Australians come to their senses – March 24th will be remembered as the day they collectively said “we’re tired of this sh**” Commenter “truthseeker” writes in comments:
============================================================
Anthony,
You may want to refer to Jo Nova’s latest post about the results of a state election down under.
Now for all of you nice people from the USA who may not think state elections are that big a deal if you do not live in that state, please remember that we only have 6 states and 2 territories, not 50 like you guys. We just had an election in Queensland, one of our most economically important states, especially for mineral wealth representing about a quarter of the population. Before the election the Labour (think Democrat) held a small majority in the 89 seat Lower House (House of Representatives).
With over 70% of the vote counted, the results are;
Liberal / National Party coalition (think Republicans – sort of) – 78 seats
Labour (think Democrat) – 7 seats
KAP (new party – think TEA party with less logic and more strangeness) – 2 seats
Independents – 2 seats.
A mini-van will have more seats than the previously incumbent Labour party in the new parliament.
I have one word for this … OUCH!
=============================================================
Jo Nova writes:
Those devastating Queensland Election Results: Voters hate lies and the Carbon Tax
UPDATE: Is this a record? Has there ever been a loss this bad in Australian history? Conservatives likely to win 74 seats of an 89 seat parliament.
Labor was reduced to only 11 seats in 1974, and on latest counting tonight appeared set to retain only nine seats. Some analysts put the figure even lower, at seven. This would mean Labor falling short of official party status and relying on the incoming LNP government to grant it party offices, staff and resources. The Queensland Greens failed to win a seat and suffered a fall in support. [The Australian]
This is thread for all those who want to comment on this election. According to Bolt, things are not just bad, they’re seriously awful for the Labor Party. Newspoll says LNP (conservatives) 55%, Labor 26%. Channel Nines polls says Labor could be left with less than 10 seats!
The ABC’s election predictor at 8:26 has LNP on 67 seats, Labor on four, others five, doubtful 15. Absolutely catastrophic for Labor. The current leader of the Labor Party in Queensland is Anna Bligh facing a 13% swing against her, and will need preferences just to stay in Parliament.
March 24, 2012, will be remembered as the day the electorate delivered a decisive, devastating blow to an incumbent Labor government. Courier Mail
For non-Australians, Australia has seven states (technically 5 states and 2 territories), and in 2007 all the States and the Federal Government were Labor. Currently Liberal (meaning conservative) governments have won NSW, WA, and Vic and now look like taking a landslide in Queensland. These are the four largest states.
===================================================================
Andrew Bolt has this update:
Queensland election – and why it spells death to Gillard
Andrew Bolt March 24 2012 (5:52pm)
Here is the bottom line from the rout of Labor in today’s Queensland election – the line that spells doom for Julia Gillard, too.
Premier Anna Bligh, 2008:
I will not kick (Queensland households) when they are down and I will not abolish the petrol subsidy.
Three months after the 2009 election:
THE Bligh government will scrap its 8.35 cent per litre fuel subsidy and hold a multi-billion dollar fire sale of State-owned assets to offset a plunge in revenues during the global financial crisis.
And that was already that, as the next Galaxy poll showed, two months later:
There has been a dramatic swing to the Opposition, with a 59-41 lead on a two-party-preferred basis – a 10 point swing from the March 21 state election… And Ms Bligh’s popularity rating has hit an all-time low for a Queensland premier at 33 per cent.
Remind you of anyone?:
Anna Bligh broke a pre-election promise, and hiked up people’s bills. She immediately lost the public’s trust and never regained it, although got a brief sugar hit during the 2011 floods.
Julia Gillard broke a pre-election promise, and is already hiking up people’s bills. She immediately lost the public’s trust and never regained it.
The analogy still not close enough?
Sky News exit polls show voters were most concerned about the Cost of Living (69 per cent), followed by Delivery of State Services (63 per cent), Carbon Tax (44 per cent)
How do you think Gillard will do in Queensland next year?
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
It is very clear that Federal Labor and the Greens have to spin like mad to pretend that the Queensland election result has nothing whatsoever to do with the Carbon Tax and renewables policies etc.
Still, unless they face a couple of by elections, Federal Labor has more than a year until it has to face the wrath of the people. Perhaps they will have forgotten by then.
Further, Labor cannot change course now, so they will have to try to blindly keep on going.
These things have a tendency to cascade across the political landscape throughout the Western world as well … I will be watching for signs. When are the next elections?
On the political front its not a time in sticking ones head in the sand
its a time for every Australian in giving JULIA as LABOUR an 110%.
JULIA having learnt in past lives / the best way dealing with carbon
is one turn it into a diamond / thus she a individual worthy of office
in showing of her true value / gained over many lifetimes of service
unto humanity / she being well placed in leading serving the nation.
