Political mandates are funny things.
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Lately, they've been pretty common on the federal stage and at what point do those mandates actually end?
In 2007, the Labor Party swept to victory following John Howard's ill-fated WorkChoices legislation.
We can argue for hours on what convinced one of the nation's most electorally successful politicians to cut workers' rights to the bone.
But we know retribution was swift, and so emphatic that Howard lost his own seat.
Less than seven years later we saw the same thing happen as the Rudd-Gillard pantomime came crashing to an end over leadership instability and the carbon tax.
The debate on which issue had the most sway with voters probably has a lot to go, because it looks like we're about to see the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison charade end in a crushing defeat for the Coalition.
Many voters are probably taking this year's federal election as an opportunity to stick it to punish the Liberals over Turnbull's and Morrison's betrayals.
Closer to home, Griffith mayor John Dal Broi says that the election of Glen Andreazza is a repudiation of Bill Lancaster's push to cut councillor numbers.
In December, councillors voted against giving ratepayers a chance to have their say on councillor numbers.
It's more likely the issue which actually drove voters wasn't just numbers on council, but a signal that voters want change - which isn't an explicit rejection of having fewer councillors.
There's always talk about politicians of all stripes not thinking far enough beyond the next election and four years is a long time.
But byelections are always a chance for voters to demand corrective action - look at the Shooters Party winning Orange in 2016 or Murray's marginal status since 2017.
At the federal level, there were seven byelections in 2018 - none of which were won by the Liberal or National parties.
These results may not be a ringing endorsement of Labor's or an independent's policies, but they area absolutely voters telling the government that they need to carefully examine where we're headed.
Councillor Andreazza is a first time councillor - if that's not an endorsement of council needing to examine it's policies, then our councillors may be in for a rude shock come September 2020.
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