According to Tim Colebatch, applying the Victorian election results to federal electorates would see the Coalition all but wiped out. Of course, those numbers can’t be directly transferred to the national contest, but this observation can’t be denied: “The most surprising thing about the landslide in Victoria last November is how little difference it has made to the Morrison government’s policies and style. … For Morrison and his ministers, it’s been business as usual, despite an election in which Victorian voters made it clear they don’t like the way the Coalition is doing business.” Elsewhere, Sean Kelly wonders whether the Coalition has fallen for its own spin, missing a fundamental shift in the electorate’s priorities: “Our country is waking up to the fact that, over a very long period, many people have lost, so that others can get ahead. Bank profits, the protection of the church’s reputation, money made by polluting industries, the extraction of valuable minerals from land inhabited by Indigenous people, the incredible wealth enjoyed by some individuals — these successes have come at great cost, to a great many people. Those people know what is important, and are tired of being asked to look away.”
4 March 2019