Australia’s ruling Labor party, led by Julia Gillard, and the opposition Liberal party, led by Tony Abbott, have failed to get a clear majority in the Parliament, for which elections were held Saturday. Both parties would now be wooing four Independents and one Green party member for support to gather the required majority to form a government. However, the final election outcome would be known in another two weeks after the counting of around 2.35 million postal votes. (Australia has 14 million enrolled voters.)
Australia has a “historic” hung Parliament and may not know who is running the country for weeks – with neither Labor nor the Coalition capable of forming government in their own right, reports the Daily Telegraph.
“Despite a big swing against Labor in NSW and Queensland, Australia faces an unprecedented period of political instability with Tony Abbott’s Coalition leading the national primary vote but not quite enough to wrest government from Julia Gillard.”
The Australian federal election results are “staggering setback” for the ruling Labor Party that could send the country’s first female prime minister packing after only two months in office, reports Los Angeles Times. “Julia Gillard, a 48-year-old former lawyer who became the nation’s first female prime minister after seizing power in an internal Labor Party coup, said she would remain in office as part of a caretaker government during the ‘anxious days ahead’.
” ‘Obviously this is too close to call,’ she told supporters Saturday in her hometown, Melbourne. ‘We will continue to fight to form a government in this country.’
“Abbott, 52, a former Roman Catholic seminarian, said he would immediately begin negotiations with independents to form a government. Although his socially conservative views alienate many women voters, supporters say Abbott can better empathize with Australian families…
“Analysts said Australia’s major foreign policy positions, including its deployment of 1,550 troops to Afghanistan, would not be affected by any election outcome because the sides hold similar views
Australia’s three serving independents, likely to hold the balance of power in the national parliament, will meet tomorrow to decide which party to support and whether to back a tax on mining company profits.
More here…
The 2010 Australian election appears to have had the highest number of informal votes in at least the last six federal elections. Early figures from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) show about 5.65 per cent of ballots cast would not count because they were filled out incorrectly or left blank. See here…
Australia appears to be dividing into a country of US-style ”red states” and ”blue states,” with last night’s vote confirming a trend that divides the country into opposing political tribes. reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Swings towards Labor in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia went against the national trend, suggesting the southern states have confirmed themselves as ”red states”. See here…
It seems like the cyber world has captured the minds of candidates fighting elections in Australia. Elections were fought as much in the virtual world as in the real one. More here…l
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.