Australian Elections

[displacedyankeedem]

I've been try ing to follow the coverage via the Sydney Morning Herald, and all I've been able to piece together is this:
-Attacks in Jakarta help the Liberals and Howard
-Labor's tax package got high reviews
-Race is basically deadlocked

One other question: What is "the coalition" that I keep reading about? It sounds like the Liberals and someone else.

It's strange for me having to think badly about a party called the Liberals, lol.

[rooboy]

1. The 'coalition'...

is a combination of the Liberal Party and the National Party. Both are conservative parties, and they have worked together for at least 30 or 40 years. The Liberals tend to hold the city seats whilst the National Party tends to represent the voters in the country (it used to be called the Country Party).

If the coalition wins power, the leader of the Liberals becomes prime minister with the leader of the National Party being customarily appointed deputy PM.

Attacks in Jakarta don't help Howard much, if at all. Foreign Minister Downer called the head of the Australian Federal Police an Al Qaeda propagandist when he said that our involvement in Iraq made us a terror target. The bombing in Jakarta makes the statement true and debunks Howards claims that we are safer in the 'war on terror'.

Latham's tax package got some good reviews, but it wasn't really a tax package. It was more an announcement on welfare spending, but the record surplus in Australia's budget makes the taxation debate a little less relevant now.

[displacedyankeedem]

2. Thanks

and is the Sydney Morning Herald the best plce for coverage of the election, or should I look elsewhere?

[Cha]

3. That's what I was thinking and hoping was

the consensus i.e. Sanity!

Thanks, rooboy.