Australian leadership in doubt as election too close to call

[rooster59]

Australian leadership in doubt as election too close to call

ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press


CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australians awoke Sunday to a government plagued in uncertainty after a stunningly close national election failed to deliver a clear victor, raising the prospect of a hung parliament.

The gamble by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to call a rare early election may have failed, with his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition on track to lose a swathe of seats in the House of Representatives — and potentially control of the country.

One day after the election, the race remained too close to call, with mail-in ballots and early votes yet to be counted. Still, Turnbull sounded a confident tone during a speech to supporters early Sunday morning.

"Based on the advice I have from the party officials, we can have every confidence that we will form a coalition majority government in the next parliament," Turnbull said.

Parties need to hold at least 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government. When the count was suspended early Sunday, the Australian Electoral Commission said the center-left opposition Labor Party was leading in 72 seats, Turnbull's coalition in 66 seats, and minor parties or independents in five seats. Counting was less clear in another seven seats.

Though the initial count showed Labor ahead, mail-in and early ballots have traditionally favored the conservatives, meaning Turnbull's party is likely to gain seats once those are factored in. The final tally was not expected to be known until Tuesday.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten did not speculate on a Labor victory but celebrated the strong swing to his party just three years after it was convincingly dumped from power in the last election.

"Whatever happens next week, Mr. Turnbull ... will never again be able to promise the stability which he has completely failed to deliver tonight," he said in a speech to cheering supporters on Saturday.

Given the close result, just two possibilities remain: Turnbull's coalition will win by the slimmest of margins, or there will be a hung parliament.

Independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie said Turnbull telephoned him on Sunday morning, apparently because the prime minister was contemplating a hung parliament.

Turnbull called the early election — dubbed a "double dissolution" because both the House and the Senate are dissolved — in a bid to break a legislative deadlock over a bill that would have created a construction industry watchdog. But the result of the election may bring further deadlock: If neither party earns a majority of seats in the House, both Labor and the coalition will be forced to try to forge alliances with independent lawmakers to form a minority government.

Hung parliaments are extremely rare in Australia, with only two since 1940. The most recent was in 2010, when then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard's ruling Labor Party was forced to secure an alliance with the minor Greens party and three independent lawmakers, including Wilkie, to form a fragile minority government. Three years later, the coalition swept to power after winning 90 seats.

Nick Xenophon, leader of the Nick Xenophon Team minor party, would not say on Sunday which side his party's sole lawmaker in the House of Representatives might support in a hung parliament.

"It still looks more likely than not that Malcolm Turnbull will have the numbers — just," Xenophon, a senator, told Nine Network television.

"But If he doesn't, then it's a question of sitting down in good faith with both sides to go through a number of key issues ... that are in the national interest," he added. These issues included maintaining manufacturing and farming jobs in Australia and reducing problem gambling in the community.

The elections continue an extraordinarily volatile period in the nation's politics, where internal party squabbling and fears over sagging poll ratings have prompted five changes of prime minister in as many years.

Amid the chaos, Labor and the coalition each tried to paint themselves as the safer, more stable choice. But selling stability was a tough job for either party, both of which have been marred by infighting in recent years. Shorten played a key role in ousting two of Labor's own prime ministers in the space of three years, and Turnbull himself ousted Abbott less than a year ago. Up until 2007, conservative John Howard served as prime minister for nearly 12 years.

Monash University political expert Nick Economou said Turnbull's leadership had been terminally damaged by his decision to call the early election. It involved the longest campaign since 1969 and appeared to have delivered several hard-line social conservatives and right-wingers to the Senate that the moderate prime minister would have difficulty working with if his government survives, Economou said.

"What an amazing amount of political damage Malcolm Turnbull has been able to inflict in a very short period of time as prime minister," Economou said. "I think his credibility is shot to pieces."

Opinion polls had predicted a close race, but had largely tipped the government to win by a narrow margin. Several government ministers blamed the surprisingly strong result for Labor on what they dubbed a dishonest campaign that claimed the conservatives were threatening Australia's universal health care system known as Medicare.

"Even today people were talking about not being able to afford health care because we were going to get rid of Medicare. It was utter rubbish," Liberal Party Deputy Leader Julie Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "But what do you do when one party relies on a monstrous lie to get elected?"

