Victorian Politics

[tcpip]

Spent a thirteen hour shift (setting up, doing HTVs, scrutineer) as the only ALP worker at a small polling booth in Hawthorn yesterday. Results are very uncertain, with the strong possibility of yet another genuinely hung parliament. With no independents, a 44-44 result would mean that another election would have to be called.

It was another god-awful campaign by the Labor Party with appropriate results. Seriously, is there nobody in the Party with the appropriate mix of sociology, marketing and demographics to combine with policy and practise? The "Moving Forward" slogan in the Federal election was nonsense. And "For The Future"? What is that supposed to mean? It means nothing. They are throw away lines with no content, no theme, and no promise.

Now compare those with the Greens. "Your Vote Is Powerful". That says something. Even better, consider the Tories. "Fix The Problems. Build The Future." Abbot's negative (and utterly wrong) "stop the boats, end big new taxes, stop waste and pay off debt" at least was a statement of intent. Those are themes with substance which people can understand.

What was Labor's message in this campaign? Does anyone know? It's just embarrassing that a Party that has been a pretty good steward over the past decade and had sound policies for this election was utterly unable to capitalise on these features.

Comments

[cxcvi]

"For the Future" does sound like it's missing the words "Reflection. Surprise. Terror." before it... although now I think about it, I have worrying thoughts along the lines of "what if the Vorlons did politics"...

[recumbenteer.livejournal.com]

As someone watching the debate from a public transport perspective (and actually helped organise a candidate debate to get the issue into the campaign) ... I can say:

* The ALP undersold their achievements - mainly because all the big commitments were released in the Victorian Transport Plan 6 months before the election. They had no "news" that they could use to cover up recent setbacks (like myki cost blowouts) and the were unable to escape the accusation that they were doing "too little, too late".

* The Liberals recognised the biggest problems in this space (Service "black holes", peak hour overcrowding, and safety fears) and made some gutsy promises to address these problems. These promises seem to have appealed to commuters.

* The Greens, well they were a bit "me too" in this space.




I think the Libs ran a good campaign that focused on the 'growing pains' of Melbourne - and were able to successfully present the government as tired and no longer able to keep up.

The Greens in both the federal and state campaigns have successfully built their brand as the grass roots progressive party. The ALP can fix this with internal reform.

Being an member of the local ALP branch should mean more than being a member of the Collingwood Football Club. It should be a tool for political action, not just a statement of which party you support. More importantly, the ALP should be able to to the electorate as the political wing of a social movement - a key point of difference to the more "managerial" liberals.

Branch decisions should have greater influence over the actions of the parliamentary party - they should let the annual party conference be an ugly bunfight about what the ALP is for and what its trying to achieve.

[lederhosen.livejournal.com]

I don't think it can just be blamed on poor campaigning. Elections are never going to be about the last decade; they're about the last few years, and if Labor had managed to handle Myki and the Windsor Hotel debacle better than they did, I doubt we'd be looking at this result now.

But, and I think this is the same thing you're saying, I think the ALP does itself and the country a tremendous disservice by trying to emulate the Coalition's product instead of taking some pride in its own. Laura Norder being a case in point - if you've been governing for the last ten years, it might be better to challenge the assertion that our streets are getting dangerous rather than just playing "who can promise more cops?" The Coalition will always have an inherent advantage when the debate is positioned at 'tough on crime'.

(I think this is much the same thing that's happening at the federal level re. gay marriage. I don't think it can quite be described as 'poll-driven', given that polls FAVOUR gay marriage, but certainly the ALP is trying much too hard to pander to its impression of the swinging voters rather than providing some actual leadership.)

/rant

[17catherines.livejournal.com]

Such a depressing election all round.

Also, I realised last night that I have no idea what Ted Baillieu even looks like (Andrew says he looks like a meerkat, but even he only knows this because I pointed out the ad to him).

[enrobso.livejournal.com]

I'm sad to say that it took Rupert Murdoch to decide where I directed my preferences in this election. It was only the Herald-Sun's support of the Libs that made me preference Labor.

And whilst I don't welcome the increasingly likely prospect of a Liberal government, I can't say that I lament the passing of the Brumby government.

The only real difference between the Brumby and Kennet governments seems to be that Kennet had personality and the major difference between Brumby and the Cain/Kirner years is that while Cain and Kirner had Tom "failing upwards" Roper, they also had Steve "What do I have to fix this time" Crabbe, Brumby has Justin "I'd really be better coaching a country footy team" Madden and Peter "I used to be a public transport advocate until they made me transport minister" Bachellor.

For me it was the strange situation of a government that deserved to lose and an opposition that didn't deserve to win.

[mr-figgy.livejournal.com]

I hear you. Fantino's signs all say "Here For Canada". To me, that sign is trying to imply that nobody else in the election cares for this country; that they aren't "Here For Canada". More importantly, I'm not sure if it says anything else at all, just something along the lines of "let's find something suitably patriotic that promises nothing".

[ghoststrider.livejournal.com]

Wait, you literally cannot have a hung parliament? It must be dissolved immediately? I thought they could stay, if you got some sort of agreement going...

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

You know, i've always giggled when hearing of a "hung" parliament :)