Author: Catherine (Page 35 of 54)

Simplified voting below the line

November 19, 2014 / Catherine / 2 Comments

Just interrupting the seemingly endless flow of political parties with a couple of items that may be of interest to dedicated Legislative Council voters.

First, thanks to a new rule, if you vote below the line in this election, you only need to fill out your first five preferences for your vote to be considered formal (this is called Optional Preferential Voting). Any numbers beyond that will still count, but if you are worried about losing track of your numbering, worry no more – just make sure you get the first five right, and then you can rest easy that your vote will be counted.

Do be aware that if you do only number your first five preferences below the line, there is a chance that your vote will become ‘exhausted’ – which is to say, if your favourite five candidates are all excluded from the count at some point, due to insufficient quotas, there will be nowhere for your preferences to go, and so your vote will be out of play at that point. But this is still better than getting things mixed up and winding up with no vote at all.

Personally, I wish we had the option of numbering parties according to preference above the line, but we don’t, so please do not do that. If you do, the party with a (1) next to its name will get your vote, and your preferences will then follow that party’s Group Voting Ticket.

And do be aware that if you number things both above and below the line, your below-the-line vote will be given priority over your above-the line vote. So, provided your below-the-line vote is formal (i.e., has the first five numbers marked), this will be what is counted for you, not whatever you wrote above the line. If your below-the-line vote isn’t formal, your above the line vote will be counted instead. And yes, I know people who do both, just for the sake of insurance, though the VEC does not encourage this.

And finally, here’s a resource for those who feel that optional preferential voting is all very well, but we still like to vote our way down the entire list of candidates. It’s called Cluey Voter, and allows you to first rank your parties in a general sort of order of preference, and then swap numbers around on the actual ballot paper. If you press ‘check’ it will tell you if you have duplicated or missed out any numbers. When you are done, you can print out your ticket, ready to take to your polling booth, so that you have a cheat sheet when you go to vote. Please do not vote with the printout, as this is *not* a valid vote (do I even have to say that?). The idea is that you can quickly copy numbers across and not worry about missing things.

PS – the alert among you will have noticed that my review of the Basics Rock ‘n’ Roll Party has disappeared. This is because I screwed up in a big way, and confused them with a similarly-named party. I will re-do this post tonight, and hopefully get to the DLP as well. (I’m a bit sick this week, and it’s slowing me down)

Meet the Small Parties: Australian Sex Party

November 17, 2014 / Catherine / 9 Comments

Ah, the Sex Party. Always good for a giggle. Always embarrassing to Google. Always impossible to write about without veering into innuendo.

I have mixed feelings about the Sex Party. I want to like them. For one thing, their ads are funny. For another, well, everyone else on the left of politics seems to like them. And yet… well, at least as of last time, I found I didn’t, quite. They tend to be a little to libertarian for my taste, and perhaps the trouble is that for all my lefty, feminist ways, I’m actually fairly conservative in some areas. Then again, they seem to re-invent themselves for every election. Perhaps we will get on better this time? (Get on, not get it on, come on, people! If we don’t at least start with our minds out of the gutter, we are going to be plumbing positively subterranean depths of the sewers before we’re done here. Speaking of dirty.)

The Sex Party has launched a whole new website for their Victorian campaign (I also do not recommend Googling ‘Victorian Sex Party’ any time soon), with the super-classy address wegiveafk.org.au . This goes with their tagline: The Sex Party – We Give a F**k.

Right away, you know that nobody here is trying for good taste. Which is nice, because it means you know where you stand. They probably all Googled Victorian Sex Party, too. Possibly in images. (No, I haven’t done that, nor am I recommending it, and if you do, the results are on your own head.)

Their front page makes the following bold announcement:

IN AN AUSTRALIAN STATE ELECTION FIRST, WE’RE ASKING YOU, THE VOTERS TO DECIDE A POLICY WE RUN ON.

We’re asking you, the voters, to decide a policy we run on. Why? Because, we realise that your vote is the most simple, yet powerful way to ensure your voice for change in Victoria is heard. So, we’ve put together three ideas for change, that would have an impact on Victoria. Vote daily for the change you want to see, when you vote the Australian Sex Party into the Upper House on November 29th. The winning policy will become an issue we raise in the Legislative Council in the first 100 days, all thanks to you. Read more about our other Victoria Policies.

