal ABC faction: Anyone But Colin).
Democracy isn’t really working too well here in WA. From this blog it seems NSW isn’t doing too well either. Perhaps there could be another voting option: none of the above. If a candidate can’t get at least 50% of the 2PP there could be another election with new candidates ?
Thanks for pointing that out, Russell. I’ve duly fixed it.
Awwwwww Russell,
Are you really prepared to have national elections (or State) stretching over months?
e.g. house has 85 members, 60 get elected (35 ALP:25 Coalition, say). In 25 of the electorates voters say “none of the above”. No party has an absolute majority…. for how long?? Another 2 months? In those 25 electorates, 10 still say “none of the above”. Seats won are 42 ALP: 33 Coalition, say.
Neither party has a majority after the second round. Go another 2 months, would you reckon? Toss a coin? Form a minority Govt as a caretaker?
OK Ambigulous, maybe it’s a bit messy. Howabout just choosing the upper house at random from the electoral roll – half at each election?
Hey,
Colin in is with a real chance actually.
The Politics in these parts is very shaky. Only Buswell was keeping Labor safe.
Twists and turns await.
Hey,
Colin in is with a real chance actually.
The Politics in these parts is very shaky. Only Buswell was keeping Labor safe.
Twists and turns await.
I dunno Zombie Mao. He lost last time as the leader of a party that, whilst not exactly brilliant, was at least rather more electorally attractive than the shambles that the WA Libs have been for most of the time since.
I’m not a great fan of the Carpenter government. They make my frontal lobes throb on a fairly regular basis. However, in spite of relentless partisan beat-ups on the part of the Worst, the impression I get at street level is not one of any strong resentment. The average bod seems to find that the crime rate is no worse than it always was, the hospitals probably won’t let them die, public transport hasn’t collapsed and isn’t a waste of taxpayers’ money (quite the opposite if the packed trains on the new Mandurah line are any indication of its popularity), most people don’t get their power cut off that often and State taxes and charges, whilst a cause of general whinging, aren’t really a hot button issue. Political scandal and corruption don’t really seem to be registering, except with the Worst and the commentariat.
In short, whilst I don’t think anyone loves this government, I don’t think enough people want rid sufficiently badly to turf them in favour of the Opposition. I’m speaking here of the population as a whole. The likes of Len Buckeridge might make a lot of noise, but it’s important to remember that there are a lot more Joe Averages than LBs.
My general impression is one of apathy or, at best, disinterest. In that atmosphere I’d expect the advantage of incumbency to be pretty much unassailable. Could be wrong though.
Nice analysis, IB. I agree Carpenter’s government hasn’t been scintillating, but most of the dead wood has been pruned, and most of the government ministers have managed to stay out of trouble -despite the best efforts of the local rag, as you point out. Governments get voted out only if the alternative is credible, and while the strong stench of Troy the Boy lingers around the party leadership
-given Barnett’s promise to give Buswell a senior portfolio under his government- the Liberals really lack that credibility.