Oz Election Thread #4 - Gillard's Labor

"Green tide sweeps Fielding from senate"

@msolga,
So, the way things a looking at the moment (though this may change) is we'll have either a Labor or Liberal government on the basis of what these 4 "independents" (including one Green) decide.
And what a diverse bunch they are!
Two National party (Coaltion) members (Bet you never thought Bob Katter could ever be this powerful, hinge! Surprised Shocked Wink ) ... our first ever Greens member of the house of representatives, and Andrew Wilkie! (a very interesting choice. See below.)
Neatly divided between progressive & conservation, these 4.
There are no doubt some really fascinating, behind the scenes negations going on, as I type! :

Quote:

...The power of who will form government most likely lies with independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, from NSW, and Bob Katter from Queensland - all former Nationals - who easily retained their seats. The Greens' candidate Adam Bandt has emphatically won the seat of Melbourne, a historic win its own right. In a big surprise, the Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie* also looked likely to win the seat of Denison from Labor.

Mr Bandt has already promised to give his vote to Labor, but the other key independents were last night giving little away.



http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/hung-parliament-looms-as-voters-punish-gillard-20100821-13a14.html?autostart=1

Andrew Wilkie*. A most unusual ex-Liberal, now independent! :

Quote:

Andrew Wilkie (born 1961, Tamworth, Australia) is a former soldier and intelligence analyst who resigned from the Office of National Assessments (ONA), an Australian intelligence agency, in March 2003 over concerns that intelligence was being misrepresented for political purposes in making the case for Australia's contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Wilkie has apparently been elected as the member for Denison in the 2010 Federal Election.

Wilkie trained at Duntroon (1980-84) and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel (1999) before transferring to the ONA. He joined the Young Liberals while a cadet at Duntroon, and after graduation and being stationed in Brisbane, he became a member of the Liberal Party. Wilkie has reportedly since let his membership lapse.

In the run-up to the 2003 Iraq war, the Australian, UK and U.S. governments were asserting that intelligence reports showed that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction. Wilkie resigned at this time, claiming that the reports did not support such claims and in the years since his resignation, no valid evidence supporting the pre-war claims of weapons of mass destruction has ever been found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wilkie

A chance of Labor forming a minority government in its own right?

"Never serve us up this tripe, ever again."

Got a bit of a headache?

VIDEO: Robb, Shorten discuss possible hung parliament
Source: ABC News
Published: Sunday, August 22, 2010 11:39 AEST
Expires: Saturday, November 20, 2010 11:39 AEST

Andrew Robb from the Liberal Party and Bill Shorten from the Labor Party join Insiders to discuss Australia's political future.