I have to say, this is a very interesting tactic. Quite aside from the entertainment value, it sends the message that this is a party that wants to listen to its constituents. Very canny, especially in the current climate, where one all too frequently feels that none of the politicians are listening to anyone.

The three proposed policies are 3-hour tickets on public transport, bicycle helmet freedom, and motorcycle filtering in traffic, and yes, I voted – for the three hour tickets. Anyone who thinks that driving on the roads in Melbourne without a helmet is a good idea is misguided (there are some interesting discussions going on about whether bicycle helmets actually make people safer. So far as I can see, they don’t necessarily make you safer from accidents – people may take more risks when wearing them – but they mitigate the damage when you do crash. The best way to make people safe on bicycles is better roads and better driver education. Sorry, I seem to be obsessed with bicycles this election. Has anyone guessed my secret favourite one-issue party yet?), and I have no opinion about motorbikes, but I was not happy when Myki went to 2 hour tickets. I want my three-hour ticket back!

That was fun, wasn’t it? I have to give it to the Sex Party (I can’t believe I just wrote that), they understand marketing. Possibly because sex sells. (You saw that coming, didn’t you?)

Meet the (not so) Small Parties: Australian Labor Party

November 17, 2014 / Catherine / 8 Comments

OK, so I’m going to assume that you know who the Australian Labor Party is, right? They’re that big party that likes red ties and is a bit scared of the Greens (as opposed to the other big party that likes red budgie smugglers and is a bit scared of the Greens. I know, it can be hard to tell them apart sometimes).

Alright, that probably wasn’t fair. But I’m guessing that doesn’t matter too much, because really, you are going to be getting chapter and verse on the ALP’s policies from the media anyway. If you’d like to know how all their policies are rubbish, you should probably read The Australian. If you would rather know how great they are, I’d stick to The Age. And if you like to read Andrew Bolt… then I am truly amazed that you are reading this blog. You must feel as though you have stepped onto an alien planet. I hope you aren’t too traumatised by the experience.

Now that I have insulted everybody and also reduced the entire media to its lowest common denominator, let’s get on and look at this sensibly, shall we?

Meet the (somewhat) Small Parties: The Australian Greens

November 17, 2014 / Catherine / 9 Comments

So, we’ve talked with the animals, found religion, had a nice walk amble through the country and then hopped on our bicycles to commute into the city. But it’s time to leave these lovely little by-ways and venture into more well-travelled territory with the Australian Greens.

I’ll confess, I always have mixed feelings when I get to my review of the Greens. On the one hand, I do like their policies. I like them so much that I generally wind up volunteering to scrutineer and hand out how to vote cards for them. But on the other hand, they really do have a lot of policies and when one is reading and analysing the policies of twenty-one parties, three sets of grouped independents and nine ungrouped independents, it has to be said that one begins to hanker for the simplicity of a single-issue party, no matter how unlikely it is to ever be elected…

The Victorian corner of the Greens website (which is where I will be focusing my attention) has three rotating banners – ‘Meet the candidates’, ‘Get involved’ banner, and ‘Our initiatives: smart ways we’ll tackle the big issues’. Across the top of the page, you have the option of Issues, Candidates, Events, Join, Volunteer and Donate. At the foot of the page, you have Events, Issues, Volunteer and Donate. There’s no doubt about it – the Greens are all about Audience Participation. Well, I imagine they call it grassroots community involvement, but there is a very definite pull to get people involved.

Let’s have a look at their Group Voting Tickets. Incidentally, as a scrutineer who has in the past been asked to see where preferences are flowing, I can tell you that Group Voting Tickets are probably less useful for the Greens than for just about any other party – we Green Voters do seem to love voting below the line, just as we follow our own merry paths down the Lower House ballot papers, regardless of what we are told to vote.

While there is a little variation in some seats, the Greens are generally preferencing the Animal Justice Party followed by the Cyclists, with the Voluntary Euthanasia, Sex Party and Voice for the West also appearing in the top five. Labor is generally found in the upper half of the ticket, and always well ahead of the Liberal Party. At the bottom of every ticket, we find Family First, the DLP, the Shooters and Fishers, the Country Alliance, the Australian Christians, and last of all, Rise Up Australia. The only times this changes is when one of those countries isn’t running a candidate, or when there is a particularly dislikeable Independent around.

