Australian Federal Election- July 2, 2016

[politicallefty]

I checked up on the results early yesterday morning and I recall the LNP being up by something like 73-66 over the ALP. Now, the ALP leads 67-65. Apparently, reading here, Bill Shorten's leadership is at risk? I know Australian political parties aren't entirely rational, but it appears that the ALP will at least be denying the LNP a majority. Why the f-ck would anyone attempt a party coup based on those results? While an outright majority doesn't seem possible, it's certainly possible that the ALP could win enough seats to form a minority or coalition government, is it not?

[politicallefty]

Overall, an unfortunate result, though it's good to see how close Labor kept it. How does the Senate look right now? I'm seeing different things from different sources. From what I've gathered, it does look the Senate will at least be able to keep the Coalition on a leash (as if their bare majority didn't already do that), right?

Also, what's going to happen with marriage equality in Australia? I know Turnbull is a supporter, but he wants to go to the referendum route. Is there any chance circumstances (say, perhaps, a hostile Senate) forces the House to a full conscience vote?

[politicallefty]

Now? It's been conservative-leaning for years. That's what population decline does to you.

How does that explain Lingiari (the seat covering almost all of the area of the Northern Territory)? It's far and away the largest seat by area held by the ALP (and since its creation in 2001). I've read that Alice Springs is more cosmopolitan than one might generally think. There's almost certainly a significant Aboriginal population in the electorate, but do they actually vote and if so, do they vote ALP (to be honest, I'm not familiar with any indigenous population in a first world developed country not voting for the centre-left party)?

In a somewhat related topic, I've wondered why the Northern Territory isn't a state. Is it because they would get more seats in the Senate as a state (quite a lot more if all states would still be considered equal)?

[politicallefty]

I'll respond to both of the above posts at once with respect to Northern Territory statehood. I'm not incorrect in my initial post that the main obstacle to statehood is representation in the Senate (where have I heard that before, lol?), am I? Is that a partisan issue? If NT votes as it does right now, I can't see any reason why the Coalition would want to give it any more power than it already has. (I would say the same overall for the ACT, but they seem to not want statehood.) Under more optimum circumstances, what could NT get even from an ALP Majority in both Houses?

1. Alice Springs is a big portion of the vote and the local ALP member is well-known, well-liked and has a great relationship with the local Aboriginal community. You don't have the "same" kind of established country people you have in the other states.

I have to say that I've always found a place like Alice Springs to be quite interesting. For such a small town (I don't think it can really be called a city), I think it's interesting that less than 75% of its residents were born in Australia and that 3% of its residents were born in the US and that they will hold celebrations for Indepedence Day and Thanksgiving. If you've never tried it before, it seems like Alice Springs will give you a taste of some of the best of America within Australia.

[politicallefty]

It looks like there are about 7-8 seats that cover the vast majority of the area of Australia. Would anyone be interested in making a population cartogram of every electorate? I've seen maps for here in the States, but I think Australia would put us to shame in a heartbeat. (And not to impose, but maybe answer some of my questions from my previous post.)