South Australia – 2018

South Australians once again find themselves at a pivotal moment, as they prepare to cast their votes and determine the direction of the state for the next term. The Weatherill Labor government is seeking an unprecedented fifth term in office after a tumultuous last four years rocked by scandals, political turmoil, and statewide blackouts. However, lingering discontent over the energy crisis and cost of living pressures have given momentum to Leader Steven Marshall’s Liberal opposition in their quest to regain Government House. Into this scenario has emerged the insurgent SA Best party led by Former Senator Nick Xenophon, tapping into frustrations but lacking a history of governance. With preferences set to play a major role once more, SA Best is hoping to hold the balance of power regardless of who wins the largest share of the vote, Whoever emerges victorious on March 17 will inherit enormous responsibility to stabilize the budget, stimulate new jobs, and regain public trust in politics at a critical juncture for the state. Once the dust settles after another tightly fought campaign, who will earn the opportunity to lead South Australia bravely into the next decade?

This election unpredictable nature can offer some historic results:

  • Will Premier Weatherill succeed in his quest to win another term and give the Labor party an unprecedented 5th term for the party?
  • Will Steven Marshall’s Liberals come back after 16 years long in opposition?
  • Will South Australians decide it’s time to ditch the duopoly and elect Nick Xenophon and his SA-Best to government?

Western Australia 1950 – Wind Of Change

Alt-History Mod Alert!

In 1933, West Australians voted in favor of secession from Australia, in the midst of the Depression. After the Western Australian delegation’s petition was accepted by the UK Parliament, the flag of the federation was lowered in Perth and replaced by the Blue Ensign, officially ending the federation between Western Australia and the Australian Federation. 17 years on, the country had moved on and prospered under the boom created by the expansion of the agriculture industry and the mining industry, spurred by the economic policy of the Latham government, which had been in power since 1939. The Prime Minister had decided to call a double dissolution election to advance his agenda, after the Senate kept blocking his legislation to ban the Communist Party, which had continued to grow since the end of the war. Labor, under the new leadership of Frank Wise, hoped to retake government after a series of losses and try to convince Western Australia it was time for change. Meanwhile, a new party emerged as a result of Labor’s left pivot and the NCA’s long rule – the Liberal Democratic Party, led by Oscar Wells, the most famous mining magnate in Western Australia. The party hoped to provide a political home for the Social Liberals and Fiscal Conservatives who might be alienated by the two-party system.

Disclaimer: The Mod is based on this referendum https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Western_Australian_state_election point of divergence is when the Joint Select Committee in the British Parliament accepted the petition presented by the Western Australia delegation led by Premier Mitchell

New Zealand 2017 – Time To Decided

It’s time for New Zealanders to decide the country’s future once again! After 9 years of leadership by John Key through both good and bad times, he has decided to retire from politics, handing over the reigns of power to his deputy and former leader Bill English. What seemed like a cakewalk to victory has turned into a battle of popularity and experience, as Andrew Little suddenly resigned as Labour leader just weeks before election day. Labour decided to coalesce around the young and charismatic Jacinda Ardern, electing her as their new leader. Coming from mid-20% polls, Ardern has a big task ahead of her to overcome. How will New Zealand decide?

The election’s unique nature allows for some hypothetical scenarios:

  • What if Andrew Little had persevered through the bad polling numbers and led Labour to the end?
  • What if Winston Peters decided not to do the unexpected and formed a coalition with National?
  • What if Peter Dunne continued fighting in Ōhāriu even though polls showed he might not make it back this time?
  • What if the coalition arrangements changed, with a Red-Green coalition aided by Uncle Winnie?
  • What if National decided it was time to have an economically responsible and environmentally responsible government by forming a coalition with the Greens?

Because of the lack of an MMP system in PMI, we decided to get a little creative by converting the list seats into actual electorate seats. You can battle it out here in the marginal seats, which are basically voters who are undecided but voted for said party last time and might be able to be persuaded to vote for you this time around. To make it a tad bit more realistic, I have made it as hard as possible for you to get the “Base” Party support seats – for example, the National has 12 “Base seats” which would be hard to get. Every party that makes it into the threshold in the 2014 election has this. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best we can do under the circumstances.