Well, the election is over.
We’re left with a couple of seats still in doubt, down from thirteen at the start of the week, and it looks as if the Coalition will cross the line, either with a slim majority or with the help of a few crossbenchers. There was some notable gains, the Melbourne seat of Chisholm, has been won by the Liberals after being held by retiring MP Anna Burke since 1998. Eden-Monaro has broken its record of being the bell-weather seat held by the government of the day to the total opposite after being won by Mike Kelly from Labor. Meanwhile, three Tasmanian seats fell to Labor as did several Western Sydney seats. The Western Sydney shift was somewhat expected, with analysts saying that the 2013 gains were unlikely to be replicated this time round. The uncertainty of the week lead to jitters on the markets and a warning from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.
The Senate is, for want of better words, a bit of a mess. Pauline Hanson and her One Nation party have got themselves senate seats, as has Derryn Hinch, Jacqui Lambie and the Nick Xenophon Team. It will be interesting to see who does finally get seats in the senate after the long process of counting the ballot papers is completed and also interesting to see who gets the six year terms and who gets the three year terms.
Aside from that, it’s been an uneventful week.
Tweet of the Week
Oops….
https://twitter.com/mcleesha/status/750617872863334401
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
21 Ways People Filled in their Ballot Papers – Buzzfeed
The 19 WTF moments on Election Night – Buzzfeed
“Suck on that, Kerry O’Brien!”: A Bizzare night of election TV – SMH Online
Why people draw genitalia on their ballot papers – The Conversation
Kara L 