The Count is now over.

The counting of preferences under the Hare-Clark system is
finally over The outcome is unchanged from election predictions with
10-10-5. However the quirky vote saw elected MP's defeated by other candidates from their own party. Rebecca White came from behind to defeat Cabinet Minister David Llewelwyn in Lyons.Meander Valley mayor Mark Shelton was elected to join Rene Hidding. In Braddon The Greens won by electing Paul O'Halleran at the expense of Brett Whitely of the Liberals.

So it is a hung parliament and neither of the major parties will publicly entertain coalition with Nick Mc.Kim and the Greens. As I tweeted earlier, tomorrow we will see who blinks first. And I also don't expect that this Parliament will last 4 years and we probably will return to the polling booth in weeks or perhaps a half-year at the outside.

Certainly this has been the closest election in Tasmanian history. It still is unclear what will happen from here on. One thing
to clearly emerge is that the electorate wants fresh young faces in Tasmania's House of Assembly. The age of most of the members of the Upper House, known as the Legislative Council, is 20 to 30 years older than the Lower House.

We shall have to wait till tomorrow to find out what will happen next.

Robin 0903 UTC March 31st

The result is finally in.

At long last the preferences have been cut up and it looks
likely that the Liberals will have enough to form a
minority government. 11-9-5 looks like the final makeup.
Can't see how the Liberals and the Greens somehow
forming a coalition nor Labor. The days ahead will
be interesting but another election does not seem to far away.

Will this result affect the upcoming Federal election?
Nationally probably not but definitely will make
the major parties nervous in local polls.

Will David Bartlett fall on his sword? I would not be
surprised and if he does I expect that they
could turn to Michael Polley to rebuild Labor.

Rob in 1100 UTC March 30th

We are none the wiser after the Election yesterday!

Well it is finally over and it is even more of a mess
now because we have a hung parliament. That is
neither of the major political parties here in
Tasmania were able to secure a working majority
with the Greens holding the balance of power.

I was not at all surprised that Labor lost heavily
but even more shocked that the Liberals were not able
to gain more seats. It does appear that the Greens
have emerged with more clout but have really caused
this stalemate. The only ones who have won have
been the advertising agencies together with
the print and electronic media. All political parties
must have spent millions on the election and their
coffers must be bare. To top it off there is
supposed to be a federal election later this year.

I was unimpressed with the speeches of both Bartlett
and McKim on the floor of the Tally Room. Both were
longwinded whilst Hodgman was more lucid.
What will happen from here? I think we will have to
wait for another ten days until the votes are cut
up to determine the voters preferences under the
complicated Hare-Clark system. Before that perhaps
the three parties will meet secretly to try and
thrash out some sort of coalition but this parliament
will not last four years. I predict another poll
in six months or less. By then I shall not be at all
surprised that the size of the House of Assembly
will revert back to 35 from the present 25.

There also should be curbs on spending. Elections
for the Upper House are capped at $15,000. One Liberal candidate
forked over $250,000 in advertising. Besides that we
had too much advertising on TV that clearly angered
people, particularly in prime time.

We are all unclear what will happen now. We just
have to wait and see. No wonder pollies are well down
the pecking order here in Tasmania.

Robin 0610 UTC March 21st.

What really is important in the News?

It hasn't stopped. Now the media is again in a frenzy over another titbit of meaningless gossip about Sandra Bullock's private life. If people are so obsessed with celebrities then I pity them. Really there are more important
issues in the news than a movie star's private life.
Robin 0340 UTC March 18th

Written on the Eve of Saint Paddy's Day.

It is out of the way now. Phew! However I won't be commenting further until after 6 pm Saturday. All I can say is what a waste of money expended in the campaign by all concerned. There should be spending caps like there is in Legislative Council elections.

The other good news is that AFL football is only 10 days away! The pictures are great on my HD television. The NAB Cup is now behind us and the regular season beckons. I still think the inclusion of a Gold Coast team next year is stupid and a team based in the western suburbs of Sydney in 2012 is even a bigger joke. I must say I was surprised at Barry Hall's form with the Western Bulldogs. Can a leopard change his spots? He does seem a lot calmer and focused.

Robin 0410 UTC March 16th.

What sayest thou?

Hey there is real news out there! Why is the Australian media
obsessed with the Bingle/Clarke affair? This
really should be a private matter and
should not concern anybody else.In
reality this is a common ploy for
media to divert people away from major
issues to something so trivial.Yes we do
have real substantive issues certainly needing
our attention and concentration and we should not be
diverted into this pettiness.
What sayest thou?

Robin 0350 UTC March 11th.