Climate change will bring grave results some nations frontline be
the victims of extreme climate change though in truth it t’will be a
testing time for all however those in the frontline must act now to
bring the best outcome from a bad situation // thus in an positive
outlook a attitude in doing which possible / in preventing an even
worsening situation / not only toward themselves but unto others.
It helps matters not in shifting whoms to blame // but in individual
nations / as leaders showing by example / they take the situation
serious / as take such needed steps / not stopping // in delaying
effort to reduce such damage that done / in turning an blind eye.
There will need to be movement of people’s in large numbers as
such all major nations should work together bringing the needed
aid as support that practical. It should not be an situation where
the major powers abuse as turn a blind eye to the most in need.
In the immortal words of Friedrick Nietzsche “If you stare long into the abyss…the abyss stare back into you”. I just admire and love the Aussies. They just have an innate ability to know what’s going on before it is actually going on. I know because I had the priviledge to fight alongside the 6 RAR during Operation “BRIBIE”…aka…”Battle of Ap My An” 17-18 February 1967. I was a young UH-1B “Huey” pilot…callsign “Badger -7”. It was an honor indeed to helo you guys. In my opinion…you were just as good as our 173rd Airborne Brigade ( The “Herd”). Anyway…from years ago and from miles away…I send you the “luck of the Irish”…what was that called…Botany Bay…Van Diemens Land? I LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Padraic.
Well Done, Aussies! ‘Good On Ya, Mates!!!!!!!!
Can it happen as dramatically in the US of A?
Oh Please! Oh Please!! Oh Please!!!
For our international friends, the US has presidential, congressional,state and local elections coming up in early November this year.
Jim says:
March 25, 2012 at 6:44 am
Gail Combs says:
March 25, 2012 at 1:28 am
…
ROTFLMAO!
Boy, Jim you have never worked with small children! It is the females who …
As usual Gail, you fail to read for comprehension; I was prompting LT to make that leap … (do you actually think I want the scorn of every woman on the board?)
____________________________
Actually Yes.
I contested the seat of Brisbane Central in the Queensland election, and was proud to be part of the exercise in democracy – even though I did not win the seat (by a long shot). The mood for change from Labor was big.
Labor don’t deserve to govern for a number of reasons. Chief among these is the reason cited by Andrew above: the unblinking acceptance of our Kyoto obligations, Green ideology and the ruinous carbon tax. Labor and the Greens have joined forces to deprive fellow Queenslanders of their civil rights to pass laws such as the Vegetation Management Act and Wild Rivers Legislation which do not meet even basic democratic sniff tests and run foul of the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. http://www.samuelgriffith.org.au/papers/html/volume17/v17chap2.html
Needless to say, any government that is prepared to rout the civil rights of its citizens does not deserve to govern inside a democratic sovereign state.
I have witnessed the utter destruction of people’s lives by way of the unlimited power of the state, delivered up by way of the VMA.
I would be glad to see the LNP repeal these laws and engage with our primary producers on sensible measures that work.
Re the Election issues “an exit poll conducted by Sky News showed that 40 per cent of voters were concerned about the carbon tax, behind cost of living (69 per cent).”
I guess they indicate national rather than local issues.
BIG news from the election… GREENS :ZERO Seats
[Moderator’s Note: a link would be nice…. -REP]
Here’s a link regarding the Greens’ dismal performance in the Queensland election, where the Government was loathed:
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/another_stunning_success/
“with counting still underway in Queensland, it looks as though the Greens have dropped from 8.3 per cent in 2009 to just 7.2 per cent on Saturday.”
The best they did in any individual seat was around 20% in one inner city seat. This means that in most places they would have polled even less than the 7.2% Statewide figure.
Hurray!
“A mini-van will have more seats than the previously incumbent Labour party in the new parliament.”
Maybe so, but wouldn’t they need someone to drive it over the edge of the cliff ?
mpaul
Carbon/global warming nonsense didn’t enter into the election campaign.
However, it is the left who are more likely to push it because it gives more control (and dollars) to governments and their hangers-on (aka public money trough snufflers).
In that sense the result here in Queensland is good.
It looks like the conservatives have 78 seats, the Labor Party (read Democrat) 7 with 4 others.
Question: What’s the difference between a Tarago and the Labor Party?
Answer: A Tarago has more seats.
Watch out for Gillard and her cronies setting up for posts in the UN, unelected muppets cannot be got rid of easily.
I find it incredibly interesting that no mention whatsoever is made of this in any US news feed. Not on TV, radio, news sites – nothing. It’s there if you ~look~ for it, but it doesn’t get even a minor mention or link. I wonder why?
March 24, 2012 at 11:09 am
Well said, Nerd. Sooooo many people have the wrong idea about what the Tea Party is all about.
