77 first preference votes. Are you confused by the result? Malcolm Roberts aint.

Erstwhile senator gives stirring rendition of; ‘Ricky don’t loose that number”

It took 77 first preference votes to get him there. And the Liberals and Greens should feel proud of themselves, an own goal. Malcolm reckons climate science is bunk. He’s dead right. On the telly, Malcolm put his business card down, ‘If anyone can prove climate science is not rubbish, let me know’. What proof do you need Malcolm? Your reef is almost 100% fucked. Yet you tell it as it is. That’s what we need in politics, Style. He has scientific evidence, he’s done the research himself.

Now we’ll get a Royal Commission into Islam. And dispose of pesky 18C. Bill Leake has fired the starters gun, It’s On!

The new powerhouse of status quo politics. Enter the GREENS.

Remember when there was a marathon session to pass the senate reform legislation? It passed with the support of the Greens about lunchtime. It was later approved by the House of Representatives, 81 votes to 31. The legislation made it harder for micro parties to get elected, and was opposed by most of the cross bench. It worked like this: Rather than placing a “1” above the line on Senate ballot papers or numbering every box below the line, the proposal ranked votes 1 to 6 above the line in order of their preferences. Minor parties were longer able to swap preferences in order to secure Senate seats. On the night the legislation was passed, it was said the other Malcolm, (Malcolm Turnbull) proclaimed it “a great day for democracy”. Mathias Cormann rejoiced; ‘The bill would empower voters’. And from the safety of the lush green verdure of inner sanctidom, Lee Rhiannon, (NSW Leader of the Greens) decried Labor; “They’ve ended on the wrong side of history, they’ve been left in the back-room and there’s no back-room dealers in there with them,”

Penny Wong abraided the Greens and Coalition “a new dimension of closeness” between the two parties. And David Lyonhjelm, that creature of the DLP right announced; “We are today urging Australians who are sick of professional politicians to send a message to them that you will no longer tolerate having empty vessels occupying seats of our Parliament.” (When the DLP are making sense it’s time to worry).

Keating, some of his best days still in front of him.

Penny and David are on the wrong side of history. A scintillating fragment from the comments section of the Guardian makes some sense. : The real problem with the Senate is that it is, in the words of Paul Keating, “unrepresentative swill.” You identify that WA, SA, and Qld benefit the Coalition greatly in the Senate. These states have a quarter of the population, at a rough estimate, as Vic. and NSW. The vote of a West Australian is worth four times the vote of a New South Welshman. This is a result of our Federation, but it is a federation that was drawn up at another time in history. It is time to ask whether this particular aspect of the Federation, that each state has the same number of seats in the Senate, is really democratic or useful in the 21st Century. This is where i would be looking to make real change. Indeed i would go so far as to suggest we should abolish the Senate altogether, but make voting for the House of Representatives a collegiate system, like the Senate, but where one vote one value is applied. I feel that the changes being made to the Senate seek simplicity rather than to advance our democracy, and will result on a less divers, and more concentrated Senate, which is perhaps going to lead, overall, to a less democratic Senate.

Be careful what you wish for. What is it we have? I thought electoral reform was about Fairness and Progress? Who would’ve thought.