It’s a fairly consistent left to right ticket, politically-speaking. Though I think the Sex Party may be further to the right than the Greens think they are.

And over to Initiatives, which is what we are calling policies today. (I can’t help noting that they started off calling the policies ‘Issues’, but I’m guessing they changed the name because they didn’t want smartypants voters like me commenting on the fact that the Greens have lots and lots of issues…) The Greens have 48 Victorian State Initiatives, and I feel tired already. I’m going to group sets of related policies, and only go into detail on the ones that seem particularly interesting.

Meet the Small Parties: Australian Cyclists Party

November 16, 2014 / Catherine / 4 Comments

I can see exactly what the logic was here. “Hey, look! A party for motoring enthusiasts got into the Senate! Bicycle enthusiasts are the obvious next step! Two wheels good, four wheels bad!”.

OK, I’m totally making that up. I’m actually quite delighted to see brand new party for cyclists on the electoral radar, especially one that has a nifty version of the Australian coat of arms (emu and kangaroo both dressed very correctly in Edwardian fashions) with a bicycle wheel in the middle as its logo. I’m sort of hoping they sell T-shirts.

Right. Time to stop being frivolous. The Australian Cyclists Party (Victorian Election website here) is a brand new party on the Australian electoral agenda – I’m not sure if they have contested any previous state elections, but they certainly weren’t around for the federal one, so less than two years old. I am fairly certain that they want me to look at their Victorian Election website, so I’m going to do that, as this is clearly where their attention is focused right now.

The front of their website has a rotating banner with three sets of photos and slogans. The first is a link to their policies, with the slogan “Making Victoria More Cycle-Friendly”, the second is simply “East-West Link” (anyone want to bet that they are *not* against it?), and the third is an appeal for donations, with the aforementioned gorgeous logo. I want to donate just for the logo. Apparently, I am still frivolous.

Below the rotating banner, there are links to Values, Policies and Candidates. We will start with their values, which are, apparently:

Honesty and integrity in how we act
Passionate about what we stand for
Aspirational and optimistic in our vision of the future
Affinity for the needs of our members
Respect for diversity among individuals and communities
Pragmatic in our approach
Determination in achieving our goals

They also swear to obey the Boy Scout Law. (OK, I’m lying about that part. I have no idea why this website is making me so silly, given that I actually really like them. Sorry, fellow cyclists.)

They then go into a bit more depth regarding their values, talking about empowering individuals to be capable and self-reliant, strengthening communities to be resilient, investing in innovation, evidence-based approaches to policy, respecting the environment, and so forth. The feeling I get from them is that they sit somewhere in the centre of the political spectrum – a little bit of the small-L liberal, but not terribly ideological in any direction. This is a perfectly logical place for them to sit, since cycling isn’t – or shouldn’t be – a particularly ideologically based activity.

On cycling and mobility they add the following values:

Recognising the interdependence of transport, health, planning and other government functions in supporting the healthy modes of sustainable transport
Working to ensure cycling and other active transport choices are perceived safe and represent low injury risk
Fostering an environment of mutual respect and obligation by all individuals to each other regardless of their chosen transport choice
Ensuring enforcement measures and liability laws encourage safer co-existence of cyclists and other road users
Providing appropriate infrastructure and other measures to pro-actively and adequately support cycling – backed by all levels of government
Embracing the importance of community engagement and fair, equitable and evidence-based processes in assessing transport priorities and spending

Yes, please.

Meet the Small Parties: Australian Country Alliance

November 16, 2014 / Catherine / 5 Comments

According to the banner on the Australian Country Alliance‘s homepage, they are all about Local Issues, and these centre around ‘Rural – Regional – Recreational’, ‘Traditional values’, ‘Water – Energy – Telecommunications’, and ‘Access to Government Services’.

At first glance, then, it looks as though they are positioning themselves as the new National Party, since the existing one, in Coalition with the Liberal Government, is not always able to achieve very much for its constituents. But perhaps I am being unfair?

Their central statement on the front page contains a similar message:

The Australian Country Alliance understands country and urban life. We recognise small business and the strength of local communities is the lifeblood for our our families and way of life.

