As Victorians await the final counting to determine which party has won the State election, one outcome is clear. The green bubble has burst.
For the past few weeks, every prediction by the Greens - that they would claim 18 per cent of the vote, win four lower House seats and control the balance of power in Victoria - was breathlessly reported by the media.
The Greens are an anathema to Coalition supporters, who were dismayed that Adam Bandt was elected to the House of Representatives with their preferences.
When the Greens then formed an alliance with Labor, and acted as if they had gained the seat of Melbourne in their own right, many Liberals determined that it should never happen again.
The federal Labor-Green alliance killed the idea that it was better to have a Green than a Labor MP. If the Greens were never to support the Coalition, but use their new position to create a beachhead to push their radical agenda, why should the Coalition ever preference them?
Besotted by the Greens, much of the media missed this development. When I delivered a paper detailing the Greens radical agenda three weeks ago, the mainstream media largely ignored it. But it went viral on the web where more and more political discussion occurs.
It was similar to developments in the UK, where the Liberal Democrats lost seats despite widespread media expectations that they would improve their Parliamentary numbers.
The announcement that the Liberals would not preference the Greens was a turning point event in the campaign. It consolidated the conservative base, whose members and supporters were opposed to the Greens and concerned that the Liberal Party had not clarified its position.
It preserved the coalition between the Liberals and Nationals. More significantly, it demonstrated a decisiveness that had been missing from the campaign. It showed that the Liberals stood for something, and were not simply testing the breeze on every issue.
It also put the spotlight onto Labor, which until then had been demanding that the Liberals declare their position on the extreme left party.
This left Labor floundering, as it couldn’t adequately explain why it was doing a deal with the Greens over which it had attacked the Liberals.
This leaves Labor divided between those Parliamentarians pandering to the Greens because they are worried about being cannibalised in their inner city electorates, and the majority of MPs concerned that middle Australia will abandon the party if they support a radical economic, social and cultural agenda.
It demonstrates that exposing the Greens agenda and refusing any truck with it will win the support of the majority of Australians.
It exposes the deceptiveness of the Greens. The Greens courted Liberal second preferences, but sided with Labor. Bob Brown then complained petulantly that had the Liberals directed preferences to the Greens, they would have won three or four seats.
It is a lesson for the future. By standing firm, the Coalition was rewarded with electoral support.
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
Ukraine song pinches chord progression from The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony. Fo real #sbseurovision
RT @GerardDaffy: @antsharwood all the talk over there is the grannies will win.they entered to get a church built,feelgood story
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it
An email was sent to almost every politician in Australia this week saying that someone should cut off…
Our special forces don’t always need special treatment
We admire them, but we’re not entirely sure why. We allow them to operate in the shadows; we rarely…
A good holiday is about unrest, not rest
Like a fat full-stop, it lay in my hand. A small orange – not exactly fresh, but purchased anyway…
Nosebleed Section
choice ringside rantings
From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
Michael S says:
"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone
Change Up! says:
I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments
A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more
Most commented