Tony Abbott is now (also) ahead on second preference votes

By Tim Montgomerie

The one thing Julia Gillard was holding on to was the fact that her Australian Labor party had won more second preferences. Australia's first femaile PM said that this should determine whether or not the independent MPs gave her or Tony Abbot the balance of power. The opposition Liberal coalition had won one more seat and 500,000 more first preference votes but she was able to claim, under the AV voting system, that more Australians had voted for her once second preferences had been counted.

No longer.

By the smallest of margins the Liberals are now ahead on that measure too: