The Null Device

Bloodbath 2004

It looks like the Tories have won the election with an increased majority, thanks, in part, to the unanimous support and careful news-management strategies of Australia's handful of media proprietors. Labor haven't conceded yet, though former opposition leader Kim Beazley did appear on the ABC, saying how anything other than being thoroughly wiped out is relatively good news for the ALP. The Greens seem to be holding up well in the Senate, though there is a massive swing to the Tories there, which could result in an outright government majority; if so, the fact that the much-publicised Christian Fundamentalist parties won't hold the balance of power is cold comfort.

Update: it looks like the Tories are likely to win half of the Senate and Family First are set to get a Senate seat in Victoria, giving the Right control of the upper house. And so, Australia will wake up with a reactionary, culture-war administration wielding absolute parliamentary power.

There are 3 comments on "Bloodbath 2004":

Posted by: gjw http://the-fix.org Sat Oct 9 13:10:30 2004

I'm just trying to keep upbeat and remember all the great music and culture Thatcherism inspired in the UK...

I have been saying to people that I believe Family First are a lot like One Nation, in that once people see what they're _really_ about, people who voted for them this time will run for the hills. If they get control of the senate, their true character will be exposed pretty quickly.

In any case, we live in interesting times.

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Sat Oct 9 14:04:19 2004

Yes. I was thinking of the Thatcherism thing as well recently.

Given that Howard personally shares a lot of Family First's values (the man has never met a Christian Fundamentalist he didn't like), and FF negotiated a hard bargain for their preference deals, they're likely to end up colouring his fourth-term legislative agenda. Expect more censorship and culture-war legislation, for one.

Posted by: Ben http:// Sun Oct 10 01:46:54 2004

Well it looks like none of the Citizen's Electoral Council candidates got in, again. My dad said he voted for them because he doesn't like to see people lose their deposit. Well maybe Lyndon LaRouche will win the US Presidency this year anyway, but it doesn't bode well. Damn those drug-dealing reptoid Royals!