Australian Federal Election 2025

[Downunder Dolphan]

It will be an interesting national vote for tomorrow, with similarities to Canada, in that there's a relatively unpopular Government with a majority (Labor, which is closest to the Labor equivalent in the UK) and the Liberal-National party coalition alternative Government (originally moderate right wing, but drifting further right), as well as the various Independent candidates and Greens (extreme left), and One Nation (extreme right) and Trumpet of Patriots (trying to be a MAGA rip-off) at the other end trying to have some influence. Polls have swung drastically away from the challengers since Trump came to office.

The major difference between voting in Australia and the USA is that it is compulsory to show up to vote, get your ballot papers, and put them in the box. So most people do take the time to decide on the least repulsive candidate to vote for (or alternatively draw a gigantic phallus on the voting papers as a protest to tell them all to go fuck themselves). There are two votes on the day, one for the lower house of representatives, and one the senate. There is no vote for a President - our Head of State is the King/Queen of the UK, and their representative here, the Governor General, and is largely a Ceremonial Role. So it works like the UK - Royalty basically stays out of it unless the very unlikely situation occurs that a Government is completely unworkable resulting in a dismissal of the Government and a orders new vote (as what happened in 1975). The Prime Minister is the leader of the party that wins, and while he does have some influence on that party, he doesn't have anything like the individual power of a President.

We also have other state elections, which are similar to the elections for Governors in the USA, and a similar layer of bureaucracy. That said, the six Australian states and two territories are in scale a lot larger than a lot of countries. Our largest state Western Australia is about the 4x the size of Texas, and where I live South Australia which is the third biggest state is about 1.5x the size of Texas (or the size of the state of Ontario, or France and Germany combined).  

[CF DolFan]

Canada's government was quite unpopular until Trump fired them up. Not sure of the climate there but he basically created a push back on anything conservative in Canada.

[masterfins]

Thanks for the news of your elections.  We'll never hear anything about it here in the US because we are egoists, most of our population can't even name the people that represent them where they live.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Canada's government was quite unpopular until Trump fired them up. Not sure of the climate there but he basically created a push back on anything conservative in Canada.

Trump is very unpopular here, with the major reason being his favoritism of Putin and trying to blackmail Ukraine into surrendering - his stance with tariffs causing world chaos hasn't gone down well either.

Any party or individual trying to whip up any kind of MAGA sentiment are finding themselves about as popular as a fart in an elevator (with the notable exception Murdoch's media empire who love them). 

[masterfins]

How did the Elections go? Did your candidates win?

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

How did the Elections go? Did your candidates win?

While I am not a professional detective, I did stay in a Holiday Inn last night and I guessing that the anti-Trump candidate won,  and that Downunder Dolphan supported the anti-Trump candidate.   

[Downunder Dolphan]

How did the Elections go? Did your candidates win?

The election result was similar to what happened in Canada, there was also a significant swing here to the existing Labor Government away from the Liberal/Coalition challengers (to the extent that the opposition leader also lost his own seat and is now effectively kicked out of politics altogether), while the vote for the independents remained relatively the same, and the left leaning Greens also lost votes and seats to Labor.

Effectively in a time of uncertainty, people looked for a Government with more central policies to represent everyone, and as a result the parties that were seen to have drifted too far to the right (Liberal/Coalition who used to be far more central at their core) and to the left (Greens) paid the price for it. The real extreme right parties (One Nation) were pretty much unaffected, as their small voter base is rusted on and now consistent.

While I am not a professional detective, I did stay in a Holiday Inn last night and I guessing that the anti-Trump candidate won, and that Downunder Dolphan supported the anti-Trump candidate.  

My first preference votes for the lower house and the Senate were for an Independent candidate, as I thought they would represent my local community interest a lot better than the incumbent Liberal candidate who had done nothing for the last three years apart from sending me a fridge magnet calendar and newsletter annually. He was voted out of his previously safe seat after a huge swing against him, but it was a Labor candidate who replaced him instead of the Independent that I had as my first preference.

Our voting slips have a preferential system where you number all the candidates in the lower house, and at least 6 parties or 12 candidates for the Senate. While your first preference (and associated money allocated to a political party per ballot) goes to who you put as #1 on you slip, if they are eliminated from the first round of counting when they get to the top two parties contending for the job, your second preference comes into play, etc. So effectively if your first preference doesn't count for the result, they go to the next one, etc, until it gets to one of the final two candidates in contention. The net effect is that for the vast majority of people who vote, it will be a part of determining the outcome of their representative, and ultimately the Government and the Senate.

