Sunday, 25th of November, 2007

is what I changed my Facebook status to on my Treo last night at the venue where I was playing a gig, once it had become clear that it was a Ruddslide, and what's more Howard had lost his seat to Maxine (they're not calling it yet, but I can't see how Howard can hang on to it – which is simply wonderful!)

I'm disappointed that the Greens haven't had the out-and-out success we hoped for, but I think they still have a chance at getting a 6th senator in and holding balance of power. As it stands, the ABC are giving them 5 senators, with Nick Xenophon in SA and Steven Fielding for Family First also required for any Labor legislation to pass (in addition to the Greens). Another Greens senator would mean Family First are out of the picture.
My dear brother Tim was blogging (sporadically, between other commitments) live from the tally room last night, where you can read a bit more about the current situation for the Greens. GreensBlog, which is his awesome and revolutionary project, is Politics 2.0 in action, and you should add it to your RSS feeds (or at least bookmark it) forthwith.

It's very sad to see the end of the Democrats. It's particularly sad to see Andrew Bartlett go, so let's hope he continues to contribute to the blogosphere (here's his post analysing the senate results as they stand).

It's still going to continue to be hard work for progressive activists now that we have a Labor government. Hopefully the Greens can make some headway at influencing Labor in the Upper House, but there'll still be plenty to protest about.
Still, let's hope that the blackest years are over. Let's hope we can show the world that taking climate change seriously and taking workers' rights seriously will be a benefit for the economy and improve the lives of everyone. Let's hope we can give our Indigenous Australians a fair go. Let's hope we can get rid of the outrageous incursions into free speech and civil rights that the "War on Terror" has brought with it. Let's hope we can encourage a culture of compassion and engagement, not least through fixing our education and health systems…
At least now we can be hopeful!

PS wonder how long this'll be up? Second time I've seen it listed!

2 Responses to “"Elated in Adelaide"”

1. Benjamin says:
   November 26th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

   Dear Elated in Adelaide,

   Yay.

   Chuffed in Chippendale.

2. Tim says:
   November 28th, 2007 at 10:30 am

   Ta for the lovely comments about GreensBlog! And the link is sending traffic through, too, which is great!

   Latest news slowly coming through in the post and comments here

   Calmer in Canberra