Election Wrap Up 2010
Senator Russell Trood
As the counting of votes in the 2010 federal election comes to a close, it seems clear that no party has won an absolute majority in the House of Representatives. It is clear however, that Australians have strongly favoured the Coalition over the existing Labor government with an overall national swing of 2%. At the same time, the Liberal and National parties have won more seats in the House than Labor and a greater share of the primary vote.
Queensland made a particularly strong contribution to this result. The state wide swing to the Liberal National Party was 5.31% with the party picking up 9 Labor seats - Bonner, Brisbane, Dawson, Dickson, Flynn, Forde, Herbert, Leichhardt, Longman, and the new seat of Wright.
As impressive as this is, the disappointing aspect of the election from my personal perspective is that it seems clear that I will lose my senate seat to a candidate from the Greens.
The provisions of our federal Constitution mean that I will continue as a senator for Queensland until 30 June 2011. Until then, I look forward to continuing my work serving the interests of Queenslanders, my party and the national interest in Canberra. In the meantime, my thanks to every one who supported the LNP senate ticket at the election, I very much appreciate the confidence you showed in us.