Two weeks before the election, Shorten ramped up his campaign on health policy by describing the poll as a referendum on the future of Medicare. A Labor government introduced the government-funded program in 1984 to provide free or subsidized health care for all Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Labor accused the government of planning to privatize Medicare — a claim Turnbull dismissed as an audacious scare campaign.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-07-03

[shirtless]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

[BEVUP]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

To Right

Auss has had the best chance to rectify its debt in the past 6 + years but has only gone backwards & actually had to increase its debt bottom line

Then they expect us to pay another 2 perc above the tax rate on earnings above 180 000 to fix the budget

Thats after all the extra taxes for the health system

[tezzainthailand]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

Australian voters are even more incompetent and timid. There were 150 seats up for grabs and 145 of those are going to the two major parties...there were plenty of independents to choose from but Australian voters are too weak minded to consider them, they'll vote for either Labor or Liberal/National party and six months later moan and groan about either of those parties...well whose bloody fault was that?

[mommysboy]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

Sounds like UK.

[gregk0543]

We must be due for a Military Coup in Australia to sort out the mess our politicians have made. That may be the only way to sort out the deadlock.

[mopar71]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

Aussies amateurs. Wait until Nov 8th to see how it is done!

[mopar71]

At least the eventual loser can't blame low voter turnout from their side. Isn't voting a legal requirement or something for citizens?

[TPI]

We must be due for a Military Coup in Australia to sort out the mess our politicians have made. That may be the only way to sort out the deadlock.

Looking at the way the senior Military officers in Oz cock up it would be better if the Thai military made the coup, with only 21 million people to play with it would only be 1/3 as bad as here??

[TPI]

At least the eventual loser can't blame low voter turnout from their side. Isn't voting a legal requirement or something for citizens?

Totally compulsory! If you don't vote its off to court with you and a fine!

[manfredtillmann]

At least the eventual loser can't blame low voter turnout from their side. Isn't voting a legal requirement or something for citizens?

Totally compulsory! If you don't vote its off to court with you and a fine!

unless you are in thailand (or somewhere else outside oz) at the time of voting (insert emoticon of your choice).

[up2u2]

At least the eventual loser can't blame low voter turnout from their side. Isn't voting a legal requirement or something for citizens?

Totally compulsory! If you don't vote its off to court with you and a fine!

It is not 'off to Court' at all. It is a small fine. Voting is NOT compulsory. You must mark your name off the roll. You do not have to actually vote if you do not wish too. You can simply put the electoral forms in the garbage if you wish.

[up2u2]

At least the eventual loser can't blame low voter turnout from their side. Isn't voting a legal requirement or something for citizens?

Totally compulsory! If you don't vote its off to court with you and a fine!

unless you are in thailand (or somewhere else outside oz) at the time of voting (insert emoticon of your choice).

I think you can vote in an Australian Embassy overseas?

[MJP]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

You are not the only one's with this problem.

[up2u2]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

Then don't vote for a major Party. Vote Green or Independent it drives the major Partys nuts. Watch Turnbull and Shorten try and sort this mess out. lmao

I think it is hilarious. Australia voted for Chaos. Well Turnbull and Shorten welcome to my world with you idiots trying to run it.

[gregk0543]

With regards to compulsory voting in Australia.

The turn out in Australia is around 93%. So we have a high participation rate.

http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/australian_electoral_history/Voter_Turnout.htm

The 7% are sent out a notice with a chance to give a valid reason why they did not vote.

If you are overseas and unable to make it to a polling both at an embassy that is an acceptable excuse.

Some may even cite religious grounds.

If you fail to respond in an acceptable way to that you get fined.

You can still write to them for a review after that.

Being travelling overseas and missing the notices to my address I have got that far.

I have never heard of anyone getting to court and being fined or locked up.

The fine is $20. And that is enough of a stick to get 93% turnout.

All the detail is here. The term used is compulsory voting.

http://www.aec.gov.au/voting/Compulsory_Voting.htm

http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/backgrounders/compulsory-voting.htm

Edited July 5, 2016 by gregk0543

[Rancid]

Well Oz had the choice of LNP with their pro Big Business agenda, or Labor with their pro Big Union agenda. Both have proved competent only at spending money, feathering their own nests and giving the finger to the electorate.

Both have a pro US foreign policy and are keen to bomb whoever they can to prove it. Needless to say said dual foreign policy wasn't even mentioned in the election.

Turns out also that former leader Abbot seriously considered sending troops to the Ukraine to effectively declare war on nuclear armed Russia, something no sane leader anywhere else looked at. Mad.

