Bill Shorten Wins Labor Leadership Ballot

Things have been relatively quiet in the Labor party since September 7 this year. Kevin Rudd stepped down and disappeared from the media he dominated so largely in a matter of seconds, Julia Gillard has certainly moved on and the party has been left in poor shape without a leader to its name. In a party first, deciding the Labor leader didn’t come down to a fun #spill party, and instead was taken to with the newly instated rule of a party-wide caucus ballot. Naturally counting some 30,000 votes and both designing/navigating a system they’ve just made up has taken some time, with a decision being reached only today in Canberra. 

It has been tipped that Tanya Plibersek will take on the position of Deputy Leader under Shorten, with the party’s front bench to be decided this week.

The Abbott/Rudd/Gillard triangle will go down in Australian political history as an iconic period of unrest. What will be in store for the new political spectrum we’ve just embarked on? The date for a return to parliament (and thus, the Abbott vs Shorten showdown) is yet to be decided, but once the season does kick off, as long as there’s less internal backstabbing, more passionate speeches and more appearances on Rage, #auspol will be bearable.