It has traditionally been the conservative side of politics that has been associated with fiscal prudence, but the Western Australian election campaign demonstrates how easily that worm can turn under the right political circumstances. The Coalition ended week one by securing the endorsement of the Nursing Federation with a promise to deliver on its claim [...]
Reflections on the Miracle of Democracy at Work in the Greatest Nation on Earth
Monthly Archives: January 2005
Where the action is (city edition)
Friday, January 28, 2005 – 1:15 pm
At last, the long awaited sequel to Monday’s "country edition" specifically focusing on the city seats that Labor picked up at the 2001 election (and ignoring the possibility raised by some that Labor might be doing badly enough to lose seats they have held over a longer period):
Swan Hills (Labor 0.3%): Swan Hills changed hands [...]
Cautionary tales
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 – 7:00 pm
With the Gallop government reckoned by all to be in deep trouble, much is being said at the moment of the rarity of one-term governments in Australia. At the federal level, we need to go back to the onset of the depression to find a government that failed to win a second term, that being [...]
It polls for thee
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 – 12:00 pm
Saturday’s West Australian provided Westpoll (a.k.a. Patterson Market Research) results from surveys of 200 respondents in four well-chosen marginal seats, namely the regional battlegrounds of Bunbury and Albany and the marginal suburban seats of Joondalup and Riverton. The Gallop government would no doubt have been very interested to learn that the Liberals will win huge [...]
False start
Tuesday, January 25, 2005 – 9:00 am
The Poll Bludger has been experiencing technical difficulties in the past few days, hence the unspectacular response to the Western Australian election announcement. These issues have been resolved and the floodgates are now open.
Where the action is (country edition)
Sunday, January 23, 2005 – 1:10 pm
The Poll Bludger is no statistician, but he’s slowly reaching the For Dummies level on capacity on Microsoft Excel and has managed to extract some figures demonstrating the relationship between the decline of One Nation and the rise of the Coalition at the federal and Queensland state elections. At the federal poll, there were 18 [...]
Zero hour
Sunday, January 23, 2005 – 12:00 pm
Western Australian Premier Geoff Gallop today visited Governor John Sanderson to advise an election for February 26. Good for him.
Whither Werriwa #2
Thursday, January 20, 2005 – 1:08 pm
Crikey’s mole in the New South Wales ALP, "Boilermaker Bill McKell", shines some light on internal goings-on ahead of the Werriwa preselection:
For (Bob) Carr, an imminent by-election in Werriwa comes at the worst possible time and in the worst possible location. Just about every crisis and fiasco facing the NSW Government has its proxy in [...]
All stupid on the western front
Thursday, January 20, 2005 – 12:00 pm
Yesterday, readers of this site were told that the announcement of a Western Australian election for February 19 was "all but certain to follow no later than Friday" since this was "the only logical course for (the government) to follow". Some might argue that Geoff Gallop made a fool of the Poll Bludger when he [...]
Western front communiqué #6
Wednesday, January 19, 2005 – 1:06 pm
• One aspect of the Mark Latham descendancy that cannot pass unremarked is its impact on the Western Australian election, not to mention the Western Australian election’s impact on it. While the Queensland Labor leadership’s public interventions got the most press, the Western Australians’ were the most frantic. With a Friday announcement of a February [...]
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