Yep, no question postal votes were the difference. The old rule of thumb that these favour the coaliation (older voters, more affluent on holidays) seems to have saved their bacon. I thought Turnbull was just about gone in the couple of days following the election, but the postals got him over the line.
Herbert is very, very important I reckon. 76 is messy, given that none of the Independents is fit/willing to serve as speaker, they'd be down to 75. Then you're at the mercy of health, disgruntled MP's etc. 77 is just that little bit more comfortable.
There's a few things I'd like to see addressed as a result of this election :
- A one week limit on postal votes arriving.
- A return to the days of being able to only vote at one booth (Herbert and Hindmarsh, for example, will be decided by under 1,000 votes between them, no doubt by people who voted at multiple booths and decided to take a slap on the wrist fine, but they ultimately decided the election).
- Declaration votes being packed on the Saturday night and transported overnight to their home divisions so counting can resume in tight seats on the Sunday rather than the Tuesday.
- Real time disclosure of political donations.
- The Electoral Act being amended to SMS messages must identify who authorised them, with much stiffer penalties for breaches of the misleading conduct provisions.
