Apathy rules in Victoria

Had the other candidate been pre-selected, the Nationals would have retained the seat.

This is the second time the local Nationals have defied the Party leadership with disastrous consequences. In 1996 the result was the loss of the federal seat, Murray, which is based on Shepparton, to the Liberals.

This time the consequence is that the National Party has lost party status and the resources that go with it because they now have fewer than 11 members.

As for the Greens, they finally have won the state seat Melbourne and fell over the line in Prahran.

However, as stated earlier, despite these victories, their vote was static −a fact also disguised by the number of seats they delivered to Labor because of Labor's low primary vote.

The real disappointment for the Greens is that they will not have the balance of power in the Upper House.

To add salt to the wound, the balance of power will be shared by three members representing pro-shooter parties.

Turning to the future, there are those who think that excessive public service union influence over this Government could be its Achilles' heel, especially if, as predicted, the unemployment rate increases as the economy deteriorates.

From that perspective, the early signs are unnerving. Those who have examined the deal that Labor did with the firefighters' union say that it is under-costed and that the degree of influence the union will have over the operations of the Country Fire Authority is excessive.

Apart from the financial cost, a political problem is that the firefighters union have an agenda dating back to the days of the Bracks government to reduce substantially the number of volunteer firefighters, who are not union members, and to increase the number of full-time firefighters who are more likely to become union members.

Then there is the fact that Gavin Jennings who is the minister responsible for overseeing government transparency, integrity, accountability and the public sector reform. called the Community and Public Sector Union before the announcement of his appointment.

Liberal supporters will be hoping that this situation eventuates.