+ 1

This is why this hung parliament/close election rubbish is so annoying! Because the fact is, Labor have nowhere near the support that it appears they do! It is just because of the Green's preferences that they are even in the race, and I blame all the "enviro-retards" who think that a vote for the Green's is going to save the trees/whales/planet/whatever...

I am all for preservation of the planet and animals etc, but IMO the stupid ideas and policies which the Green's stand for FAR outweigh any positive changes to how our government treats the environment!

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www.ToonMyRide.com.au

'04 E46 S/C M3 Coupe

I know quite a few people who voted for the greens knowing their preference would go to labor but they wanted to support labor but also show Australia that they cared about our environment.

Exactly, we go to the polls knowing that preference votes count, free votes talk is rubbish. I have a few mates too who voted greens, as a protest vote against labor. They still hate libs

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[S]kid[S]

Not saying everyone who votes for the green's is uneducated as to their actual policies or where there preferences will go... I just think that a lot of people who do vote for them are...

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www.ToonMyRide.com.au

'04 E46 S/C M3 Coupe

+1

I think you've hit the nail on the head Jimmy

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Regardless of your political views, it is almost universally agreed that the large vote for the Greens (and the high number of informal votes) this election was mainly in protest to how poorly Labor performed in certain key policy areas while in government (ie failing to take promised action on climate change, failure to implement resources the tax and then kicking out the PM because of it etc). These particular votes wouldn't have gone to the Coalition regardless.

There is another group of voters who are either swing voters or traditional Liberal/Coalition voters who thought Howard's time was up last election and voted Labor in 07. These voters were also disenchanted that Labor failed to demonstrate leadership in key policy areas, thought Labor failed to live up to the hipe, thought Labor wasted money, thought Labor wasn't tough on people smugglers and/or various other issues, and changed their vote to the Coalition.

Of course we also have our staunch Labor and Coalition voters but they didn't change their vote!

The swing to the Greens was +3.7%
The swing to the Coalition was only +1.9%

Despite preferences, had there been no swing to the Greens, the increase in the Coalition vote would have not been enough for the Coaltion to secure government this election (Remember, Labor had a huge 18 seat margin!).

Interesting thoughts....
Greens preferences go to Labor so a Green vote is a Labor vote. If the intention is to protest against Labor I'd say the theory is somewhat flawed.

IMO if the Libs were on their game and had some sort of plausible solid policy and at least a 12m track record as a decent opposition then they would have been a clear winner at the polls. There are still a lot of doubtful voters out there that think Abbott / Coalition are not up for the job yet. There seem to be a lot of Lib members patting Abbott on the back. I'd say he fell far short of taking the gift PM spot.

The swing away from Labor , given that they had a very clear majority in the last election is a damn good indication the swinging public has had enough. Factor in the Female PM to the equation and that's probably why they saved a few seats. Clearly The Ranga was a tactical move (and very risky) at attempting to save a sinking ship.

My only disappoint from the election is the lack of independent candidates. Given the current state of politics this is an ideal opportunity for the public to have a real say.

To the members that did get in......Shape the fuck up and run the country properly.

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MY00 WRX. 89 Prelude. 99 CRV

I'd have to agree, but i'd go even further and say that anyone who votes labour or liberal, or greens or socialist or anyone who's preferences go straight to a major party(makes it hard to vote for anyone really) is unaware/uneducated or perhaps more accurately, wrongly educated/brainwashed by the mainstream media which is owned by the same corporations whom fund the major political parties, as to what is really going on and who you are voting for when you vote a major party... I'd take it even further and say it is impossible to have meaningful political debates about the left/right wing given the fact that they are funded by the same corporations, how can their goals be any different? the only debate worth anything is the individualist vs collectivist debate - ie: persuasion vs coercion or minimalist governmental power vs totalitarianism.

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MY99 EJ205, ~300bhp running at 1.4bar, 12.8 sec quarter mile.

You really need to lay down the crack pipe.

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[COLOR="Gray"]550Nm off a 2L... Just wish it was in the dak dak...[/COLOR]

I've spoken to a lot of people who were quite shocked to find out that their vote for the non major party actually went to Labor or Libs in the end. Given that a lot of people struggle to finish high school, they are not too aware or interested in how government works.

As we seem to have nanny laws for everything these days, I can't see how it would hurt for all candidates to list their preference voting on the 'how to vote' cards they hand out.

That way people putting in a protest vote for Libs/Lab can make sure it will truly be heard.

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[COLOR="Gray"]550Nm off a 2L... Just wish it was in the dak dak...[/COLOR]