This article was first published on 2 August 2010 at the old C*I*A – Zone X blog.

Opening of polls for 2010 Australian Federal Election. 21 August 2010, 8am AEST, Canberra, Australia. From Australian Electoral Commission website. Timed Chart – Whole Sign Houses.

The Australian Federal Election has been called for 21 August 2010.  The main battle is between the incumbent Australian Labor Party (ALP) government led by prime minister Julia Gillard, and the Liberal Party / National Party coalition (LNP) led by Tony Abbott.  This election is remarkable for a number of reasons.  First, the events which took place in the government in the past 6 weeks:  the then sitting prime minister, Kevin Rudd, who took the ALP to power for the first time in 11 years at the 2007 election, was ousted in a very sudden coup by Gillard, on 24 June 2010, two days before a powerful lunar eclipse conjunct Pluto.  That a sitting PM was ousted by an internal party coup was generally regarded as exceptional and unprecedented.  Second, having ousted Rudd from the leadership, Gillard became the first female prime minister in Australian history.  Third, Abbott himself is a relatively new party leader, having himself ousted Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party at the end of 2009 during a crisis in the Liberal Party brought about by strong differences of opinion over a carbon-trading scheme.

Julia Gillard. 29 September 1961, 12pm BST, Barry, Wales, UK. From Wikipedia. Untimed Chart – Natural Houses.

Gillard is a 48-year-old industrial lawyer who is unmarried and has no children, although she has a defacto partner.  In this respect, as well as her gender, she represents a major change.  Born in Wales, she emigrated in her childhood and was raised in Adelaide.  She has worked in union politics and has experience in workplace relations law.  Her chart (untimed) shows a Gemini Moon (quick-witted, strong communication skills, but prone to change her mind frequently), a Libran Sun (a knack for negotiation, aiming for consensus, but can dodge direct action, preferring to defer to a more balanced and harmonious approach) and a Venus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo (strong likes and dislikes, a fondness for cutting debate, tastes and appearances that may stir up taboos, but also a comfort with power).  Born in 1961, she has the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Capricorn in her chart – she has a strong political instinct, an understanding of the need to win social approval in order to advance her agenda.

Tony Abbott. 4 November 1957, 12pm GMT, London, UK. From Wikipedia. Untimed Chart – Natural Houses.

Abbott, 52, trained as a journalist but also spent some time studying to be a priest.  He is married with three teenage daughters, and openly professes a strong Roman Catholic faith.  He is also known to have strong monarchist sentiments.  Again, I have no time for Abbot’s birth, but his Moon is most likely to be in Aries, with the Sun definitely in Scorpio – this fits his image of a sort of ‘action-man’ figure, often involving himself in sporting events, whether swimming in his ‘budgie-smugglers’, running long-distance or going on long bushwalks in remote areas of the country.  He certainly appears to be very physically fit, and boxed when he was a younger man.  Despite his strongly conservative moral values, particularly with respect to sexuality and the roles of women, he himself projects a strongly physical and sexual image.  He is known to have a tendency to impulsive remarks which he later regrets, often revealing his true feelings with little tact.  With his Sun exactly square Uranus, he has very strong principles and does not particularly care if others disagree with them, or if they are regarded as different from the group.  He has expressed scepticism about climate-change, saying in 2009 that it was ‘a load of crap’ and has also openly acknowledged his tendency to impulsive comments, asking the public not to take these too seriously.  With his Venus at 28 Sagittarius, conjunct Chiron in the chart for Australian Federation, he resonates to the image of the ‘fair dinkum Aussie bloke’ who is not ashamed of his bluntness or clumsy articulation of what he fervently believes to be right.  But with his Saturn conjunct the Venus-Uranus conjunction in the chart for Australian Federation, he is seen by a large segment of the population as too stuck in the past, and a weight on more radical ideas of progress.

