You can read plenty in the papers this morning about John Howard, the
premiers and the balance of power – and it is a little strange to read
about the PM congratulating Mike Rann and Paul Lennon on their election
wins.

Perhaps the PM needs to bask in a bit of reflected glory at the moment.

It could be that IR reform has bitten the Libs. In South Australia on
Saturday, some of the electorates that saw the biggest swings to Labor
are chockers with aspirational voters mortgaged to the hilt and maxed
on the plastic. Many of these voters rely on jobs with local industries
to service their debt – industries that will now be able to ditch them
at a moment’s notice.

But more likely it’s voters having a bob each way. It’s safe to vote
Labor in your state because Uncle John in Canberra controls the
economy. But you want to vote Labor in your state because Uncle John
can be nasty old bast*rd at times.