Ladies and gentlemen, today is the official rumble in the West! After the botched result of the WA election, today is the revote. My prediction is two Libs, two Labs, a Ludlam and a libertarian. Honestly it doesn't matter if that sixth spot goes to Palmer or some other minor party, they will make a deal with the Palmer block anyway. Also interesting to note will be the number of labor votes below the line. Joe Bullock, the no 1 on Labor's ticket, is a very conservative unionist, and not very well liked by many on the left. There have been calls to boycott Labor above the line and either put Pratt first and Bullock much lower down, or just vote Greens. No enough Labor voters are politically engaged enough for it to deny Bullock his seat, but it will be a fun little figure either way.
Order of selection I'm guessing: David Johnston (Liberal), Joe Bullock (Labor), Michaelia Cash (Liberal), Scott Ludlam (Greens), Louise Pratt (Labor), [Insert name here]
Final candidate could be Fiona Patten (Sex), James Moylan (H.E.M.P.), Desmond Headland (Palmer), Murray Bow (Shooters and Fishers) or just about anybody else.
Recent polling suggests that the Greens have the numbers to pull an entire seat on primary votes, but the Greens vote drops near elections due to not having the same funding for advertisements, still the effects of the last campaign might not have worn off yet and we really will see 15% primary, and that would be absurd and awesome. The other factor here is that the Pirates are running, and they weren't in it last time, so they will once again eat into Green votes, but that is fine, they preference the Greens anyway. Still, the left:right split is looking to go 3:3, but 4:2 is a remote possibility. If only Labor wasn't polling so poorly in WA, it would be a sure thing!
The other thing to watch will be if Palmer and/or the Liberal Democrats breech the 4% mark for those juicy refunds. After getting about 3.5% last time those Small Government Libertarians in the LD party must be drooling over the prospect of a government handout.
Ok, now that I have that out of my system, back offshore.
Eye witness accounts given to the ABC about the circumstances of the death on Manus Island. It is pretty grim stuff.