And with John Bowler on his side, he commands five Legislative Assembly votes — enough for minority government with the Libs, or a majority with an apparently fragile Labor. So much for the old predictions that one-vote-one-value would destroy the Nationals and cement the big parties!

Also, what’s up with all the criticism of the WAEC from pollies? They’re taking just as long to finalise the vote count as they’ve done for every previous election I’ve seen, but just because Labor couldn’t win government this time means there needs to be an inquiry?!

But given that I am a political nerd, I think a hung parliament is awesome. Given that the campaign was short, mediocre, and predominantly negative … this outcome is great.

I guess having the Olympics to draw people’s attention while Barnett figured out what to do was a good thing, and naturally I concede I completely underestimated the level of disenchantment people had with healthcare, Burke scandals, Carpenter himself, and so forth. I’m particularly impressed that most of the new seats from the one-vote one-value redistribution went to the Libs.

Yet the result seems to say “we really don’t like you, but nor do we trust that other mob”. I think it delicious to imagine the prospect of Alan Carpenter forming a minority government with the Nationals, and being forced to compromise and consult on every decision he takes. This, to me, would be a best-of-both-worlds that tones down his brusqueness while also keeping the only competent team for government that we have. (It is, of course, more likely that the Liberals and Nationals settle their squabble and form government with the independents; most of them are right-leaning, so that’d be more of a business-as-usual story.)

And at least things in Perth aren’t as bad as they are in NSW; competence is apparently harder to come by than I’d have guessed!

P.S. I’m amused that, even though I thought the ballot paper was awfully short when I voted a fortnight ago, I was among the record numbers of people giving first preference to the Greens (a.k.a. the only party in WA to have its act together).

Yesterday I was somewhat stunned to see the WA Liberal Party fall into such a state of disarray that they had to go and defrost their ex-leader out of (almost-)retirement, even though they’d had plenty of much better-timed chances to dump Troy Buswell. But no matter how bad he was, I fail to see how such a late change could achieve anything, even if Carpenter did see out his term.

Meanwhile, the Government’s (re-)announcements a month ago of more spending on public transport, hospitals, and other infrastructure did sound awfully election-ey.

So I suppose an election shouldn’t come as a surprise. Now I just wait to see what this campaign’s version of the crazy canal proposal shall be …

Perhaps it was fortunate that the Liberals lost last weekend; John Howard had previously emphasised the unified strength of his team, but now that’s looking like it was just a facade. Or maybe the party is full of back-knifers.

And then there’s the race for a new leader. Malcolm Turnbull is indeed the best of the three, while Brendan Nelson has suddenly grown a conscience, but neither they nor Tony Abbot have the nous that made Howard so good at holding votes.

But then THE LATHAM BEAST reared its ugly head.

Team Howard says this is proof that Labor intend to backflip once elected, and if they’re to pull a rabbit out of their hat this election, I think a scare campaign along these lines may be their best bet. So it’ll be interesting to see if this story disappears as quickly as the other scandals of the campaign have.

In true Latham style, there’s a kernel of truth in what he’s written — the big announcements from each party really haven’t been far off identical. But then, how does that differ from the 2004 election …?

See, Howard had gone spent some cash
From the Budget, on roads where trucks crash
Vital infrastructure, he said
Without which exports would be dead
And voters in marginals would gnash.

Young Kevin, meanwhile, thought he’d try
To bribe folks who a house they would buy
Less tax on their savings
To forget rate-rise cravings!
Nevermind where real price rises lie.

So neither team ever really tried
To hit the real causes; they’d just fly
From each city to town,
Doling cash from the Crown
And wishing inflation would say bye.

• It’s annual report season, which means there are even more documents vying for my attention than normal. Telstra’s one, pictured, reads very much like that of a company slightly stunned as its industry changes around it, and is basically one big whinge at the regulations laid down by the Federal Government. So much so that I’m surprised they haven’t started running ads urging people to not vote Liberal.
• The machinery of the WA public sector is also busily churning out reports, some of which have thrown up headline-worthy allegations. The biggest was last week from the Information Commissioner, an anti-corruption office set up in the 90s, whose foreword complains of being screwed around by the Attorney-General. This gave ripe pickings for a new round of swipes at Jim McGinty — for a while, at least.
• There was also news of enormous shortfalls in the budget for the local Flying Doctor branch, and corruption problems in the Health Department; cue more swipes at Jim McGinty. Collectively, these revelations are not a good look for the Carpenter Government, but with all eyes on Federal matters (why do the papers care so much about a TV debate?) they’re having no trouble getting away with it.
• Last weekend’s local government elections were disappointingly uneventful, though Lisa Scaffidi won (suprisingly easily) the top job at the City of Perth. I look forward to seeing if she lives up to any of the campaign hype, though I can say she’s already brought more glamour and a higher profile to the role than old Peter Nattrass did. (And this at least was more interesting than my local government, where the election was basically just a string of wins for incumbents.)