Cate Speaks

Politics, Poetry and Reviews

Category: politics (Page 6 of 42)

Federal Election 2019: Meet the Liberal Democratic Party

April 30, 2019 / / 9 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.ldp.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LibDemAus/
Slogans:
 Low Taxes. Small Government.
Individual Responsibility.
Themes: Dog-eat-dog libertarians.  Fond of guns and free speech.  Not interested in the environment.  Very much an ‘I’ve got mine’ philosophy.
Electorate:
 Upper House: NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA
Lower House: Bean, Calare, Fadden, Fairfax Farrer, Lyne, McPherson, Moncrieff, Parkes, Rankin
Preferences: This lot are way too libertarian to tell you who to vote for, apparently.  Except in NSW, where they like HEMP, Pauline Hanson, Small Business, Science and the Pirates.  Interestingly, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers don’t get a look in – I’d have expected them instead of One Nation.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet the Australian Democrats

April 30, 2019 / / 12 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.australian-democrats.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/australiandemocrats/
Slogans:
 Not Left. Not Right. Just Forward.
Keep the Bastards Honest
Themes: Inclusiveness, compassion, community, collaboration, transparency.  Science-based policy.  Making sure people in rural and regional Australia have access to resources.
Electorate:
 Upper House: NSW, SA, VIC
Lower House: Adelaide
Preferences: The Democrats seem to have a penchant for tiny parties.  In NSW, they are voting Science, Together, Sustainable, Pirates and ICAN – a fun, progressive ticket that cares about science and inclusiveness.  In Victoria, we have the Secular Party, Hinch, the Republicans (ten to one they have not looked at that mess of a website), ICAN again, and HEMP – a little more centist, but progressive overall.  And in SA, they vote Sustainable, HEMP, Centre Alliance, Greens, ALP, and then all of a sudden they completely jump the shark and put a seventh party on their ballot, and it is the Great Australian Party, of all things.  Australian Democrats, what are you *thinking*???  I can’t see the Democrats as closet conspiracy theorists, and I am baffled at this particular preference choice.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia

April 30, 2019 / / 13 Comments

Summary

Website: https://cecaust.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cecaustralia/
Slogans:
 Stop ‘bail-in’
Break up the banks
Rebuild the country
Themes: Giving the banks back to the people – global finance is the enemy.  Gigantic infrastructure projects, including a space program.  Very excited about nuclear energy, but also fond of mining and crude oil.  Not interested in the environment.
Electorate:
 NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC
Preferences: No how to vote cards, but the CEC includes the following parties as ‘genuine’ and worth voting for where there is no CEC candidate.  Hold onto your hats, because this is a trip.

  • Katter’s Australian Party
  • The Greens
  • Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
  • Centre Alliance

I bet you never expected to see those four parties on the same list.  The common factor is small parties that the CEC views as taking on the banks.  But I think the real thing you can take away from this is that the CEC are not quite living on the same plane as the rest of us.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet the National Party

April 29, 2019 / / 7 Comments

Summary

Website: http://nationals.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNationalsAus/
Slogans:
 A strong voice for regional Australia
Think Local. Vote National.
Themes: Conservative, with an emphasis on regional communities. But not very good at it.  Don’t mention water management.  Apparently, that’s Labor’s fault.
Electorate:
 Upper House: All of them except the ACT
Lower House: All the ones that aren’t in cities.
Preferences: The Nationals pretty much share a Senate How To Vote Card with the Liberals, but there are a few exciting exceptions.  Like the Liberals are putting the United Australia Palmer second on almost all their Senate How to Vote cards except for those where the Liberals are a separate party – but in Tasmania, they have rebelled from the Liberals’ party line and put Pauline Hanson’s One Nation in third place, after the Liberals but before United Australia.  In Western Australia, they have put One Nation in at sixth place, which is a less pointed rebellion, but certainly an indication that the worm is a-turning.

Otherwise, we have a similar tendency to preference the LDP, the Australian Conservatives and the various conservative Christian parties, with the Shooters and Fishers appearing twice, and Katter’s Australia Party, Hinch’s Justice Party and the Small Business Party each appearing once.

And HEMP is still ahead of the ALP and the Greens in the NT, which I still find vastly amusing.

So it’s a similar portfolio to that of the Liberals – a lot of Clive Palmer, a lot of libertarian and religious conservative parties, but a bit more interest in guns, be they by way of hunting and fishing or just, you know, racism.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet the Liberal Party

April 29, 2019 / / 12 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.liberal.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiberalPartyAustralia/
Slogans:
 Building our economy. Securing your future.
A fair go for people who have a go.
Themes: Right wing, with a current tendency towards hardline religious conservatism.  Tax cuts, especially for the wealthy.  Strong borders, pro-coal, skeptical about climate change.
Electorate:
 Upper House: All of them.
Lower House: All the urban electorates.
Preferences: The Liberals are putting the United Australia Palmer second on all their Senate How to Vote cards (well, third in WA and TAS, but only because the Nationals are listed separately on those tickets).  The Australian Conservatives are third in SA, TAS and VIC, fourth in QLD, and sixth in NSW and WA.  The Liberal Democrats are in the top six in all six states (they aren’t running in the territories, and the DLP, Australian Christians and Christian Democrats are all in the top six in the states they are running in.  The Australian Democrats appear twice in the top six, and Katter’s Australia Party, Hinch’s Justice Party, the Centre Alliance , the Small Business Party, and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers each appear in the top six once.

