The Coalition secured 76 of the 150 House of Representatives seats which would be half plus one if it didn’t have to provide a Speaker, who only has a casting vote.

So we effectively have a “hung” parliament, but not as fragile as that in which Labor had only 72 votes. At this stage Malcolm Turnbull would take comfort from the fact that Bob Katter, Cathy McGowan and the Xenophon Member are quite conservative and likely to be reliable. But the Senate is a different story.

In the red chamber the Government will have to run the gauntlet of 11 cross benchers and 9 Greens. Four of the cross bench will represent Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. To pass legislation through the Senate in the absence of Labor support, the Government will need to find 9 votes elsewhere. The Greens have 9 but without their support, 9 will have to be found from the remaining 11. In other words, if One Nation Senators stick together, Bills opposed by Labor and the Greens will only pass if the One Nation block provides support. Increasingly, the double dissolution is looking like a very bad idea!

This one is to settle a bet for a friend and his mates at the pub. Yes boys, a “1” above the line in the Senate was a formal vote.

Readers will recall a long running debate in the Senate over the new voting system. The result, so we all thought, was a new system – to fill 6 numbers above the line or at least 12 boxes below the line.

But in a somewhat controversial call, the Electoral Commissioner decided that a “1” above the line would remain formal. He argued that to rule otherwise risked disenfranchising many voters. 

It’s someone’s shout!

We have many worthy charitable causes and people prepared to put in the work necessary to garner community support. One such example was the recent Cessnock Golf Lymphoma Day.

With the election behind me I was pleased to be able to find the time for a hit. It was a great success with $4,733 raised.  There are many to thank including Stonebridge Golf Club, particularly the ladies from the Club and the recipient organisation, the Coalfields Cancer Support Group which in turn, will donate funds to the Mater Hospital Research Unit.