Both candidates have Mars in the same position, at 27 degrees Libra – this is the competition of ideas, an open and honest fight, a battle of image as well as political mantras.
Looking at the chart for the start of the election at 8am on 21 August 2010 in Canberra, the nation’s capital, we can see the following.  Using the traditional astrological technique of assuming the planetary ruler of the fourth house to represent the leader of the opposition, and of the tenth house to represent the incumbent.  Gillard is Mercury, stationing retrograde in Virgo in the first whole-sign house (or twelfth by Placidus).  Strong in Virgo, and the trine to the Moon will perfect during the election day – perhaps indicative of strong votes from women.  But the retrograde is hard to see as a beneficial phenomenon – more like a turn of the tide against her on the day.  I think her significator being Mercury is apt, with her Moon in Gemini natally, and her careful, exact, but boring style of talking.
Abbott is represented by Jupiter, also retrograde (but has been for some time), in Aries – this gives it a little dignity by term only.  Being exactly opposite Saturn and square Pluto, Abbott represents very strong conservative elements in the society, and perhaps has a more atavistic, instinctive style in his communication and presentation of himself.  In addition is the conjunction with Uranus – the maverick unpredictable nature.  But he fits the Aries placement, as his Moon is likely in Aries natally, and he just oozes the masculine, no-bullshit ‘action-man’ image of Aries.  Jupiter is in the eighth by whole-sign and the seventh by Placidus.

The Mars/Venus conjunction suggests it will a close-run thing – plenty of exciting competition and a fun, sociable, election night.

Even though Mercury will be trined by the Moon, the Moon is in detriment in Capricorn – the people are not happy.  They may express this through ‘turning on’ the retrograde Mercury – Gillard.

Australia: Federation. 1 January 1901, 1:35pm AEST, Sydney, Australia. From Ed Tamplin www.edtamplin.com. Timed Chart – Whole Sign Houses.

Also, note that the MC/IC axis of this chart is exactly on the Neptune/Chiron opposition of the Federation chart.  So – the government is seen as like Neptune in Gemini (deceptive, vague, hard to believe, identified with vacillation on climate change, desiring to control information via internet filters, imposing an ideology on educational standards).  The opposition is seen more as Chiron in Sagittarius (basically optimistic about the future, believers in economic growth despite its environmental problems, clumsy in saying things that can hurt minorities, unashamedly capitalist in outlook).

Also note that in the election chart the Sun is exactly opposite, and separating from, an opposition to Neptune, and applying to the opposition to Chiron.  So the leadership is passing from Neptune to Chiron.  There is a sense that the position of PM and leadership in general has become excessively artificial, synthetic, trying to please everyone, afraid of offending minorities, too much use of focus groups etc.
Does this mean I think Abbott will win?  Well I think it will be very close.  Gillard’s significator is essentially strong, is trined by the Moon, and is in the first house by whole-sign houses.  The only fly in the ointment is the fact that it turns retrograde on the very day of the election.  However I keep thinking of her accession to the prime-mininsterial post occurring 2 days before a very intense and transformative lunar eclipse in Capricorn – events occurring closely prior to an eclipse can turn out with quite unexpected results.

Another factor to keep in mind is that the progressed Sun of the Australian Federation chart ingresses into Taurus on 27 August 2010, only six days after the election; for the past thirty years or so, the dispositors of Australia’s progressed Sun have been Mars and the Sun, but starting with the next government, and for the next 30 years, they will be Venus and the Moon.  Does this suggest a change to a female leader?  If the close Venus-Mars conjunction in Libra on Election Day represents the tight race, Mars being in detriment also suggests a Gillard victory.

The transiting Sun on Election Day will conjoin Gillard’s North Node and Uranus at the end of Leo, chiming in with her campaign mantra of ‘looking forward’.  This may suggest her role of symbol of radical advancement for this country to the extent that if she wins the prime minister will not only be a woman, but unmarried and without children.  Whether one regards this as a good thing or a bad thing, or even whether one sees it as an issue at all, one cannot but accept that it breaks the mould of all previous office-holders in Canberra.

Other than that Mercury station retrograde, it seems like the astrology is describing a win for Julia Gillard.  Nevertheless I think Abbott may still win.  Despite his significator being in the eighth house by whole-sign houses, surely not an auspicious position, it is locked so closely to that ultra-exact Saturn-Pluto square that he may get over the line even if only by scaring people into nightmare scenarios of economic woe and appealing to base fears about border security.

For the record, I have no personal interest in either major party winning, as I will not be voting for either of them!