We believe in the right to recreational activities such as camping, fishing, boating, 4×4, prospecting and shooting.

We are here to ensure greater access to the things that matter to us such as education, transport and health services.

Did you notice the bit where they slipped in the fishing and shooting and such? Well, if you didn’t, that’s OK, because there are then two video ads about how the ACA is the only group that will fight to protect your children’s right to do the fun stuff you did when you were a kid, namely shooting, fishing, camping, 4×4, and so forth. One might be excused for wondering if this was perhaps their biggest priority (at least, I hope one might, since I’m certainly wondering). Another big priority, judging by slogans and their news page, and one for which I admittedly have more sympathy, is regional railways.

Meet the Small Parties: Australian Christians

November 16, 2014 / Catherine / 4 Comments

Ah, the Australian Christians. This political party had the dubious distinction of being the party to have the most deleterious effect on my blood pressure when I read its policies prior to the 2012 election. You see, I’m Christian, and this party purports to speak for me – but instead, it says a lot of things that I find utterly abhorrent.

So that’s my statement of disclosure up-front. I don’t trust this mob, and I’m starting from a place where I eye their policies with suspicion. I’m sorry – I really try not to do that, but they made me so utterly furious last time that I know I am going to find it difficult to be fair to them this round.

Let’s get started, shall we?

(Note that I will be using the abbreviation ‘CDP’ for this party throughout, as they were previously the Christian Democratic Party, and I want to avoid confusion with the Australian Cyclists Party)

The website for the Australian Christians has a two-part rotating banner on the front page. The first one is “Promoting Christian Values (‘a party with a voice in the political conversation that can shape policy, promote and protect the values that create a better Australia for all, no matter what their faith and belief’), and the second is Be a Voice for Christian Values (‘Australian Christian candidates are all committed Christians seeking to be that voice. The church is faced with challenging and complex issues. Would you help us to equip fellow Christians to make informed voting decisions?’).

I find the second banner tempting for all the wrong reasons. I am almost certain that they do not want me to be their voice, any more than I want them to be mine.

The first banner – look, that’s actually a great set of values. I just have my doubts about whether they are likely to achieve it, because last time their policies struck me as having quite a different effect.

Onward.

The CDP’s group ticket has one or two surprises. In the Northern Metropolitan Region People Power comes up first, followed by Family First, the Liberal Party, the DLP, Rise Up Australia and the Shooters and Fishers. These parties are swapped around in the first six spots on all the other regional group tickets. It’s unlikely votes will get much further than this level, really. At the bottom of the ticket, we have the Sex Party, Voluntary Euthanasia, and the Greens. They seem to be in two minds about whether they find euthanasia more objectionable than sex parties, and alternate which they put last across their various electorates. The Greens are always third last, and the rest of the parties also move around a bit in the middle so that nobody gets unduly advantaged.

It’s notable that People Power manages to be popular with both the Animal Justice Party and the Christians, since the two parties both preference each other very low.

To the policies, Batman!

Meet the Small Parties: Animal Justice Party

November 16, 2014 / Catherine / 12 Comments

The Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a relatively new party on the electoral scene. It first appeared on Victorian ballot papers in the 2012 Federal Election, when they distinguished themselves by putting the Greens only slightly above the shooting and fishing parties on their Group Voting Ticket. While the Greens have traditionally been the party of environmentalists, the AJP evidently felt that they did not go far enough.

So, how have they developed since then? Here’s an extract from their charter, :

The Animal Justice Party has been formed as a response to growing public concern about the neglect of animals and animal protection issues by political parties. It will give a voice to those who cannot speak for themselves. […] There is a need for laws and processes which recognise animals’ needs and capabilities and which protect their interests, whether they are domestic, farmed or wild…

Our treatment of animals and the environments we share with them are often marred by a lack of understanding, leading to disrespect and cruelty. At a time when the planet’s environment is being challenged on so many fronts, we must urgently act to ensure that all animals that both contribute to and depend on it are respected and valued for their intrinsic and fundamental roles. We need to build a new relationship with the planet that is inclusive of all of its inhabitants. With a fresh approach towards animals and the ecological systems of Earth, humans can create more rewarding and ethical communities and relationships built on deeper understandings and firm principles of justice.