As far as my own voting goes, I'm pretty much a central/swinging voter. I have voted for Labor, Liberal and Independents in the past - it really depends on how well I think they represent my values and community, and what policy and vision they have for the country. For the last two elections, after the Independents, I did have Labor ahead of the Liberal/Coalition in my preferences due to the latter's drift away from the center, lack of any real, costed policies to actually move the country forward, and Leadership that can only be described as nasty and incompetent.

In this case... yeah, Hoodie is close enough to the mark as I voted for a non Trump-like alternative. As did the majority of the nation.

Ps. Another major change in this Australian election is that the voter base has changed - for the first time there were more Gen Z and Millennials voting than the Baby Boomer Generation. Over the years the primary votes have slipped from about 80% going to the two major parties down to 60%, with the balance directed to Independents and minor parties. This trend looks to continue while the major parties are struggling to connect with new voters, but in particular the Liberal primary vote seems to be drifting the worst as they continue to pander more to the Boomers.

[Fau Teixeira]

So mandatory voting, first past the post and ranked choice ?

[Downunder Dolphan]

So mandatory voting, first past the post and ranked choice ?

That's pretty close.

It's compulsory to attend a voting booth or to get a postal vote and mail it in. The main thing is getting your name crossed off when you attend a voting center or mail something, what you do with your vote is your own business.

Some people with no interest in this at all choose to "donkey vote", and that's just numbering the boxes top to down (or left to right on the Senate form) with no regard as to who they are voting for. It was speculated that one very unpopular Senator from another state got in this way, because he happened to draw the first spot on the form in the random ballot to determine positions.

Then there is the "informal" vote where people don't vote for any candidates at all, they just attend so they don't get a fine. It's a bit of an unofficial Australian tradition that if you don't like any of the candidates, you draw a large penis on the voting slip. The Senate voting slip is about two feet long now, so that's an impressive feat!

[Phishfan]

I have more respect for someone drawing a 2ft penis than someone marking random selections that can sway the results.

[Downunder Dolphan]

I have more respect for someone drawing a 2ft penis than someone marking random selections that can sway the results.

Very true.

But we have people having to show up to vote (along with a groundswell of independent media trying to educate them) and it gives them the motivation to do something with it. Or nothing, if they still decide the best option is drawing a 2 foot penis on the ballot paper. It's an educated choice.

Everyone is told this is what you do to make a country work. If you choose not to bother, you have no excuse to bitch about the result (plus you probably also have a fine to pay as well).

[CF DolFan]

Florida and Texas is proving that uneducated voters are dangerous. In both states, Democrats have realised they need an "R" next to their name to get elected. As such, many recent Democrats are being voted in and then fighting for liberal policies. Not sure about Texas but Florida now has a much larger population that is registered Republican. Many, if not most, are voting Republican down the list and not paying attention to the record of the person they are voting for. The result is having a major majority and still not being able to get anything done.

[Fau Teixeira]

Florida and Texas is proving that uneducated voters are dangerous. In both states, Democrats have realised they need an "R" next to their name to get elected. As such, many recent Democrats are being voted in and then fighting for liberal policies. Not sure about Texas but Florida now has a much larger population that is registered Republican. Many, if not most, are voting Republican down the list and not paying attention to the record of the person they are voting for. The result is having a major majority and still not being able to get anything done.

So the fix is to have an educated population which will vote majority D most of the time? The more educated a population becomes as a whole, the more they vote Democrat

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Florida and Texas is proving that uneducated voters are dangerous. In both states, Democrats have realised they need an "R" next to their name to get elected. As such, many recent Democrats are being voted in and then fighting for liberal policies. Not sure about Texas but Florida now has a much larger population that is registered Republican. Many, if not most, are voting Republican down the list and not paying attention to the record of the person they are voting for. The result is having a major majority and still not being able to get anything done.

To whom are you referring? 

The only recent examples I could find of folks switching in those states, were incumbent Democrats who lost their primary because they upset their base by being too conservative that switched to Republican and won by advertising themselves as a moderate centrist.  An educated voter would expect such a person to cross party lines frequently. 

If for example Liz Cheney regains her seat in 2026 as a Democrat I don't think anyone would be shocked if she voted with the Republicans more often than the Democrats.

[Dave Gray]

If for example Liz Cheney regains her seat in 2026 as a Democrat I don't think anyone would be shocked if she voted with the Republicans more often than the Democrats.

I would be shocked.  By and large, people vote with their political party and they aren't passionate about most things.  Cheney would have to vote party-line for the Democrats if she were a democrat unless it was some pet issue for her OR the Dems didn't need the votes so they'd let her off the hook so she could call herself a moderate.

It's the Susan Collins game.  But you see this all the time.  These people who switch parties do so and pretty much fall in line with their caucus with social issue stuff and for the majority of policy.  Cheney might be like Joe Manchin.