It was certainly a Saturday night to remember. All eyes were glued on the tally room numbers, but by eight o'clock a pattern was clearly emerging. The election was not going to deliver a change of government and Bill Shorten's years as opposition leader was spiralling towards resignation.
The one thing that was clear was that this election had cost - and promised - a mint of money. It also showed that the voting public are not as stupid as the politicians think they are. The media and the pundits clearly got it wrong and walked away from this election with egg on their faces. Wishful thinking replaced the in-depth research that might have revealed what the canny electors were really deciding.
It was interesting that the huge amount of money spent by Clive Palmer to secure a presence for his United Australia party failed to win a seat in either house. The voters decided to stick with Scott Morrison and his Liberal/National government and handed him the victory that clearly establishes his authority to pull those disruptive right wing rebels into line and make and enact clear decisions which the country needs.
Scomo needs to use that authority ruthlessly. He has the opportunity to emerge as one of this country's great prime ministers if he pulls his people into line and takes positive action on issues like climate change. Former prime minister and chief disrupter, Tony Abbot got his marching orders from the electors. He seriously displeased his voters when he ignored the plebiscite on same sex marriage delivered by his electorate and voted with the Catholic church against the legislation. His support of convicted paedophile George Pell lost him the vote of many.
Perhaps the greatest impact of this election will be felt by the Australian Labor party. The loss makes it clear that a leadership change is necessary. Anthony Albanese is a likely contender but it will probably be a crowded field and deputy leader Tanya Plibersek would certainly have appeal from women voters - and a dark horse could enter the fray in the person of Senator Kristina Keneally. It is a chance for Labor to shake off some of the old union dogma and emerge as a progressive party with a twenty-first century outlook.
It seems quite clear that we live in a troubled world and we need a steady hand on the tiller if we are to survive the great power clashes that are forthcoming. This trade war between America and China is turning ugly and Europe is becoming very unsettled with far right politics gaining power in Austria, Hungary and Italy and National Socialism gaining seats in Germany. All this is not helped by the indecision in Britain over Brexit.
In Australia the voters have made their choice. Now it all depends if Scomo is up to the task of guiding us through the next three years in an orderly and efficient manner.
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