It’s been an interesting year in politics, and I thought I’d do it by the numbers.
Harry Potter references: 2
“Neither can live while the other survives” – Mark Simkin, said during a live cross to Parliament House explaining that whoever lost the leadership spill in June (it was Julia) was not going to stay in politics in the following election.
“It’s like in the Harry Potter novels….Dolores Umbridge is now in charge” – Tony Burke, made during a speech congratulating Bronwyn Bishop on her election into the Speaker’s chair.
ALP Spills: 3
#1: Courtesy of Simon Crean, the first spill of the year, in March, was essentially a non-spill, because Kevin didn’t put his hand up and Julia Gillard remained the PM.
#2: Julia Gillard got sick of the rumours and called a spill, with the loser leaving politics at the next election. Kevin Rudd won, and Julia kept her word.
#3: Post election, the ALP had a spill for leader, this time not only with caucus but also rank-and-file members of the ALP. In what was a slightly insane and complicated spill, Bill Shorten became Opposition leader.
Federal Elections: 1
Thank god there was only one of these – I think we would’ve gone mental if there were more. In short, Tony Abbott and the Coalition won. Now we’re get to wait for 3 years!
Backflips: 1
Artfully named the “Quadruple Gonski Backflip” by ABCNews23 (NOT 24) on Twitter, it charts the Coalitions position on the “Gonski Reforms” – reforms to the education system. First they didn’t like it, then they were ok with it and would carry it on, then after the election they said they were going to renegotiate. After getting into trouble from lots of parents, they said they would support it.
Threats of a Double Dissolution: 1
Tony Abbott began threatening this before he even won the election. He suggested that if the Carbon Tax was not repealed, he would ask for a double dissolution so he could try to control the Senate – although it appears that recently, someone has (maybe) told him it could backfire because he hasn’t made that threat in a while…
Ballot Recounts: 3
#1: Indi (VIC) – to double-check the numbers – Cathy McGowan, an independent, won the seat of Sophie Mirabella.
#2: Faifax (QLD) – again to double-check the numbers – Clive Palmer, billionaire mining magnate and dinosaur park owner, won the seat.
#3: West Australia – the Senate results were so close, there was a recount – which didn’t end too well (see below)
Magical appearances/vanishing of ballot papers: 2
Appearance: Due to a clerical error, a container/box of ballot papers in Indi were discovered to have 1000, not 100 papers inside, which help Cathy McGowan in Indi win the seat.
Vanishing: Somehow, somewhere, 1,300 Senate ballot papers in Western Australia vanished and were never seen again. It changed the result of the Senate and is possibly the subject of a High Court challenge.
I hope you all have a lovely new year.
Kara L 