Australian Federal Election

wilful — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:58:55 -0800

The Australian Federal election is winding its desultory way towards resolution on 24 November. So far, it has failed to catch much of the electorate’s imagination, and the centrist Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd, retains his comfortable lead in the polls, indicating a change in executive government after 11 years of John Howard’s big-government conservatism. Rudd’s “me too” strategy suggests that ideology is dead in Australia. (Previously) There have been few surprises this campaign, and only the usual level of gaffes and cock-ups. There has been little attention given to the Senate race, despite some interesting horse trading such as Family First preferencing Pauline Hanson. The rise of psephological blogging has provided much-needed relief in the face of The Australian’s prostituting of itself to the conservatives. Personally I reckon Latham had a solid point, though it was easily ignored by the commentariat. It’s all about interest rates and the economy now.

Australian Federal Election 2007 on November 24

Effigy2000 — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:48:36 -0800

And we're off! Prime Minister John Howard has set the date for the Australian Federal election as November 24th, meaning we're up for a long six-week campaign. With Kevin Rudd leading the PM by between 16 to 18 points (depending on who you read) in recent opinion polls, this election seems the most likely to provide a change of Government since Howard was first elected 11 years ago. Antony Green's usual excellent election guide is up and running here, along with an excellent calculator which shows which seats are up for grabs dependent on a 2 party preferred swing. You might also want to check out the Vote-O-Matic, a fun but entirely disposable quiz which aims to help you decide who you'll vote for. Metafilter's international readers unfamiliar with the Australian political scene will likely be scratching their heads when trying to figure out just what the hell is going on over here, but this page offers a useful guide as a starting point. It can be handy to read over whether you're from outside Australia or a true blue Aussie yourself. Some other excellent Australian election resources include; Links to some of the contenders web pages; Australian Labor Party (plus the Kevin07 website). Liberal Party The Nationals Greens Australian Democrats Pauline Hanson's United Australia Party And here's some links to some excellent blogs which will no doubt continue to annoy the mainstream media throughout the campaign. Oz Politics Poll Bludger Possum Comitatus The Road to Surfdom Larvatus Prodeo Tim Dunlop's Blogocracy Mind you, the following two blogs are by mainstream media pundits, and right wing columnists Piers Ackerman and Andrew Bolt. Piers Ackerman's Blog Andrew Bolt's blog. And finally, Google's election guide, seen previously on Metafilter. The next six weeks are going to be long, grueling and if the experts are to be believed, incredibly negative. Strap yourselves in, folks. It's going to be one hell of a ride.

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Australian Federal Election

Australian Federal Election 2007 on November 24