Election Day in Australia

[Aliantha]

And they still haven't announced who the winner of the seat was yet.

And what a shock that Peter Costello resigned from politics. I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest, although he did win his seat as opposed to John Howard possibly losing his.

Maybe Mr Downer will take over the Libs. I believe he'd be their best bet. He's done a fabulous job as foreign affairs minister. I think Malcolm Turnbull might get the nod though. I hope it's not Tony Abbott!

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

And they still haven't announced who the winner of the seat was yet.

And what a shock that Peter Costello resigned from politics. I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest, although he did win his seat as opposed to John Howard possibly losing his.

Maybe Mr Downer will take over the Libs. I believe he'd be their best bet. He's done a fabulous job as foreign affairs minister. I think Malcolm Turnbull might get the nod though. I hope it's not Tony Abbott!

Downer has declared he has "little enthusiasm" for the job. The leading contenders are Abbot (oh I hope not) and Turnbull (too smooth by far).
But whoever takes the job is looking at a minimum of three and almost certainly six years in opposition - possibly more. And it's quite likely that whoever takes it now will be a caretaker leader for the next six months or so and then be rolled by the real one. For that reason I would have thought Downer or Costello should have held the tiller until the party has sorted itself out and the new person is ready.
To get all political, I hope Abbot gets to be leader for a while, looses the next election, and gets dumped ... better that than him to become leader in a few years and possibly PM in the fullness of time.

Yes, dear foreigners, the Australian Liberal Party does feature two major players named Abbot and Costello.