Counting the Votes !

It seems strange that we have just had an election to determine whom sits in this nation's parliament and rules the country - and the result will not be known for at least a week.  Every person of voting age in this country of twenty-four million people was required to attend a nominated polling booth, where they were handed a paper for the lower house and another - about the size of a tablecloth - for the Senate.

To cast a valid vote they needed to mark those papers in order of preference and put them in a bin carefully watched over by election officials.  At the stroke of six in the evening, the doors were closed and the laborious task commenced of counting the votes.  Australia does not have a "first past the post "voting system.  Preferences are allocated as weaker candidates are eliminated - and all that takes time.  The allocation of absentee votes and postal votes can be vital in determining the winner in tight elections.

Basically, the choice of government in Australia is between the Liberal/National coalition or the Labor party.   The Greens and other single purpose groupings lack the numbers to do more than supplement one of the majors in a hung parliament and in this election the voters came close to an equal vote for both of the majors.   The final outcome may rest on a handful of independents in the lower house.

The situation is very different in the Senate.   The states vote to elect their Senators and this same system of "preferences  " can see a person with a low personal vote achieve a "quota " - and that is exactly what happened at this election.  It seems certain that neither of the majors will have a majority in the Senate and up to twelve very disparate people will hold the balance of power.

The purpose of this election was to remove a gaggle of eight disruptive independent Senators who were blocking important legislation.   It seems we have replaced them with twelve others and some of these are known for wildly divisive views which will be impossible to merge with major party policies.

It is a fact of life that whoever rules has the need from time to time to implement unpopular measures for the good of the country.   That becomes impossible when a populist block holds the balance of power.  It is damaging if deficit budgets can not be balanced or wrongs righted because that does not suit the objectives of a small parliamentary rump.

It has been a long time since either of the majors has had a numerical majority in both the lower house and the Senate - and has been able to govern according to their stated policies.   The mood of the voters seem even more divisive today than it has been in recent times and in fact the maverick numbers in the Senate is growing in size.

There is a lesson to be learned if we take the trouble to compare the economies of the rest of the world.   This disruptive effect of minor parties holding the balance of power is common - and consequently many of our trading partners are suffering ailing economies because their decision making processes are ineffective.  As a result, living standards are suffering and some are close to bankruptcy.

The world had a big scare with the financial crisis of 2008.   That has not finally dissipated and we are not in good shape to ride out another recession if world events turn sour.   It seems that when the voters put pen to paper on Saturday they expressed their wishes - and consequently what they get will be what they deserve !