Australian Prime Minister John Howard has admitted defeat in the country's general election, and looks set to lose his parliamentary seat. Mr Howard said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".
Mr Howard said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".
"23. Questions arising in the Senate shall be determined by a majority of votes, and each senator shall have one vote. The President shall in all cases be entitled to a vote; and when the votes are equal the question shall pass in the negative."
Signing right up to the Kyoto treaty is promising. I'd be interested to hear your views on what the win might mean for Australia. Ad astra per aspera
However it is encouraging that Rudd has not sold his soul to Rupert Murdoch. The Australian arm of the Murdoch Empire was backing the coalition.
Rudd should be better than Howard. I hope he does not prove as disappointing in the long term as Blair did.
Australia is China's quarry, right now. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
In that case, the results would be:
This suggests, with Family First normally aligning with the Liberal/National Coalition, that the newly elected independent Senator Nick XENOPHON from South Australia might hold the balance of power if he aligns with the Coalution.
However, in many issues, it seems that Nick would be more likely to line up with the ALP ... from the Wikipedia entry, with text that seems to have been written around the time of his announcing his run for the Australian Senate:
His platform will consist of anti-gambling, pro-consumer protection, attention to the water crisis, ratifying Kyoto, opposition against what he calls a decrease in state rights, and opposition to WorkChoices.
The presiding officer of the Senate is chosen from amongst the Senators, who retains his or her right to vote and participate in debates (but rarely participates in debate except on questions affecting the Senate itself) ... and when votes in the Australian Senate are evenly divided, the matter in question is not agreed to ... there is no casting or deciding vote. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
... that leaves rolling back the most extreme of the IR law reforms under the last Coalition government, when it held the balance of power.
On that, after the "Work Choices" system being a big part of the defeat of the Coalition, I reckon its likely that at least some of the Coalition Senators will demand token concessions and then pass the Labor program. In particular, some of the National Senators may be eager to demonstrate the continuing relevance of their party, and some headline concessions for primary producers in rural areas might be sufficient to get two or three Nationals Senators on board.
One of the stories in this election is the confirmation of the final electoral collapse of the Australian Democrats, which started a process of steep decline from holding the balance of power in the Senate with its support for the enactment of Howard's GST, which was then accelerated by its inability to find a coherent position to stand between the Coalition and the ALP as the ALP positioned itself closer to the electoral middle of the road.
One more election like this, and the Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate. I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.
