Broad Shoulders

Except that is not really true is it? If it were there would be no such thing as an "Independent", would there? You're not voting for a party when you vote for an independent, are you?

ABCDiamond

Not sure I follow your logic there

Maybe these quotes form the article I linked to will explain it better...

INDEPENDENTS Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor have defied decades of tradition in their seats by backing Labor.
And some locals say they will not vote for them again.

Lyne Mr Oakeshott has repaid by linking to Labor.

New England Mr Windsor has repaid by linking to Labor.

ABCDiamond

Correct. But those Lynn and New England Voters went with Labor, whether they wanted to or not....

And THAT is the problem.

ex_exile

Either they put him 1 in which case they did not vote for the coalition or they put him further down and are now demanding he side with the coalition when he wasn't their first choice so what call do they have on his decicion.

Or of course, lets not forget the third option, they are happy with their local members choice.

Sometimes you can't get the member of your choice elected, thats life, its also democracy.

IvanM

Read my post. I said if you think ABC is a troll. You shouted someone down earlier by saying they "talk shite".

IvanM

We will see how he is repaid at the next election.

One thing is for sure that either way these electorates will have more pork thrown at them than the safe lib seat I am in.

ABCDiamond

If they were happy, then it would obviously not be a problem.

But, they appear to have put this:
1 Independent
2 Lib/National
3 Labor

But their vote went to Labor...

and now they are saying things like:

"What's wrong with remaining an independent? There are so many people up here who are really upset by what he has done."

"This is a conservative electorate. It's not Labor Party heartland, I tell you that. I doubt people will vote for Mr Oakeshott next time round - I certainly won't."

"said she had no preference as to whether Labor or the Coalition formed government, but she believed Mr Oakeshott's decision to support Ms Gillard would not be warmly received by the electorate."

ABCDiamond

That is definite. I saw some figures earlier that made me wonder where Labor will get these extra funds from, to provide the Lyne and New England areas with all their extras.

Broad Shoulders

I actually don't think this will be the case at all. If anything I think that if those country electorates end up getting more than they have traditionally got from govt this might make other country voters move away from the Nats and start voting Independent instead.

Katter said it himself, that in the 3 years of Rudd govt he got more done in his electorate than the 11 years of Lib & Nats govt. It may be called a "coalition", but in terms of real country representation it is really only by name.

Who knows, this could be the end of the Nats and the rise of the Independents. This will of course hinge on how much Windsor and Oakeshott get out of this govt.

ABCDiamond

Another interesting close vote is this one from the Sydney Morning herald...

Did Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor make the right decision?
52% Yes
48% No

Total votes: 86,478

asprilla

Its not really democracy though, if the wishes of the voters aren't being respected.

Broad Shoulders

not sure where it's coming from, but we all know now that if it were Liberal funding it would have come from leprechauns and a sprinkle of fairy dust

Broad Shoulders

Except SMH is fairfax and they have openly supported Labor throughout the election, like The Australian (News Ltd) ferociously backing the Coalition.

ABCDiamond

As I said, we shall see at the next election. But that is the mood of many people in those areas at the moment.

If Labor can buy the votes in those areas to keep them Labor, at the expense of other areas, it could have a detrimental effect on voting elsewhere ?

Swings and roundabouts.

ABCDiamond

At least, with the Liberals of the past, however they made it, it was actually there and available when we needed it