Voters feel locked out

Even the Nick Xenophon’s candidate’s success in Mayo, the Downer stronghold, brings back old memories. In 1998 Australian Democrat candidate John Schumann finished second in the primary count and gave Alexander Downer a fright on the back of Labor preferences.

If South Australian Bob Day and NSW senator David Leyonhjelm are defeated, the Liberals may pay a heavy price for making changes to the Senate voting system before a double dissolution. On economic issues, Nick Xenophon, Pauline Hanson and the Greens may have more in common than what people assume.

However, the most significant event during the election campaign may be that Malcolm Turnbull personally donated at least a million dollars to the Liberal Party during the campaign. If this report were true, its primary significance would not be that it provided evidence that the superannuation issue cost the Liberals votes at least indirectly, if not directly, through a diminution of resources.

It would be more fundamental. When the Palmer Party was at the height of its political influence, there were Liberals talking about the precedent Mr. Palmer was setting and the dangers to democracy presented by wealthy individuals buying political control. Comparisons were made with Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi.

If this suggestion were true, some might ask what is the difference between any precedent set by Clive Palmer and the precedent set by this donation - other than the fact that Mr. Turnbull is the leader of a majority party and therefore more likely than Mr. Palmer to be in a position to wield the power exercised by Mr. Berlusconi.

Others might say that such a donation would be just an extension of the existing understanding, in some states at least, that Liberal candidates in winnable seats are expected to self-fund by campaigning full time without pay in the twelve months prior to an election.

Liberals might retort that they need to resort to measures such as these to counter the advantage Labor has through the involvement of unions; and it is true that the support of a union for a candidate not only endorsed for a winnable seat but also seeking endorsement as the candidate for a safe or a winnable seat is important if not critical. One needs look no further that the role played by unions in determining the outcome of the pre-selection for a Victorian seat, Wills.

However such a defence would be cold comfort to mainstream Australians. All that this development would do is reinforce their belief that they are locked out of the political process, that neither of the major parties knows or wants to know about their priorities and aspirations and that they are wasting their time thinking otherwise