There are a number of memorable aspects to this 2010 federal election result, but none more so than its expected result as a hung parliament, one in which neither side, Labor nor the Coalition, has achieved a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. The party leaders, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott, now must begin negotiating with the Independents and the Green MP even before the election count is concluded.
This type of outcome, close results and often hung parliaments, is fast becoming the new Australian way. You only have to witness recent state and territory elections in Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (and even Western Australia in part). Just about all of them have ended this way since the defeat of the Howard Government in November 2007. This development has not received enough attention in early post-mortems of the Federal Election.
It reflects an evenly divided electorate unconvinced by the claims of either side; as well as disillusionment with the way the political process is conducted. All of these elements were demonstrated during this campaign.
The memorable aspects include the precipitous decline and possible defeat of a first-term Labor Government, and the best-ever performance of the Greens in both houses; including their first-ever general election win in the House of Representatives in the electorate of Melbourne.
There have also been notable landmark individual performances, including those of the two Wyatts (Ken Wyatt who is likely to become the first Indigenous member of the House of Representatives by winning Hasluck in Western Australia for the Liberals; and Wyatt Roy who, at 20 years of age, has become the youngest ever member by winning Longman in Queensland for the Liberals).
Ed Husic, winning Chifley in Sydney for Labor, has become the first Muslim elected to the federal Parliament.
The result also suggests some fascinating questions. Prime among them is whether Labor panicked and threw away this election when it deposed Kevin Rudd and replaced him with Gillard in June.
Would Rudd have done better? The answer is probably yes. He would likely have done better in Queensland, though less well in the rest of the country. But on balance Labor probably would have done better given the enormity of Labor losses in Queensland (ten seats lost). This occurred even though NSW State Labor is more unpopular than Queensland State Labor. Labor did well in patches in NSW and only lost four seats.
The result delivers a remarkable opportunity to the occupants of the cross-benches. Notably they all support a greater role for government regardless of their other differences.
The negotiations, as in the recent past in the Senate, may involve the three Ps: personal preferment, policy changes and the pork barrel. Some electorates, regions and states will receive greater largesse as a matter of course (as with Senator Nick Xenophon and South Australia, for instance).
What it will not necessarily involve is political instability. A hung parliament, though irritating and uncomfortable for the major parties, is nothing to be afraid of. Life will go on and the new government will consolidate. The purists who prefer clear majority government will not like it (just as they do not like a Senate that can check a Lower House government). But that preference is as much ideology as balanced judgement.
A hung parliament can produce a stable government, and even improved government. It may moderate extremism. It shifts the balance away from the major parties a little, but that will be a good thing, acceptable to, even welcomed by, the wider community. It will mean concessions and compromise all round.
After the uncertainty of the next week or two parliament and government will settle down, whoever ultimately wins. There is nothing to suggest that the new government that emerges will not serve a full term. There is no guarantee of that anyway, as history shows us, under the alternative, majority government.
Emeritus Professor John Warhurst of the Australian National University is a Canberra Times columnist and worked for SBS television on election night.