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Gilligans Island

Every ON voter questioned on TV, when asked why, said "We needed a change."

By-elections are often a very different breed than general elections. Mainly due to a lot of local electorate issues, combined with the fact a certain amount of voters feel it's safe to cast a protest vote against the status quo in a by-election. In a general election, those same voters might play safe and stick with the majors. Water is one issue in Farrer, but along with some other local issues, a lot of voters saw the Libs promising to fix things in an electorate that's been held by them for decades. I can understand how a lot of them would feel neglected and think about giving someone else a go. I don't think the poor coalition result is a reflection on their candidates. Both Liberal and National candidates were top knotch candidates, but incumbency worked against them, as well as the problems in Canberra.

Yes Marty, you're correct.

Farley seems quite a sensible individual, with a very diplomatic turn of speech, unlike a lot of the ON rabble. It will be interesting to see what happens from here on in. A well-spoken, thoughtful individual such as Farley may bring a lot more credibility to the ON Party. However, the general trend of elections in recent decades is voters vote for whoever is in Opposition, just to express dissatisfaction with the ruling Partys performance. No matter who is power, they all appear to have no answers to the ordinary voters pressing problems - inflation, the cost of living, fuel prices, housing unaffordability, lack of job opportunities - they all perform dismally in these fields. I'd like to see some politicians with real backbone, take on the billionaires and giant global corporations, and tax them more heavily, and also lay into the betting conglomerates that wield so much power, and which every politician is too frightened to offend.

It's certainly interesting politics in this country lately. What we've just seen is One Nation take a traditionally safe Coalition seat, but not just any seat, the seat of the former opposition leader and leader of the Liberal party. What hurt the Liberals was the swing against them in the last federal election which knocked their safe margin down to 6%. The big lesson there is that it doesn't matter how many seats you have, it's the seat margins going into the next election that counts. If you have a big majority made up of a lot of marginal seats, the switch can quite easily flick the other way next election. The reason I had to edit this post is a sticky 'a' key on the laptop. If I don't proofread, I have to go back with an edit and add a heap of a's.

It was a bit before your time, Marty. The American TV Show, Petticoat Junction, ran from 1963 to 1970. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petticoat_Junction

I think Labor reasoned that they had no hope of winning so by not running a candidate the Labor vote would go to the independent to help her beat One Nation. Only problem was a fair bit of it would have gone to One Nation. Regardless, the One Nation primary vote was too strong for the independent to have any hope of beating. Not running a candidate might have saved Labor the embarrassment of a swing away from them to ON, but that's just theoretical speculation on my part.

Grumpy, Labor didn't run a candidate. In the last federal election they ran one and got 15% of the vote. Where that 15% went this time is not clear, but certainly not to the Greens who had a swing away from them. Most likely it was split between One nation and the independent.

One Nation won ... good hey! The Greens came last, and Labor second last. Fancy those terrorist brides coming back so soon after Bondi ... you can't believe the hellish mistakes that are being made these days.

Petticoat junction? Have no idea what that refers to

Very good.

Cos every little things gonna be alright

It's interesting watching the live coverage of Farrer. One Nation are partying hard in their campaign HQ celebrating what looks like a very comfortable win. It would be a big night in Albury; the leading campaigns, ON, independant, Nats and Libs are all having their functions in the same street, only about 100 metres from each other.

The Farrer by-election count is still in early stages but it's looking like a One Nation win over the independent. She might pick up a bit with the Albury booths coming in, but she's got a battle on her hands against the strong ON primary vote. The Liberal vote has crashed, particularly facing both One Nation and National candidates. The big question will be whether the Nats outpoll the Libs as both are fairly close at this stage.

The Victorian and South Australian Electoral Commissions regularly analyse ballot papers and have determined that around 40% of major party voters complete their ballot paper with their preferred party’s HTV preference sequence. The proportion following HTVs is even lower for minor parties and independents. The difference in follow rate is largely related to the proportion of voters who receive the HTV for a particular party or candidate. Obviously the probability of a voter copying a HTV recommendation is higher if they receive a HTV than if they don’t.

Just jumping back to the first past the post voting systems. Here are the countries that have that system. I can't really see a trend here as to whether these countries are better or worse to live in. First Past the Post (FPTP) is a majoritarian electoral system where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins, even without an absolute majority. As of May 2026, roughly 68 countries and territories use this system for their national legislatures, many of which are former British colonies. Electoral Reform Society +2 Countries Using FPTP for National Legislatures This list includes major nations and representative examples across different regions: The Americas & Caribbean United States Canada Belize The Bahamas Barbados Jamaica Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago Europe & Central Asia United Kingdom (for House of Commons only) Belarus (House of Representatives) Azerbaijan Electoral Reform Society +3 Asia India (Lok Sabha) Pakistan Bangladesh Malaysia Nepal (Note: Nepal uses a mixed system, but the plurality component is significant) Laos Africa Botswana Ethiopia Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Zambia Zimbabwe Oceania Cook Island Country Cook Islands Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, and Tonga Key Characteristics Plurality-Based: A candidate only needs one more vote than their nearest rival to win. Single-Member Districts: Voters typically elect one representative for their local area. Direct Result: It often leads to a "winner-takes-all" outcome, frequently resulting in two-party dominance.

Geez, you've really been sucking on the Trump Kool-aid bottle, haven't you? What do you think is going to be the next thing to happen? A long-lasting peace plan engineered by Trump, where the Iranians lay down all their arms, and come meekly to the surrender table to sign the surrender document? You're off with the fairies, along with the Tangerine Toddler. He's so full of sh**, it's a wonder they haven't called the portaloo collectors to come and collect him.

Bugger that...I have a rainbow to sell the daft bloke

I was referring to interest rates and I got those figure slightly wrong, typed over a boozy lunch. Just referring to inflation we have 3.3 compared to 4.6. this means that a $100 item in the US would be $103.30 after one year whilst in Australia that item would cost $104.60. This is quite a similar inflation rate. It doesn't really scream great financial management compared to atrocious financial management. Different countries have different strengths and weaknesses such as the size of the market.

Wille. you are correct. I had 2 properties at the time. My home/workshop and the house next door that I purchased to rent out...18% from memory I was dealing with on both places That wasnt caused by the economy though...Keating and the banks were fighting. The banks won

From Grok what is the current inflation rate in the USA and compare it to the current inflation here in Australia Thought for 3s As of the latest data (March 2026): bls.gov United States: The annual CPI inflation rate is 3.3% (up from 2.4% in February 2026). tradingeconomics.com Australia: The annual CPI inflation rate is 4.6% (up from 3.7% in February 2026). abs.gov.au Quick Comparison Australia's inflation is currently higher than the US by about 1.3 percentage points. Both countries saw inflation rise in March 2026, but Australia's increase was sharper (driven by housing, transport/fuel, and goods prices). tradingeconomics.com The US rate has been more moderate recently but ticked up partly due to energy (e.g., gasoline). bls.gov Australia's rate is now at its highest since around late 2023 and sits further above its central bank's 2–3% target band, while the US rate is closer to (but still above) the Fed's typical 2% goal. tradingeconomics.com

It seems funny hearing people refer to 4% as high interest rates. It was 17.5% when I took out a variable rate loan to buy my place, and the loan peaked at around 20%. My father was paying around 22% on his business loan at it's peak.

What? They are Not fair Dinkum? Is Nothing sacred? nev

"Real Australians" are a mythical beast invented by absolute fuckwits who spew their ignorance and racism on sites like this.