Fascinatingly, in the Northern Territory, the Liberals have put HEMP ahead of both the ALP and the Greens.  This seems like a very strange choice, especially now that I’ve actually read HEMP’s websites.  In the ACT, where only seven groups are available above the line, the Liberals have put Sustainable Australia second, the Greens sixth, and have specifically instructed voters to leave Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party blank.  This is a nice touch, but it would have been more consistent to do this everywhere, don’t you think?

The overall theme is definitely Clive Palmer with his money and mines first, followed by religious conservative parties and libertarian parties.  No real surprises here, basically.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP)

April 29, 2019 / / 9 Comments

Summary

Website: https://australianhempparty.com/
https://hemp.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianHempParty
Slogans:
 It’s not what it looks like!  We can explain.  (Currently winning the Cate Speaks award for the most inadvertently ludicrous slogan)
Themes: Legalising cannabis, which is apparently going to save our economy, improve our nutrition and revolutionise medicine.  Possibly the most disorganised political party website so far.
Electorate:
 QLD, NSW, NT, SA, TAS, VIC
Preferences: HEMP is all about the freedom, man.  Their how to vote card advises you to look for the leaf, and then says:

Choose six boxes above the line.  Number in the order you like.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party

April 26, 2019 / / 3 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.justiceparty.com.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justiceparty.com.au/
Slogans:
 Unfinished Business
It’s Just Common Sense!
Themes: Common sense.  Being tough on crime.  Stricter bail and parole laws.  Stopping cruelty to animals.  Stopping violence against women.  A public register for child sex offenders.
Electorate:
 Upper House: VIC
Lower House: Casey, Chisolm, Corangamite, Deakin, Dunkley, Indi, La Trobe, McEwan
Preferences: Hinch’s ticket goes Small Business Party, Australian Democrats, Australian Greens, Labor, Liberal and Animal Justice Party.  It’s a centre to left ticket, I’d say – he’s avoiding the extremists (and there are a lot of them to avoid), and making sure his votes go somewhere leftish, but nowhere too weird.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians!

April 25, 2019 / / 5 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.onlinedirectdemocracy.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddemocracy/
Previous names: Online Direct Democracy
Senator Online
Slogans:
 Empowering the People
Themes: No policies.  This party will allow every Australian to vote on every Bill that comes before parliament, and their MP will then vote whatever the majority comes up with.
Electorate:
 NSW, QLD, VIC
Preferences: These are not people with policies and therefore these are not people with preferences.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party

April 25, 2019 / / 10 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.shootersfishersandfarmers.org.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SFFparty/
Previous Names: Shooters Party
Shooters and Fishers Party
Slogans:
 It’s Your Powerful Voice
Themes: Loosening gun restrictions, recreational access to national parks, promotion of shooting, hunting, fishing and four wheel driving.  Conservative.  Right wing economic policies.  Recent headlines suggest a stronger emphasis on the ‘Farming’ part of their name.  Not happy with the Nationals.
Electorate:
 Upper House: NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA
Lower House: Burt, Calare, Cowan, Forrest, Gippsland, Hasluck, Mallee, Pearce
Preferences: OK, this is a bit ugly.  The SFF favour Australian Better Families in every state in which they are running.  Mmm, MRAs with guns, just what Australia needs. In Tasmania, this actually means that their how to vote cards aren’t valid, because the ABF candidate is an ungrouped independent, and you can’t vote both above and below the line, so that’s fun.  One Nation is in the top three in every state, and the Australian Conservatives are also in the top six on every card.  The Liberal Democrats appear three times, The Christian Democrats and the Australian Christians are in the top three in every state they are running in, Sustainable Australia appears twice, and there are guest appearances from the Small Business Party, the DLP, Katter, Rise Up Australia and the UAP.

Interestingly, the Liberals and Nationals appear in their top six only in WA, and the ALP is sixth on their ballot in SA. Either they are expecting a LOT of votes in the other states, or they are VERY confident about their preferences not exhausting.  I don’t think this confidence is well-founded.
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Federal Election 2019: Meet the United Australia Party

April 25, 2019 / / 14 Comments

Summary

Website: https://www.unitedaustraliaparty.org.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnitedAusParty/
Previous names: Palmer United
Slogans:
 Make Australia Great
Put Australia First
What Australia Grows, Grows Australia. Support Aussie Farmers
Themes: The lucky country.  Wealth creation, especially by mining, manufacturing and tax cuts.  Clive Palmer personality cult?  Feels a bit Trumpian, but without the absolute lack of compassion.  Doesn’t like Bill Shorten.
Electorate:
 Upper House: All of them.
Lower House: All of them.
Preferences: As has been the subject of endless media conversation, United Australia is preferencing the Coalition in every seat.  Other favourite political parties are the Australian Conservatives, who they put in their top five wherever they are running, and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, likewise.  United Australia is not afraid to embrace the crazy, and thus preferences Katter’s Australian Party once and the Citizens Electoral Council Twice.  The Small Business Party and the Democrats appear twice each, and Rise Up Australia and the Lambie Network each appear once.  Amusingly, their how to vote card in the ACT is invalid – they preference five parties above the line, and also the Ungrouped Independents, which you aren’t allowed to do.

The main thing the parties preferenced have in common is a complete disregard for the environment, as befits a party founded by a mining magnate.  Though I can’t help feeling that the CEC, with their wild theories and love of grandiose infrastructure projects may actually be Clive Palmer’s natural home… that super fast mag-lev rail would fit right in with his dinosaur park and Titanic replica…
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