Post-Election NSW

The NSW State elections took place yesterday.

The results have been variously characterized, accurately one might add, as a "landslide election defeat", or more colorfully, as "bloodbath", and "carnage".

The Australian newspaper, in its election blog, with uncharacteristic moderation, said "O'Farrell crushes Labor". [*]

Whatever the adjectives one might chose to describe the results, and although definitive figures are yet to be announced, the provisional figures (as of Sunday 27-03-2011 16:50) by themselves are enough to qualify NSW Labor's defeat as historical:

Source: ABC. Legislative Council, and Legislative Assembly.

As can be seen, no deals are needed for the Coalition to pass legislation in the lower house of Parliament, unless the piece in question has additional, much more stringent, requirements. But if simple majority vote is required, the legislation project is as good as approved.

In the upper house, with 19 votes, the Liberal/National Coalition needs to deal with the minor parties (Shooters and Fishers, and Christian Democratic Party). To the extent that those parties have political stances coincident with the Coalition, or are amenable to make deals with the Coalition, a similar situation obtains.

The results seem similar to those after the last Wisconsin elections.

NOTES:

[*] For foreign readers: there are two main parties in Australian politics, the Liberals/Nationals Coalition (right) and Labor (notionally left). Additionally, there are a constellation of smaller parties, some strictly local, some at national level (chief among them, the Australian Greens). In these elections, Labor was the incumbent party.