Editorial: The Tribe Has Spoken

MICHAEL Johnsen, from the National Party has been returned as the state member for the Upper Hunter electorate by a two-party margin of 4.25%.

This election Mr Johnsen’s primary vote only reached 34.56%, down by 4.3% from last election and a far cry from the 54% primary vote of his predecessor George Souris.

While Mr Souris was able to garner the majority of primary votes for the National Party, at this election only one third of the votes were first preference for the Nationals marking a considerable change in the electorate.

So, while the tribe has spoken, it is only one third of the tribe, with preferences still being allocated and in the coming week it will be interesting to see where those preferences flowed.

See some breakdowns of the voting to date below.

Of the 55,471 votes being counted, 7,688 votes were exhausted, meaning those voters only marked 1 on their ballot and gave no further preference for their votes to flow.

Preferences were a huge issue this election, with many voters not understanding that in the NSW state election no candidates or parties can direct preferences, only the individual voters can make their own preference.

And for some people preferences continue to be an issue, based on the close outcome of this election, believing preferences should be directed by parties and candidates.

Either way, the power is in the hands of each voter and they each made their own decision on who they gave their primary vote to and who they directed preferences to, if they did at all.

So, while the tribe has spoken and it is interesting that the dynamic of the tribe has changed significantly in their allegiances, since two-thirds of the tribe did not get their first preference I am sure the bemoaning will continue, which is a fundamental right in democracy.

What will also be interesting to see is how many invalid votes were cast.

For those people who did cast an invalid vote – your right to have a rant on Facebook or anywhere about any political decision is hereby revoked for the next four years!

And you absolutely have no right to invoke ANZAC in any of your rants, because they fought wars for democracy and freedom and it is completely disrespectful to then refuse to participate in our democracy – ideally we could identify these people and send them off the island to somewhere that shares their undemocratic values and since most of those countries don’t even allow Facebook, we wouldn’t have to hear them whinge!

Elizabeth Flaherty
Editor, scone.com.au

Link to more results: NSW Electoral Commission.

Last count on Sunday: