 The Leaders Debate: Tony Abbott vs Julia Gillard
Australian Federal Election 2010
on the day Mercury turns Retrograde!
In this article, Rob Tillett looks at who will win the upcoming Australian Federal Election on August 21, 2010, just as Mercury turns retrograde in Virgo. The wild card in this poll will be the fact that the incumbent, Julia Gillard, is Australia's first female prime minister. Rob predicts a close-run race that may end in a hung parliament (as happened in the UK earlier this year), with the balance of power held by the Greens. Neil Giles and Ed Tamplin, other leading Australian astrologers on this site, favour Labor squeaking in. What a conundrum! Now, read on...
The first female Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard—who, having overthrown the previous PM Kevin Rudd in a palace coup on 24th July 2010—has called a federal election on August 21. Evidently she did not consult an astrologer for the timing of this! No astrologer worth any salt would have advised the PM to go to the polls on that day, which is notable as Mercury turns retrograde (6.00 AM Australian Eastern Time), Moon squares Mars and Venus, with a mighty T-square aspect between Saturn opposing retro Jupiter, the two Great Chronocrators (Time-Lords) as Pluto, the dark lord of the Underworld squares them both! Now all of this is moot until we look at the chart of the day in relation to the Australian chart and the charts of the two main opponents, Labor's incumbent Julia Gillard (Sep 29, 1961, Barry, Wales; time unknown) and Liberal opposition leader Tony Abbott (Nov 4, 1957, London, England; time unknown).
Abbott's Liberal party in Australia is centre-right, leaning to the conservative, and Gillard's Labor party is centre-left, ostensibly leaning to the progressive. There's not a great deal between them in terms of policies, and the two leaders are relatively inexperienced. Both contenders have recently overthrown their own incumbent party leaders (Rudd, the Labor PM, and Turnbull, the Liberal leader) in an economic and social turmoil—Rudd having lost the plot as he flip-flopped between policies, betraying his climate-change promises and spending taxpayers' money on poorly-designed "stimulus" projects like a man with no arms, and Turnbull pressing at all costs for a hugely expensive and apparently ill-thought-out carbon trading position leading up to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference at the end of 2009.
 Julia Gillard
So they each stuck the knife in to their previous beloved leaders, and placed themselves in the driver's seat. But that's history. The question is now "Who will win the election?". Australia's birth as a Federal nation (as opposed to a collection of colonies) was on January 1st, 1901, in Centennial Park NSW at 1:00 PM, AEST. This chart has Sun conjunct Saturn in Capricorn, Moon in Taurus and Aries rising. Mars is at 11°39' Virgo, receiving an applying trine from the Sun (10°02' Capricorn). Check out the chart here.
Julia Gillard – Incumbent Labor PM
Julia Gillard's chart is powerfully aligned to the Federation chart, with her natal Jupiter (power; leadership) and Saturn (responsibility; common people) conjunct right on the mid-heaven (public image) of Federation (in the 1PM chart). Her Sun (character) in justice-seeking Libra is square the nation's Saturn (karma; responsibility; restriction; sorrow; common people), a difficult and frustrating combination. Her communicative Gemini Moon (emotional personality; habit patterns; significant women; the public) opposes the nation's Uranus (unexpected upheavals; sudden disruption) producing an emotional rollercoaster ride, and is conjunct the nation's Pluto (obstruction; transformation; regeneration), showing a power struggle and an intense relationship with the people, one which might get too hot for comfort!
This said, her Moon is also opposite the nation's Venus (ruler of Libra, her Sun sign) showing that she is emotionally in tune with the people, with a potent element of sexual attraction operating. The very fact that she is a woman, and the first female prime minister works in her favour, as does the fact that she overthrew A Man—and a massively popular one at that! What is even more interesting is the conjunction of her natal Dragon's Tail (Moon's south node—past-life commitment; karmic fulfilment; loss) with the nation's Ceres (the nourishing Great Mother—but also implying loss and grief). Significantly, the nation's Dragon's Tail is conjunct Gillard's natal Ceres—and so is the nation's Moon! The power of the Moon and Venus, feminine forces, are behind her, but the Moon in particular is moody and variable, so like the fickle public it represents can change with disturbing rapidity. These factors point to her having a profound impact on Australia, particularly as a woman. She could even become Prime Minister. Oh, but wait... she already is Prime Minister! But will she get actually elected, by the people?
Tony Abbott – Liberal Opposition Leader
 Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott's chart is also strongly aligned with the Federation chart, though perhaps in a more subtle fashion than Gillard's. His Scorpio Sun and Mercury are in excellent relations to the Federation Sun and Moon, while his progressed Sun and Mercury are conjunct the nation's Sun/Saturn conjunction in Capricorn. His chart too is marked for greatness, and he was in fact a Cabinet Minister in the previous Liberal government of John Howard. He is of course now the leader of the Liberal Party and a strong contender for the Prime Ministerial office. Unfortunately, his fiery Aries Moon (the public) is hidden in the nation's twelfth house of secrets and sorrows, so much of the public perceives him as having a secret agenda (Work Choices?).
His powerful grouping of planets in Scorpio also makes him seem too intense and possibly manipulative, though it is in the seventh house of the Federation chart, showing that he can be a great partner for the nation. And, he was born shortly before a lunar eclipse that activates the nation's Uranus, showing that circumstances may have a disruptive effect beyond his personal control. His chart also has potent links with Julia Gillard's, showing that the two of them have an intense relationship and probably fantasise a lot about each other. Haha. Can he become Prime Minister?
 Make Way for Uncle Bob
A Third Factor
It's really rather too close to call, based solely on their own charts. Is there a third factor, which can break the deadlock? As it happens, there is. Bob Brown, the famous leader of the Greens, is something of a rising star. His chart too links closely with the nation's, and intertwines well with both Gillard and Abbott. Why does this matter? Brown, a Capricorn, has next-to-no chance of winning the election is his own right, as the Greens are a minority party. However, he does stand a good chance of holding the balance of power in a hung parliament, which it seems to me is where the nation is heading. Just as happened in the UK elections earlier this year, a left-leaning party will hold enough seats to prevent either of the major parties from taking power in their own right.
Mercury turning retrograde close to sunrise on the day of the election will cloud the issues in the public mind, especially as the Sun opposes Neptune (deception; delusion) from right on Gillard's Uranus (disruption), leading up to a powerful Full Moon on the 24th opposing Regulus and awakening the Great Bear (a celestial Mother BTW). This Full Moon opposes Abbott's Pluto (transformation) and the nation's Part of Fortune, but is in a fortunate aspect to Bob Brown's natal Sun. The outcome will probably remain unknown until after this Full Moon.
 Warren Truss
The Nationals
There is another important factor at work, too, which is the force of the National Party under Warren Truss; the Nationals are a long-established coalition partner of the Liberal Party, holding 9 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate. More than the Greens—but for the purposes of this discussion they can be subsumed under the aegis of the Liberals. Truss is a Libran, like Gillard, and the conjunction of Venus and Mars in Libra on the day is tightly conjunct his natal Sun. This should be very fortunate, but the Moon is square the conjunction, adding stress but increasing determination and public appeal (as the Moon is on the mid-heaven). The Full Moon following is however opposing his ruling Venus. Nevertheless, the National Party should maintain or even increase its standing (possibly thanks to Queensland, which is complicated by the creation of an allied Liberal-National Party, so we could count that as a plus for the Nationals) and will remain in the coalition.
A Minority Government?
It looks to me as though neither side will win outright. However, the Greens are likely to gain seats and are ideologically closer to the Labor Party, but if Brown decides to go with an agreement with Labor, it is likely to be short-lived, because his Uranus is unsettlingly conjunct Gillard's Moon, upsetting her feelings of safety and security. This aspect makes the relationship subject to swings and changes, so it may be difficult to develop a long-term, stable partnership. This is especially so should Julia Gillard be rolled by her own party, as happened only a few weeks back with her predecessor, PM Kevin Rudd—once the most popular PM in history! Gillard's chart is rife with planetary conflict and upheaval, so even if she survives she is likely in for a rocky ride.
Bob Brown comes from Tasmania, an island state about the size of Scotland off the south-eastern coast of the Australian mainland, where he rose to fame in the environmental movement. This state has a peculiar electoral system of proportional representation, which has meant that minority governments there have been the rule rather than the exception. Brown, being familiar with this, may choose to remain unaligned on the cross benches. This would greatly destabilise the Australian Government (the influence of Uranus!) but may pave the way for the Greens to gain the most benefit for their environmental policies. It will certainly provide an entrée into a period of immense turmoil in Australian political circles over the months ahead.
This is the end of the article. For a different slant on the changes in the political system, check out Ed Tamplin on A Pattern of Political Change in Australia. | |
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