Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition. Credit: Tony Abbott
By Rich Bowden:
Liberal party officials have claimed weekend by-election results offer a ringing endorsement of new leader Tony Abbott after a fortnight of party infighting not seen since the Howard/Peacock battles of the 1980s.
The Liberals Paul Fletcher (Bradfield) and Kelly O’Dwyer (Higgins) continued the blue ribbon seats’ tradition of not having to go to preferences as they stared down a determined Greens challenge in both electorates. Labor did not contest either seat.
Liberal party officials say the results vindicate Mr Abbott’s actions of the previous week in leading a mass frontbench revolt against then leader Malcolm Turnbull’s policy of agreeing with the Government on the introduction of emissions trading legislation.
However there is some doubt over claims of the extent of the Abbott victory and it is a sign of the current disarray of the party that even the regaining of two of their safest seats, without the added factor of a Labor candidate, is considered a victory by Liberal powerbrokers.
In a post on his blog, political Journalist Kevin Rennie describes the placating of the Liberal heartland as something akin to a “Sarah Palin effect” and says that, while the party’s decision to walk away from an agreement with the Government to pass emissions legislation appeared to be a success, it was noticeable that “…10,000 less people [than the 2007 election] voted for each Liberal candidate this time.”
Greens’ gains
Greens leader Sen. Bob Brown. Credit mugley/flickr
Meanwhile Greens leader Senator Bob Brown has praised his party’s candidates for the two seats by saying they had pushed the Liberals to their lowest votes in both electorates despite the Labor party not fielding a candidate.
“The results in Higgins and Bradfield are a major step up for the Greens on our road to the House of Representatives. In far Greener seats we will be edging far closer to victory at the 2010 poll,” Senator Brown said.
He said the figures (see below) show a remarkable setback for the Liberal party and strong gains for the Greens who soaked up much of the support had there been Labor candidates standing.
Greens: Higgins 34.96% (+24.21 swing), Bradfield 26.18% (+ 14.72)
Liberals: Higgins 51.74% (-1.87), Bradfield 55.38% (-4.74).
Average swing to the Greens +19.5%.
Average swing away from Libs -3.3%
This is definitely an interesting post Rich. And I think that you're right on many things. I've added my 2 cents worth at my own blog. However, I mostly stress that the by-elections were about whether, after a week a public and brutal factional warfare, Liberal Party voters stilled voted Liberal. The fact that the RBA announced a third interest rate rise meant climate change was probably playing a second fiddle for most voters.
Hey Alex,
Nice assessment. As I pointed out in the news item, its an indictment of the turmoil in the Libs that they claim victory in two of their most blue ribbon as a sign of Abbott's leadership being accepted by Australian voters.
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Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition. Credit: Tony Abbott
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