Also, hopeful congratulations to David Pocock; a wonderful result for the people of Canberra and a stark reminder that politicians need to prioritise the views of the people over their own.

It's fascinating to see the reaction of the people on TV at Sky After Dark. Their palpable anger is highly entertaining. They just don't get it. They're looking forward to Dutton becoming opposition leader and moving the party to the right. They believe the LNP is not right-wing enough. They appear to think Australia is the southern USA. If the LNP follows their advice, they'll be in opposition for a decade.

Congratulations to Labor, the teals and the Greens for their results. It looks like people have finally seen through the UAP and One Nation. Deceptive advertising and buckets of money achieved nothing. Possibly a rule that people have to donate $10 to a legitimate charity for every dollar they donate to a political party would be a good idea. How many social houses could have been built for that money? Albo will change Australia in a positive way.

I expected to feel delighted, quite joyful and probably a bit merry at a change of government. But what I wasn't expecting was to feel a profound sense of relief.

Relief that now Australia might make some progress on climate change, that integrity, accountability and truth will no longer be meaningless words. Relief that women will be treated as they should be, that the Biloela family can go home. Relief that Dutton will no longer be talking up war, and that Penny Wong will be a calm, steady, thoughtful Minister for Foreign Affairs.

And after watching Morrison's last statement at his Pentecostal church, relief that we will have a prime minister who does not think that talking to his God in tongues is the path to salvation.

This next government may not be perfect, but at least the grown-ups are now in charge.

If Labor forms government in its own right, the teals will spend three useless years being ignored on the backbench.

If another dry spell follows the current east-coast wet, tropical storms keep happening and the big emitters keep pumping out increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, will their backers have buyer's remorse and admit they were conned, or will they continue to rationalise their gullibility and ignorance as they now do?

Either way, the reality is that they ignored the facts and were conned.

Despite the vitriol from some extreme right-wing commentators, one of the main messages from the election surely must be that balance is central to a well-functioning democracy.

With the LNP, we have had over the past decade our politics moved too far to the right. The electorate, through what remains a well-balanced political system, moved the country back towards the centre; some teals' positions on topics such as the economy and defence are closer to Liberal than Labor.

Let's hope that both major parties are gracious in either victory or defeat.

The last thing we need is a country split down the middle, with the two halves irreversibly moving to the extremes. The sensible centre is where compromise is the most natural political method and the country can come together to tackle the difficult future that lies ahead.

Ian Warden believes that compulsory voting has conferred goodness, fairness, equity and instincts of responsible citizenship on our democracy ("Thank goodness for compulsory voting", canberratimes.com.au, May 22). Really? In what way?

All it does is force eligible voters to attend a polling station (or face a fine) and have their name crossed off the electoral roll. It does not necessarily result in a vote being cast. You can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The only good thing about compulsory voting is the democracy sausage.

Colliss Parrett (Letters, May 20) says "when all is said and done nothing really changes - it's still free enterprise versus socialism".

If he is implying that free enterprise is good and socialism is bad, may I point out that socialism and free enterprise are not mutually exclusive and that socialism is a good thing?

Simply put, socialism is about reducing, by public policy, the gap between the haves and have-nots. Free enterprise, aka capitalism, unfettered, will result in all sorts of dire consequences.

Socialism in Scandinavian countries and capitalism in the US are illustrations of the respective systems at work. Suffice to say that studies indicate the Scandinavians are much happier citizens than the Americans.

Our hopefully soon-to-be-ex senator, Zed Seselja, has said that "whatever the result, I am proud of the campaign we ran in the ACT".

This is the campaign where Seselja failed dramatically in his most fundamental role as a senator to represent the views of his constituents on those matters of major importance to them; namely the right of the ACT to make its own legislative decisions, including on such critical issues as voluntary assisted dying. His campaign was little more than a crude attempt to buy his way back into the Senate.

Seselja's comment makes him sound like a ScoMo Mini-Me, which is fine. These remarks can always be replayed should he ever contemplate a comeback.

As the dust settles on a remarkable 2022 federal election, two thoughts come to mind.

First, we should all be deeply grateful to live in a nation where we are free to simply turn up at a polling booth and, with the stroke of a pencil, be able to effectively change a government.

The fact that we can do so without being held at gunpoint or being in the presence of a militia, and be assured that there won't be looting and rioting the following morning, is testimony to the social stability which our constitutional foundations have brought about.

Second, despite all the jibes, cheering and televised graphics of sitting MPs being whacked with a ukulele-strumming robot, a downside of any election is the loss of good people from our chambers.

To that end, I do especially grieve the loss of Ken Wyatt, the first Indigenous member elected to the House of Representatives, in the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia. Ken was an extremely thoughtful and measured politician, who was steering a considered path for both restoration and constitutional recognition within Aboriginal affairs.

As the heat of campaigning abates and our robust Commonwealth now continues relatively smoothly, we must never indeed take our civil governance for granted.

In the reports and other articles on the results of the May 21 election that have so far been announced, there is much discussion of climate change and its influence on voters' decisions. The political drift with the "sceptic-denier current" should not have been allowed to continue until we had a non-re-electable government. It should have been halted years, even decades, ago.

This brings me to the comment by Michael Lane (Letters, May 22) that I should not wait to emigrate to New Zealand because I would be "happier under the muddle-headed left-wing regime of Jacinda Ardern". In fact, Aotearoa New Zealand has for some years had climate change policies well in advance of Australia's - and they have been legislated.

I shall defer my emigration until I see the true colours of Prime Minister Albanese's climate change policies.

The ALP had a resounding win, and progressive people are happy with the change in government.

But it also had a humiliating loss, when one of its star candidates, former NSW premier Kristina Keneally, was defeated by an independent candidate. She was an outsider parachuted in for the seat, whereas the independent candidate, Diana Le, was born in the local area and had an established track record of service to the local community.

A political party can't just ride roughshod over the local people's choice of a leader and representative. When it does, it ends badly.

Zed never was, and never will be, the right representative for Canberra.

At the first meeting of the newly elected Labor government, the first comment made by Albo will be "OK we won, but geez, what are we supposed to do now? Any suggestions? We've never had to make decisions before, and we won't be popular if we stuff it up."

A big thank you to the electoral official who plucked three oldies from the end of a long queue at the Curtin School on Saturday morning and took us to the front of the line. His estimate was a 20-minute wait otherwise. We were most grateful for his thoughtfulness.

The former Coalition government failed to act on climate change. So Australians acted to change the government. Over to you now, Labor.

It is early days, but "It won't be easy under Albanese" is looking like another Liberal lie already. With the dead weight of Scomo and possibly Zed gone from our lives, things are decidedly looking up.

Was Abbott dismantling climate action like our own Brexit? That is, electorally supported but stupid, uninformed and costly. Never let it be forgotten the role of LNP in the denial and delay on action on climate change. Some media helped too. This election marks a recovery, hopefully not too late.

ScoMo is now able to assist the fight against climate change, as his emissions will be much reduced.

Senses census: yesterday morning, things seemed to feel, look, sound, smell and taste better. And, it's not even spring!

How do you introduce a talented person into Parliament without "parachuting"?

Alan Jones, women have not just destroyed the joint, they have annihilated it.

Graham Downie (Letters, May 23) says "sorry to be a pedant". Don't be. It's a tough job, but it's a hose someone has to hold.

One of the earliest acts of the Albanese government should be to put an end to the shameful prosecution of Bernard Collaery.

The hoped-for khaki election turned manure-coloured for the close-minded Coalition.