Despite all the criticism since Gillard's minority government and the carbon tax of the role of minor parties in parliament, they have actually been the biggest beneficiaries in terms of percentage first-preference support. In all states except two, the swing to minor parties was actually greater than the swing to the Liberal party. In three states there was actually a swing against the Liberal party.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/results/

The biggest beneficiary is the palmer united party. This party was only created in April this year.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/results/party-totals/

What does it say about the major parties if so many people are willing to throw their support behind a party that has only existed for 6 months and is lead by a man with an obvious vested interest?

Tony has a plethora of nut jobs in the Senate to deal with..good luck Tony 

adelcrow wrote on Sep 8^th, 2013 at 10:56am:



Yes. It was a win for those of us who voted for the senate.

I'm glad there's a couple of Tony haters in there, that should keep us sufficiently entertained. I might even start watching parliament for a laugh.

People are obviously losing their liking for either of the major parties, getting a bit fed up with a duopoly, perhaps.

It will be interesting to see the percentage of informal votes this election. That's always a sign of discontentment.