Qld Nats and Libs in Shock Coalition Talks

It's a mark of how desperate things are in the Smart State (or Wayne's World, as it was called when I was a girl) when stories such as today's shocker come out. The Queensland Liberals and Nationals have apparently decided to put aside their many differences (despite speaking at length over the past few years about exactly why they shouldn't) and go into a Coalition.

The fact that even in Coalition, the Libs and Nats will have to work harder than a one legged man at a tap dancing contest to make a dent in the electoral fortunes of the Beattie Government is largely testament to the quirky nature of Queensland's parliament, the only state with only one house. And a very full house it is, even despite the electoral battering of a handful of by-elections - Labor still holds around two thirds of the 89 seats. It's also the only state in which the Nationals could plausibly form a coalition where the Nationals leader (in this case, Lawrence Springborg would take the leadership and the Liberal leader, Bob Quinn, act as his deputy.

Will the Coalition be a success? Well, put it this way. The history of Liberal-National coalitions in Queensland is a long and glorious one, and boy, John Howard looked like he couldn't wait to get out of Washington last week, eh?