The way I read it, the reference was to the new Australian being ‘strange’.
Katters Australia Party isn’t anything like the Tea Party. To make such a comparison is to totally misunderstand both parties.
Katter stands for:
– stopping coal seam gas mining
– subsidising the creation of an ethanol industry
– agrictultural protection policies.
– anti gay marriage
– pro guns, hunting and fishing
So his party runs a strange mix of being heavily conservative on social issues, while quite statist and socialist on industry. I’m no expert on US politics but it’s more similar to politicians in the midwest who want ethanol subsidies and are fierce defenders of the 2nd Amendment.
Basically he’s a populist protectionist who, after all is measured, is probably best considered centre-left overall, but in reality the left/right spectrum is useless to place parties like this. The only electorate they picked up in the election came from the Labor party – they failed to attract any conservative vote at all.
Still, they doubled the Green vote and won 2 seats, which is better than the Greens did. The Greens vote decreases exponentially the further you move out from a city centre. People in high-rise towers vote Greens, and people who live in the countryside, surrounded by nature, do not. Figure that one out. Maybe ‘Greens’ is a misnomer after all.
It’s interesting to note too, apropos of mentions elsewhere on WUWT about extreme Greens being racist, that the Queensland Greens successfully pressured the now obliterated Labor government into declaring vast areas of Aboriginal land unable to be economically developed under its ‘Wild Rivers’ legislation. They want the Aborigines to only do politically correct stuff like running eco tours and selling quaint artefacts. The notion that these impoverished people should actually use their land to make a decent living like everyone else is abhorrent to them.
Hopefully, scrubbing that racist bit of legislation is high on the incoming government’s agenda.
Labor would never be caught dead in a minivan. Put in terms they would understand: 4 Smart cars.
Well done, Aussies!!!! at least You still have the right to vote….
Dario, I assume you refer to the recent EU coup in your country. Commiserations. But as you may have read, the drive to get supra-national organisations in charge of sovereign countries is picking up pace all over the world. We will hopefully learn from what is happening in Europe.
Viva Italia!
There was an item on tonights news which suggested that the new LNP government planned to dismantle Queensland Carbon reduction program. Any one else pick up on that?
Queensland Election Follow-up
Making the Climate Hustlers clean up their mess.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/campbell-newman-assures-job-for-anna-blighs-husband-greg-withers-asking-him-to-undo-work-of-past-four-years/story-fnbt5t29-1226311500919
“PREMIER Campbell Newman says reports that Anna Bligh’s husband and a senior public servant, Greg Withers, had been asked to clear out his desk were false.
Mr Newman on Tuesday said Mr. Withers, head of Queensland’s Office of Climate Change, would be asked to oversee the removal of carbon reduction schemes he had helped create, which the LNP has promised to axe.
But Mr Newman admitted he had not yet conveyed that to Mr. Withers because he was too busy focusing on changes at the top level of the public service.
Mr Newman said Mr Withers, who recently renewed his contract in December and would be owed a payout close to $600,000 if sacked, would be offered another position once that job was done.
“I’m telling you that he will get a job if he wants one,” Mr Newman said.”
[Cleaner of the bathroom stalls?]
Info on Office of Climate Change
http://www.climatechange.qld.gov.au/whatsbeingdone/queensland/officeofclimatechange.html
Concerning the Queensland election results and the Carbon Tax:
1. To be pedantic for a moment. The Queeensland Parliament comprises a single legislative chamber called the Legislative Assembly. The upper house of the Parliament was abolished on 23 March 1922: thus Queensland is the only Australian state having a single legislative chamber. An exit poll conducted on election day (last Saturday) indicated that the carbon tax was the third most significant factor in causing the incumbent Labour government to be voted out of office leaving it with 8 seats.
2. Like the USA and Canada, Australia is a Federation with Federal powers and State powers defined by their respective Federal/Commonwealth constitutions. The Australian carbon tax has been legislated by the Federal government and on the present timetable is to commence on 1 July 2012. Opinion polling as well a the Queensland election result confirm that the tax is extremely unpopular with Australians.
3. Elsewhere in the world attempts to implement emmission controls/carbon taxes are meeting a similiar fate. The European Union has resolved to collect emission levies from all aircraft landing on EU airports. The government of India is reported to have directed its carriers not to comply. China has objected and will presumably direct its carriers not to comply.
4. As an Australian born in Queensland I am gratified that Australia appears to be leading the world in encouraging grassroot objection to the nonsense of attempting to control the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide.
The Australian today outlines a wholesale dismantling of green schemes.
This will definitely have Federal implications and is a welcome sign of the change of mood in Australia over wasteful expenditure.
It just needed the ballot-box for it to be expressed.