A brief word about Ted and John

The Coalition is now in power in Victoria, and being a Liberal voter, this makes me happy. Though I quite liked Brumby himself, (he always struck me as quite a decent guy) there's no denying his government was a shambles. The Year 9 boot camp was particularly ridiculous. Having had that kind of touchy-feely education for my Year 9, I know it doesn't actually work. Myki hardly needs mentioning - my own card works, but no-one else's seems to, and there's a reason why take-up has been so-so - it is still confusing to many people, myself included. And they spent too much bloody money on something that seems quite simple. Then there's the closure of Hazelwood. Thank goodness the Coalition won, because do you know how much power that dirty coal-fired sucker provides to the state? Twenty-five per cent, and Labor (with the Greens egging them on) wanted to shut it off with nothing to take up the slack! It's all well and good to talk about sustainable alternatives like solar and wind. I'm all for these things, but until they are capable of consistently producing power the way existing power plants do, they will not actually be viable alternatives. Isn't it better to wait, and get something right, rather than rush in and get it horribly wrong, wasting billions in the process?

As for Ted and co, well, our new Premier is to me as he is to most Victorians - something of an enigma. No-one seems quite sure what the Liberals will do now - only that they were sick of Labor's mismanagement. In all honesty, Brumby was right to say that Baillieu won because the public was unwilling to stomach another four years of his government. We were sick of Premier Brumby, Deputy Hulls, Mr 'How many floors is it?' Madden and Mr 'Help, I'm lost on a mountain!' Holding. I am willing to stand up here and now and say that though I voted according to my own beliefs, there was no specific policy that made me more Liberal-biased than usual. The fact is that we as a state voted against Labor, not for the Liberals. And imagine that New South Wales and Queensland will do the same when their elections come round.

I just hope the Coalition gets it right, and doesn't create a disaster reminscent of those Ruddy days of yore. It shouldn't be too hard - after all, with the word 'myki' still a byword for 'catastrophic failure', it's not like they've got much to live up to. But I hope very much that Premier Ted and Friends will govern as if they had the best government in the world as their standard - goodness knows Victoria wants, needs, and in truth, deserves a government of that calibre.