Shouts from the desert

On reviewing the preferences lodged for above the line voting in New South Wales, I cannot find any satisfactory set of preferences. Of course that may be in part because I cannot identify any group among them that I think should have the balance of power in the Senate (and I would prefer to not put either Liberal or Labor first).

It also seems, on reviewing the tickets, that the Liberal Democrats (the libertarian party) have obtained the second preferences of a large number of other parties, many of which do not seem a natural fit for libertarian views. Given the number of second preferences directed to them, there is a possibility they could pull off the same trick Family First did to get Steven Fielding elected. If the Liberal Democrats get a piece of the balance of power in the Senate, life could get very interesting.

The Australian Democrats, formerly a safe choice with usually rational preferences, have fielded poor quality candidates who are seeking fringe votes without sound policies. Even I now have to write them off.

Given the unsatisfactory selections for minor parties, it is probably not worth the time to look into any of them. The parties that stand a real chance of getting Senate Seats are Liberal, Labor and the Greens. In the circumstances the best decision might be to pick the one out of those that you would rather see getting a seat.