The Generator

Governor General's job to choose new leader

Monday, 23 August 2010 01:34 Neville Gillmore

This places the GG in a very awkward position. The number of seats, not the number of votes either party receives

will influence the GG'S decision. There is a need for clear guide lines for the GG to follow. The Constitution may

need to be altered to provide for this contingency. The GG will incur the wrath of many Australian voters whichever

choice she makes.Perhaps there is a case for a First past the Post System to be introduced.

The constitutional Experts will no doubt examine this closely. Unwritten Rules as referred to in this article do not

suffice and place too much onus on the GG.

Neville Gillmore.

Governor-General's job to choose next leader

Natasha Bita and Nicola Berkovic
From: The Australian
August 22, 2010 9:41PM

For the first time since 1975 the Governor-General will be pivotal in a national political crisis but there is no road map for Quentin Bryce.

Voters appear to have elected the first hung parliament in 70 years - so Ms Bryce's vice-regal role has switched suddenly from ceremonial to serious.

As Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott woo independent and Greens MPs for their support to control the 76 seats needed to govern, it will be the task of the Governor-General to decide which leader is most likely to form a stable minority government.

Constitutionally, the percentage of votes gained by each party is irrelevant: it all comes down to seats.

"The real question is a political one: which side has got the 76 seats?" University of NSW constitutional law professor George Williams said yesterday.

He said the unwritten rule would be for Ms Bryce to wait until the return of writs - October 27 at the latest - to invite Ms Gillard, as caretaker Prime Minister, to form government.

Ms Gillard would then need to survive a vote of no confidence on the floor of parliament.

Should she lose, Ms Bryce would turn to Mr Abbott and invite him to form government.

Should that government also collapse, Ms Bryce would be able to dissolve parliament and order a new election - a reserve power last invoked in 1975 when John Kerr dismissed Labor leader Gough Whitlam.

Professor Williams said the Constitution did not spell out the Governor-General's protocols, "which go back centuries to the UK".

"They are all unwritten conventions," he said.

Ms Bryce, appointed by the Rudd Labor government in 2008 and the mother-in-law of Labor MP Bill Shorten, can take advice from constitutional experts - including the Solicitor-General, academics and even the chief justice of the High Court.

She might also wish to consult Tasmanian Governor Peter Underwood, who faced a similar dilemma in April when Labor and the Liberals each won 10 seats in the 25-member house, with five Greens holding the balance of power.

Caretaker Premier David Bartlett told Mr Underwood to ask the leader of the opposition to form a government as the Liberals had the greatest overall vote.

But the Governor refused and ordered Mr Bartlett to recall parliament and test his support, on the basis he was the caretaker leader.

Mr Bartlett subsequently won the Greens' support to govern.

Mr Underwood, a former chief justice, later stated: "The total number of votes received by the elected members of a political party is constitutionally irrelevant to the issue of who should be commissioned to form a government."

Australian National University law professor Don Rothwell said Ms Gillard was under no legal obligation to step down as prime minister, despite the close result.

"The Prime Minister is not under any real obligation to move on the matter until after declarations are issued for the ballots," he said.

A spokeswoman for Government House said yesterday neither side had contacted the Governor-General to arrange a meeting.

Last Updated ( Monday, 23 August 2010 01:39 )

The Greens are the breakthrough of this election

Sunday, 22 August 2010 10:15 Neville Gillmore

Dear friend,

The Greens are the breakthrough story of this election.

I want to make sure you're the first to understand how significant these results are—and that we couldn’t have achieved them without your support.

Yesterday, the Greens won the balance of power in the Senate, as well as our first lower house seat at a general election in Melbourne. We've achieved so much together this election that it's hard to quantify, but here are some numbers that tell part of the story:

We won a Senate seat in every State, including our first ever Greens Senators in Queensland and Victoria. This gives us the power to shape the agenda of the new Government and achieve real outcomes on issues like climate change, a fair go for asylum seekers, equal marriage, and improving public schools and hospitals;
Our first ever lower house Greens Member of Parliament has been elected in a general election - congratulations to Adam Bandt who won the seat of Melbourne with a massive 13% swing to the Greens on primaries!

GREENS NSW ELECTION RESULTS

Sunday, 22 August 2010 08:03 Neville Gillmore

NSW ELECTION RESULTS
22 August 2010

Dear Greens members and supporters,
All your hard work has paid off! It sure looks like The Greens have won a NSW Senate spot. With about three quarters of the vote counted, election analyst Antony Green has the Greens winning back a Senate seat in NSW!
It is great news for the Greens around the country. We have doubled the number of federal Greens MPs. Along with Adam Bandt elected as the Greens MP for the seat of Melbourne, we could have nine Greens Senators with new senators from NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria.
The swing to the Greens across the nation is around 3.6 per cent, taking our primary vote to 11.43 per cent. Adam Bandt said it best - our strong result shows Greens values are now mainstream values.

Milne says thank you for record Tasmanian Green vote

Sunday, 22 August 2010 06:46 Neville Gillmore

Meanwhile the polling booth at Nimbin in the Richmond electorate recorded a Green
vote of 49%.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Milne says thank-you for record Tasmanian Green vote

In the biggest vote for a third party since the Second
World War, The Greens will return to federal parliament with eight and
possibly nine senators and the House of Representatives seat of
Melbourne, Australian Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne said today.

"We have achieved balance of power in the Senate and
will use that power responsibly for good and progressive outcomes for
the people of Australia.

"Regardless of which party forms government, we will
work with them using the huge experience we have with balance of power
politics.

"We will also work with the Independents in the House of
Representatives to progress important initiatives for Australia
including a national gross feed in tariff and stronger biosecurity and
quarantine regimes.

"In Tasmania one in five people voted for the Greens in
the Senate delivering 20.2% of the vote, up on 18.7% in 2007.

"I am very grateful for the confidence that Tasmanians
have placed in me and the Greens team and humbled by the overwhelming
record show of support.

"Tasmanians know that the Greens are playing a leading
role in driving action on climate change and are excited about what we
offer for rural and regional communities whether it's our vision of a
food security plan for Australia, renewable energy, or uses for the
National Broadband Network, or increased funding for dental and mental
health and public education."

In the House of Representatives there was a swing to the
Greens in every electorate:
Bass 15.22% +0.8% swing
Lyons 16.38% +5.42%
Braddon 11.81% +3.68
Franklin 20.79% +6.07%
Denison 18.96% +0.37%

"Forty percent of people in Denison have voted for The
Greens or Andrew Wilkie in a history making shift away from the Labor
and Liberal parties and making this seat one of the most interesting
henceforth in State and federal politics."