Crikey has a list of the grubbiest preference deals made for the 2004 Federal Election. The list was posted five days before the election and at least one of the deals had a major effect on the balance of power. Here are some of the more interesting ones and their election ramifications:
Democrats preferencing to Assemblies of God (Families First) in every state ahead of every other serious candidate except Lees’s group, the Channel 7 people, Liberals for Forests in WA and Shayne Murphy in Tasmania. (The Greens, however have stuck to their side of the bargain & are preferencing the Democrats ahead of Labor everywhere.)
The ALP preferencing Glenn Druery (liberals for forests) ahead of everyone else in NSW, then sending a third of their preferences to Fred Nile ahead of the Greens - and in Victoria & Tasmania preferencing Families First ahead of the Greens.
Extremely important - The Greens would would have beaten Family First for the final Senate spot in Victoria if either the Democrats or ALP had directed their preferences towards them. If the Nationals don’t win the final Senate spot in Queensland, the Coalition will depend upon Family First for the deciding vote. A Green victory in Victoria would have completely changed the political dynamics of the Senate.
Family First refusing to preference Liberal Ingrid Tall in Brisbane because she is gay.
Not important - The latest two party preferred results show Ingrid Tall trailing the sitting ALP member by 8%. Family First received a primary vote of only 2.5% in Brisbane.
Openly gay WA Democrat Senator Brian Greig shamelessly taking preferences from Family First.
Possibly important - Brian Greig lost his seat anyway, but could the deal have been a condition of the Democrats preferencing Family First ahead of the Greens?
“You forgot the Coalition preferencing The Greens over Labor in seats where The Greens have a slim chance of outpolling Labor. This is despite the Coalition claiming that a hung parliament with Greens holding the balance is a doomsday scenario.”
Not important - The Greens didn’t win any seats in the House of Representatives and the Coalition won a decisive majority anyway.
The entire list is well worth a read next time your cynicism towards politics is fading.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 13th, 2004 at 11:59 and is filed under News and politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.