Nationwide, rubber bands are snapping around bundles of How To Vote cards. Cardboard sheets lie in school halls, awaiting their contortion into flimsy-as-hell ballot boxes. The snags are in the fridge and the onions have been chopped. It’s the eve of the Federal Election, folks.
Welp, according to the nation’s leading poll-mongers… it’s still far too close to tell, without any serious powers of prognostication.
The final Fairfax-Ipsos two-party preferred poll pits the Coalition and Labor against each other at 50-50. Taking self-reported second preferences into account, the results give Labor a very slight edge – still, an edge large enough to see Bill Shorten & Co. walk away with a 4.5% swing in their favour since 2013, translating to enough seats to form a solid Labor government.
ReachTEL saw the inverse results in their final poll, with a 51-49 lead to the Coalition. Likewise, Galaxy have doled out identical figures. Essential Research reported their results differently – just – with the Coalition also nudging out their main competitors 50.5-49.5.
FWIW, bookies haven’t ruled out a hung parliament as thoroughly as they’ve binned Labor’s outright chances. Punters who are keen to revel in the “oh shit, what now?” nature of such a scenario will be pleased to know odds are around $5 at the mo’.
Why wait till tomorrow to find out the #ausvotes results – watch our highly scientific chook race! ?? #TheProjectTV https://t.co/12xglYHwKh
— #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) July 1, 2016
So, according to the more avionically-inclined among us, Shorten is in like Flynn. Still, we’d also be remiss if we didn’t cast our own prediction, either. Without further ado:
Official pre-election research, courtesy of me. #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/DmZvZcF5TH
— David Adams (@_XanderAdams) July 1, 2016
Strap yourself in Australia, you’re about to receive some jobs and growth. But uh, yeah, see you at the polls. It’s gonna be a fun one.
Source: Fairfax / Crikey / Oddschecker.
Photo: Darrian Traynot / Getty.