So looks a like another hung parliament or a castrated minority government. Well, at least the less laws the idiots can pass the less damage they can do.

Oz politicians are just as cringe worthy and corrupt as their US counterparts, the universal growing disgust with the political class slowly but surely grows.

[Publicus]

We must be due for a Military Coup in Australia to sort out the mess our politicians have made. That may be the only way to sort out the deadlock.

Looking at the way the senior Military officers in Oz cock up it would be better if the Thai military made the coup, with only 21 million people to play with it would only be 1/3 as bad as here??

How many people in Australia talk or think this military coup stuff.

It's my impression anyway 99% of the misfits went abroad to march live happily ever after.

(Same same regarding other Anglophone countries.)

[Nasrullah]

Well Oz had the choice of LNP with their pro Big Business agenda, or Labor with their pro Big Union agenda. Both have proved competent only at spending money, feathering their own nests and giving the finger to the electorate.

Both have a pro US foreign policy and are keen to bomb whoever they can to prove it. Needless to say said dual foreign policy wasn't even mentioned in the election.

Turns out also that former leader Abbot seriously considered sending troops to the Ukraine to effectively declare war on nuclear armed Russia, something no sane leader anywhere else looked at. Mad.

So looks a like another hung parliament or a castrated minority government. Well, at least the less laws the idiots can pass the less damage they can do.

Oz politicians are just as cringe worthy and corrupt as their US counterparts, the universal growing disgust with the political class slowly but surely grows.

Yes Abbot was an absolute dill.......Turnbull is not much better........and shorten ..well....he'll always be little Bill!

[neverdie]

Its hard to cast a vote when both major parties are totally incompetent.

You are not the only one's with this problem.

You mothers taught us.

[gregk0543]

We must be due for a Military Coup in Australia to sort out the mess our politicians have made. That may be the only way to sort out the deadlock.

Looking at the way the senior Military officers in Oz cock up it would be better if the Thai military made the coup, with only 21 million people to play with it would only be 1/3 as bad as here??

How many people in Australia talk or think this military coup stuff.

It's my impression anyway 99% of the misfits went abroad to march live happily ever after.

(Same same regarding other Anglophone countries.)

No one has thought of it. We are gamblers we will keep throwing the electoral dice until it throws up a winner. We love elections.

[manfredtillmann]

At least the eventual loser can't blame low voter turnout from their side. Isn't voting a legal requirement or something for citizens?

Totally compulsory! If you don't vote its off to court with you and a fine!

unless you are in thailand (or somewhere else outside oz) at the time of voting (insert emoticon of your choice).

I think you can vote in an Australian Embassy overseas?

that would be a 1700km return trip for me. no, thank you.

[up2u2]

We must be due for a Military Coup in Australia to sort out the mess our politicians have made. That may be the only way to sort out the deadlock.

Looking at the way the senior Military officers in Oz cock up it would be better if the Thai military made the coup, with only 21 million people to play with it would only be 1/3 as bad as here??

How many people in Australia talk or think this military coup stuff.

It's my impression anyway 99% of the misfits went abroad to march live happily ever after.

(Same same regarding other Anglophone countries.)

Hi Publicus absolutely NO ONE!!!! I can assure you of that. No way a military person would dare point a gun in the direction of an Australian citizen. Military personal have no authority over Australian civilians EVER!!!!!! If a fully armed military person gave a directive to an Australian citizen he / she would be told to go eff themselves. They do not have a Warrant of Arrest or detain powers.

You would rarely if ever even have a Military commander addressing the Australian population. It is simply not tolerated. Any communication between the Military is provided via the Defense Minister. Or unless it is an apology when things may have gone wrong they are expected to front up and explain themselves and apologise

The previous disgraced Prime Minister Abbott (a far Right Wing loon) trotted out high ranking military personnel to 'speak' to Australians. Trust me it did not go down too well. Abbott also formed the Border Protection Force and kitted them out in Nazi SS Type uniforms. There was an announcement from Border Protection Force that they would be on the streets requesting people's 'Papers'. This triggered a mass protest where people immediately gathered in the area looking to confront the Border Protection Force personnel and take them on. No person walking on a street can be asked for their 'Papers'. We have total freedom of movement. The little Nazi SS uniformed personnel did a runner quickly followed by an apology. Apparently all a big miscommunication. Yeah right, nice try.

You have to be always vigilant where Right Wing loons are concerned.