Aussie State Elections...

It's amazing how much the political structure of different countries vary between each other. In Australia, there are two levels of government. The State Government and the Federal Government. The two aren't proportionally related. What I mean is that they are not run concurrently. In addition, all the State elections are carried out according to the term in each state. South Australia and Tasmania had theirs just the past Saturday. The other states have theirs at different times; some next year and yet others the year after. Even stranger in my opinion is that a particular party may have won the State Governments in each State but still the Federal Government may be won by another party. It's as if the State and Federal levels of goverment exist independently of each other. The way it currently stands is that all the State Goverments are run by the Labor Party whereas the Federal Government is run by the Coalition; consisting of Liberals and Nationals.

For some reason, the people of Australia trust both parties on different levels. Here in SA, the Labor Party won another term but this time with a majority government in their own right (previously they were a minority government and relied on Independents and a National to stay in power). They completely obliterated the Liberal Party. Quite strange since at a Federal level, the Liberals crushed Labor. There wasn't much doubt here in SA though. Everyone knew months before the elections who the winner would be. There was just no contest. The surprising thing about this elections was not only how badly the Liberals lost; but also the composition of the Upper House in State Parliament. An Independent candidate named Nick Xenophon won 2 and a half quotas. This means he is guaranteed 2 if not 3 people on his "ticket" a seat in the Upper House. An amazing feat seeing that none of the political parties put him on their ticket and he would not have gotten preference flows. I saw him while walking around Rundle Mall on Sunday; the day after the elections. He was wearing one of those sandwich boards with the words "Thank You" in the front and back. Ever the stuntman.

I'm not sure of the political climate in Tasmania but Labor won there as well with a majority Government. It seems to me that Labor hasn't put a foot wrong at State level. A stark contrast to how they are faring at the Federal level. I guess the states are crucial for them to hold on to in order to avoid being wiped off the political battlefield.

Nothing much to comment about. Just felt the urge to comment on the State elections. I can't vote since I'm an international student but even if I did it wouldn't have made much difference in this instance. Still I like the system here better as it allows for more democracy. A party may control the Lower House but not the Upper House thus allowing for more accountability of actions. Governments change based on how they performed and the satisfaction level of the people. Now if only such democracy existed in my home country. Would things be different? Would I be here where I am today? Who knows...