The Animal Justice Party seeks a restoration of the balance between the human, natural and animal worlds which acknowledges the interconnectedness and inter-dependence of these worlds, and respects the wellbeing of animals alongside that of humans, societies, economies and environments.

Meet the Independents: Arif OKIL (Ungrouped, South Eastern Metropolitan)

November 14, 2014 / Catherine / 1 Comment

Arif Okil wants you to know that he is ‘Motivated by passion to represent South Eastern Community’. It’s good to have a passion in life.

Mr Okil joins the trend of candidates who have chosen to create a political FaceBook page, rather than a website – which makes a fair bit of sense, since one can do this for free, and it’s certainly easier than designing a website. It can, however, make policies harder to track down. Fortunately – or unfortunately, really – Mr Okil only started his page a few days ago, and has written relatively little, so it’s fairly easy to find what he does actually have to say.

But first – the weather report. Oops, sorry, wrong script. What I meant to say was, let’s take a look at what the other candidates think of Mr Okil.

Interestingly, the Greens have put him at 14 and the Animal Justice Party at 16. Evidently he is further to the left than his pale blue colour scheme led me to believe (and isn’t it interesting that political colour branding is that powerful?) The Liberal Democrats have also placed him fairly high, at 17, which is less of a recommendation for me, and in fact, most of the parties seem to be fairly neutral about him, putting him in the twenties and occasionally early 30s. The only exceptions are the Cyclists and Rise Up Australia, who put him dead last at 41. The Cyclists seem to be doing the whole preference-whisperer thing, so goodness only knows what their logic is. As for Rise Up Australia – well, Mr Okil hasn’t said anything terribly pro-choice or anti-Christian anywhere that I can see, and they seem to be treating Independents in other electorates pretty much individually. I have an awful feeling they may have seen his name, decided that it looked Muslim and dumped him at the bottom of their ticket accordingly. But this is rampant speculation, based on my dislike of Rise Up Australia, so please take that with a whole ocean full of salt.

Mr Okil’s poster contains the following points:

Effective use of policies and resources
- Police
- Public Transport
- Local Council
Improve education system
Develop advanced health care and hospitals

You know, it’s not often that someone who puts ‘police’ so high on their list of priorities is also into public transport, education and hospitals. I wonder why that is, actually? I don’t see any obvious connection, or lack thereof. Then again, I’m pretty tired right now!

Elsewhere on his Facebook Page, Mr Okil comments that we need a government that cares about Victorian people, and suggest that all Victorians should have access to an online first aid course. He would also like Emergency and Non-Emergency areas in Victorian hospitals, and he is in favour of a recommended retail pricing system (similar to the one we have for books) for all grocery and medical items, with retailers being required to sell goods for that price or under. The goal is to prevent higher prices in some suburbs than others, which is laudable, though one would clearly need related legislation to prevent particular retailers from colluding with manufacturers to set prices that will allow them to offer a discount that others can’t afford.And that’s about it. No detail on how to achieve this, or why these are Mr Okil’s priorities of choice. I think the most useful summary I can make here is to say that Mr Okil clearly cares about a number of things that are, in my view, well worth caring about. But beyond that, it’s really hard to say.

Meet the Independents: Christine SINDT (Ungrouped, Eastern Victoria)

November 14, 2014 / Catherine / 8 Comments

It’s always nice (and so unusual!) when one starts one’s little journey into the land of small parties and independent candidates with someone who gives every appearance of being sane and intelligent. Dr Christine Sindt looks suspiciously as though she might be both of these things.

Of course, I’m probably biased in her favour by the fact that she is a scientist (crystallography and biologically-active compounds) and speaks English, French and German. And I really love the fact that she helped establish the Sudanese Nuer Community Language School in the La Trobe Valley.

Dr Sindt is currently a La Trobe City Councillor, and is running as an Ungrouped Independent in the region of Eastern Victoria, which runs from the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne (Belgrave, Lilydale, Mornington), and stretches all the way to East Gippsland, taking in part of the Victorian Alps along the way. She is clearly very passionate about education, and is absolutely against a proposed merger between Monash University Gippsland and the University of Ballarat, on the grounds both of educational quality and governance (she is concerned that if the Churchill Campus is run from Ballarat, local priorities will be ignored).