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Tag: australian politics (Page 11 of 17)

Victorian State Election 2018: Meet Bobby Singh

November 12, 2018 / / 4 Comments

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

Facebook page for Bobby Singh: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003227085250
Themes: Unclear, but somewhat conservative.  Employment and cost of living seem to be areas of interest.

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

As an ungrouped independent, Singh doesn’t get a group voting ticket.  But it’s interesting to see where he has been placed by others. His best billing comes from Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party, which puts him at 11th, after Chawla and Lee, the Aussie Battlers and the other ungrouped independents.  Chawla and Lee put Singh at 24, but beyond that, he’s not getting much love.  A lot of the parties in South Eastern Metropolitan seem to have decided that Independents are far too much like hard work, and have stuck all the ungrouped independents last or near last on the ballot.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs (how can I be this far into the project with no theme songs?) and Other Observations

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Victorian State Election 2018 – Meet Peter Mack!

November 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

Oh, yes you do. I haven’t been able to find out a thing about him, so this is going to be short.

Peter Mack has basically no online presence, as far as I can tell.  No website, facebook, or twitter, and he doesn’t even seem to write letters to the local paper! The VEC tells me that he lives in Botanic Ridge, and there is a Peter Mack from Botanic Ridge on Linked In who is listed as a Director at Causicare, or possibly a Mental Health worker at MIND.  But the Causicare website only mentions a Helen Mack, and I can’t find him at all at MIND.  It’s clear that he works with mental health, however.

I got all excited when I saw that a Peter Mack had written a book with Nicole Lee on Metaphoric Narratives in Healing, and thought that maybe some of our South Eastern Metropolitan Independents were joining forces to fight for mental health and good things, but then I saw that the book was described as

…a unique story of two medical doctors who went through a healing journey together, using meditation and past life therapy. Their experiences are being shared from both the patient’s and the therapist’s perspectives and provide an intriguing account of the workings of the inner psyche…

So probably not our Mack and Lee, then, since I don’t think they are medical doctors.

I’m including the description anyway, because this post needs all the padding it can get.

I’ll try to circle back to him later, but for now, Peter Mack should be considered a man of mystery!

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

As an ungrouped independent, Mack doesn’t get a group voting ticket.  And it’s pretty clear that the other candidates have no more idea what to do with them than I do, because he is directly after Hines on every ticket – so 10th for Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party, 23rd for Chawla and Lee and 28th for the Greens, after which he drops steadily down the group voting tickets.

Victorian State Election: Meet Stewart Hine!

November 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

Website for Stewart Hine: http://illshowyouthemoney.com.au/candidacy-for-state-parliament/
Themes: Being a true independent.  It’s hard to say what his policies might be.  Probably quite good on environment and public transport, is my guess, and neither hard right nor hard left, though it’s difficult to say where he leans overall.

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

As an ungrouped independent, Hine doesn’t get a group voting ticket.  But it’s interesting to see where he has been placed by others. His best billing comes from Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party, which puts him at 9th, after Chawla and Lee, the Aussie Battlers and Hudson.  Chawla and Lee put Hine at 22 and the Greens put him at 27, but beyond that, he’s not getting much love.  A lot of the parties in South Eastern Metropolitan seem to have decided that Independents are far too much like hard work, and have stuck all the ungrouped independents last or near last on the ballot.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs (how can I be this far into the project with no theme songs?) and Other Observations

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Victorian State Election 2018: Meet the Australian Liberty Alliance

November 12, 2018 / / 2 Comments

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

ala.jpgWebsite: https://www.australianlibertyalliance.org.au
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/australianlibertyalliance/
Current president: Debbie Robinson
Themes: Stopping the alleged Islamisation of Australia. Small government. Freedom of speech.  Right wing,  libertarian, pro-Western values, pro-guns, anti-socialism, anti-PC.

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

The ALA’s best friends appear to be the Australian Country Party, the Aussie Battlers, The Liberal Democratic Party, The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, and Transport Matters.  Hinch’s Justice Party, Sustainable Australia and Hudson for Northern Victoria also get some love.

I’m still trying to work out if the Aussie Battlers have blundered into the right wing, or whether it’s intentional.  It’s also worth nothing that I’ve seen a lot of preferences go to Transport Matters from all sorts of directions – presumably because most people can agree on wanting better public transport.  I’m wondering if they might actually pick up a seat.

