Via The Australian:
Get ready for a March election. Federal parliament is now on course for a verdict from voters early in the new year to make or break the Turnbull government.
This does not mean a general election. Instead, the parliament faces a series of by-elections that are likely to be held on the same day for the same reason: a High Court decision that disqualifies a new batch of politicians.
March 24 is a clear option but the timing could stretch into April or beyond, since the date and scale of this “mini-election” is almost entirely in the hands of the court.
Only the court can decide who should face the voters. The questions over Liberal MP John Alexander are just the start. There are doubts about Labor MPs such as Susan Lamb and Justine Keay. The experience of the past few months shows media scrutiny does far more to reveal the truth than any assurance from any politician, whether that politician is Malcolm Turnbull or Bill Shorten.
It is too early to assume Labor would win Alexander’s seat of Bennelong. It seems impossible for the Coalition to regain Keay’s seat of Braddon. The outcome could easily be the status quo if only a few seats are in play.
Labor has 69 of the 150 seats in the lower house and needs more than one or two by-election victories to drive the Coalition from power. Australia could find itself reliving August 2010, when Julia Gillard started with 72 seats and negotiated to form government.
None of this is going to boost consumer confidence.
