The Victorian Election Results

The November 2010 election results are mostly in, and it appears that Labor has been booted out big time, with a 6.1 per cent swing against it. Exact figures are yet to be determined, but it looks like the Liberals and Nationals may have 46 seats, while Labor will be left with just 42.

Over a half million pre-poll votes still need to be counted, so we do not know the precise numbers, but it seems that Labor lost 13 seats, while The Liberals/Nationals gained 14 (the one Independent, Craig Ingram, lost his seat to the Nationals). Thus the Coalition appears to have won the majority in the 88 seat Lower House.

This was a massive rebuff to the State Labor Party, and nothing to get excited about for the Greens, who basically remained the same as the last election in terms of percentages. Not one Green made it into the Lower House, while many long-standing Labor members lost their seats.

A lot of work was put in by pro-life and pro-family forces targeting marginal seats, especially those held by pro-death candidates. Those who voted for the infamous November 2008 abortion bill were heavily targeted. And this seems to have paid off quite well.

Thus Maxine Morand, the Emily’s Lister who introduced the abortion legislation which was passed two years ago was handily ousted. This bill was one of the most liberal abortion bills in the world. It was a dark day for Victoria to have this bill passed, and it was more than fitting to see her drummed out.

The results have been a mixed bag however on the pro-life front, with the DLP Upper House member Peter Kavanagh looking to lose his seat. He was a terrific pro-life stalwart in the Victorian Parliament. But at least the sleaze industry lobbyist Fiona Patten did not get a seat for the Australian Sex Party.

Now these election results, while great news for pro-faith, pro-family and pro-life voters, are not of course the beginning of the millennium. The Kingdom has not arrived on earth. Only when the King returns will this happen in all its glory.

But we are called to be salt and light on planet earth, and the political realm is one key area where Kingdom values can and will be contested. There are real differences between the major parties. Sure, in a fallen world, none will be perfect, and none will always come up with the goods.

But Labor has abortion on demand as a matter of Party platform, while the Coalition does not. While this is not the only issue of note, it is a vitally important one. The right to life is the most fundamental of all human rights, and without it, none of the other rights mean a hill of beans.

The left can chirp all it likes about social justice, but this mantra is mere rhetoric if there is no social justice for the unborn. If you are not allowed to be born, you are unlikely to care very much about affordable housing or ‘compassionate’ refugee policy.

So on this one key issue, there is something for all biblical Christians to rejoice in. Anything which may derail or turn around the pro-death policies of Labor and the Greens must be applauded by those who name the name of Christ. Of course it is still true that there are many other areas where the Coalition may not promote some key biblical values.

Ted Baillieu, the apparent new Premier, has been weak on a number of conservative and biblical values. In this sense he is like former Premier Jeff Kennett, who tended to press all the wrong buttons on key matters such as euthanasia, homosexuality, drugs, and so on.

So it remains to be seen how a less than ideal conservative leader, and the rest of his colleagues in the Coalition will govern. There is no guarantee at all that they will do the right thing always, or maybe even mostly. But we have had eleven years of Labor to see their radical social engineering agenda.

Attorney General Rob Hulls for example has pushed one radical bit of legislation after another, and has done much to greatly harm this state. It is hoped that the new government will slow down the rot, and even turn some of these issues around.

One of these key issues – along with the abortion bill – is the horrendous Racial and Religious Vilification Act which was passed a decade ago. It has done no good whatsoever, and has simply resulted in the reduction of freedom of speech in Victoria.

Indeed, it has been used as a blunt weapon to silence biblical Christians from speaking the truth of the Gospel. It is hoped that once the Coalition has settled in a bit, that it will make it a priority to repeal this dreadful bit of legislation. If just these two bits of bad law are challenged, that in itself would be a great outcome of this election.

Of course with only a one or two seat majority, it will not be easy to achieve such change, and it will only take a few renegade Coalition members to undermine such efforts. And as stated, Mr Baillieu is not exactly a conservative, but is instead a small l liberal. So whether real and important reform in some of these key areas occurs remains to be seen.

But needless to say, neither one of these laws would be challenged by a Labor/Green government. Indeed, Labor introduced both of these wretched bills. So if for no other reason than this, it is a great thing indeed that the Labor Government has been kicked out.

As I say, Christians should be under no illusion that somehow this election result has ushered in heaven on earth. But it is a welcome and necessary step to come back to a semblance of good government. Given that righteousness exalts a nation, to have a government which has introduced so much unrighteous legislation given the flick is a very good start indeed.

We must now pray for and work with the new government to ensure that some better biblical values are put on the agenda. There are a number of issues that can be dealt with. Getting a new government into power was just the beginning. Now the real work begins.

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Published:
28.11.10 / 6pm
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Culture Wars, Politics, Social Issues
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