Go and pack your bags, PUP: NSW voters sick of the senate soap opera
VOTERS in NSW have demanded a snap federal election to end the senate soap opera and allow the government to govern.
It has taken less than six months of chaos but an overwhelming majority of voters now believe it is time to send Clive Palmer, Jacqui Lambie and their oddball independent senate colleagues packing.
The first exclusive poll to gauge public opinion about the disarray being inflicted by the wrecking ball tactics of Labor, the Greens and the Palmer United Party has revealed an electoral backlash to the senate’s refusal to pass much of the government’s agenda, with 67 per cent wanting a new election.
Commissioned by The Daily Telegraph, the result surprised pollsters with an almost equal number of Labor and Coalition voters saying they would be prepared to go back to the polls to get a workable senate.
“I would say the result is surprising given Australian voters generally seem happier with fewer rather than more elections,” Galaxy Research CEO David Briggs said.
“Even when the Gillard government was deeply unpopular there was little enthusiasm for an early election in order to turf out the government.
“(But) clearly, when weighing up options the majority of Coalition supporters are willing to risk the possible loss of government in order to clean up the mess in the senate. Even the majority of Labor supporters would be happy to head back to the polls.”
The latest bedlam has been inflicted by the Palmer United Party’s collapse, with the likely defection today of Ms Lambie, who has threatened to block all government legislation.
A senior government strategist said the NSW results echoed Liberal Party research nationally that suggested the majority of voters had “tired of the soap opera”. “There is a strong view that people have made up their minds,” the strategist said. “People voted us in for change and it is up to the senate to take notice of this.”
A total of 938 NSW voters were asked last week if they would be in favour of a fresh election to make the senate more workable, and 68 per cent of Labor voters and 70 per cent of Coalition voters agreed. QUESTION: WOULD YOU BE IN FAVOUR OR OPPOSED TO A FRESH ELECTION TO MAKE THE SENATE MORE WORKABLE? IN FAVOUR: 67% OPPOSED: 25% UNCOMMITTED: 8% Source: Galaxy Research
THE LABOR PARTY MUST HELP END THE CHAOS, NOT AGGRAVATE IT
Simon Benson comment
TO those now sitting in the senate deliberately creating havoc in an orgy of political self-interest, the voters of NSW say this: get out of the way or give us an election.
The surprising results in today’s Daily Telegraph Galaxy poll, the first to gauge what punters think of the current senate soap opera, has revealed that, in NSW at least, voters want to turf the new crop out after only six months in office.
So much for the maxim trotted out by politicians in victory that the electorate is never wrong.
Even a majority of Labor Party voters want another election to atone for the mistake of allowing the chaos of the last parliament to be conferred to this one.
With no prospect of that happening, the solution to this falls to Bill Shorten. But Labor is simply fuelling the chaos.
Several senior Labor frontbenchers admit that the aim of making the Coalition look as chaotic and dysfunctional as they were in government seems to be working.
If it was good enough for Tony Abbott in opposition, then why not for Shorten?
The only problem is that people are sick of the chaos. They expect politicians to take notice of them and not the other way around.