The bottom of the ALA’s ticket is always Liberal, Labor and the Greens, in that order, with one notable exception – in the Western Metropolitan Region, ungrouped independent Kathy Majdlik is singled out for last place.  Given the sort of things the ALA supports, I am predisposed to like Ms Majdlik.   The Victorian Socialists and Fiona Patten’s Reason Party are also regulars on the ALA’s hate list, and there are guest appearances from various other ungrouped independents and from the Voluntary Euthanasia Party and the Animal Justice Party.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs and Other Observations

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Victorian State Election 2018 – Meet the Australian Country Party/Give it Back!

November 12, 2018 / / 9 Comments

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

acp.jpgWebsite: https://australiancountryparty.org.au/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CountryPartyVic
Victorian Campaign Page: https://australiancountryparty.org.au/policies/victorian/
Themes: Pro-regional Australia, pro-personal responsibility, pro-guns.  Deeply suspicious of environmentalism in any form. Clearly positioning themselves to take over from the Nationals.

Update January 26, 2019: I’ve been advised that the ACP has undergone a complete reorganisation since November, including an overhaul of policies.  I’ll be covering them again ahead of the next election, but if you want to know more, please see the comment below from Glenn O’Rourke, which includes a link to a press release and the new website.

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

The ACP is pretty good friends with conservative and libertarian parties who like guns.  Their top five spots always include the Democratic Labor Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Australian Liberty Alliance.  Other favoured parties are the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, Sustainable Australia, the Health Australia Party, and Hudson for Northern Victoria.  The Aussie Battlers and the Transport parties appear occasionally.

The Liberal Party sits right at the middle of their ticket, with Labor usually a couple of parties behind them.  The last four places on their tickets are always the Voluntary Euthanasia Party, the Victorian Socialists, the Animal Justice Party, and last of all, the Australian Greens.  These are not people who like environmentalists very much.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs and Other Observations

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Victorian State Election 2018 – Meet the Aussie Battler Party!

November 12, 2018 / / 11 Comments

Update, November 15, 2018: Well, they certainly have developed.  I don’t know when it happened, but the Aussie Battlers have made sweeping changes to their policies.  No longer do they want to feed roosters to the starving and house the homeless in shipping containers, and now it appears that they are Tough On Crime and don’t like Immigrants.  I haven’t had a chance to look at them again properly, but will do my best to review them before the election.  In the meantime, you can read an article about the new policies here. But be wary.  This is definitely a bait-and-switch, and I’m wondering how many of their candidates were aware that this would happen. 

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

Website: https://www.aussiebattlerparty.com.au/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheAussieBattlerParty/
Current leader: Stuart O’Neill
Themes: Common sense, Aussie Battlers, affordable housing and homelessness, ‘the real Australia’.  Patriotic and focused on regional Victoria.  Pro mouthguards!

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

Oh, this is one hot mess of a party.  They have completely different tickets in each region, and the only real common ground is that they always put Labor, Liberals and the Greens last.  But always in a different order.  Their top five varies wildly with the Animal Justice Party taking top billing in Northern Metropolitan, and the Shooters and Fishers getting it in Western Metropolitan.  In South-Eastern Metropolitan, alternate anti-family-violence candidates with the LDP and the Shooters and Fishers.

Their favourite party to support is Sustainable Australia (another party who I find very hard to read), which makes their top five on 7 out of 8 tickets. Derryn Hinch gets into the top five in 6 out of 8, and the Shooters and Fishers and Liberal Democratic Party both get there 5 times.  Transport is also important.  But honestly, everyone seems to turn up in their top five at least once, except for the Voluntary Euthanasia Party and the Victorian Socialists.  Even the Australian Liberty Alliance is in there.

It feels to me like the pro-gun parties are getting a higher than statistically-probable level of top billing, if this were all random, but there are kind of a lot of pro-gun parties this year, and I don’t know how to do statistical analysis, so take that for what it’s worth.

There is some evidence that they might be preferencing the small parties that they expect to be popular in that region – the Shooters and Fishers or the ACP in regional areas, Hudson for Northern Victoria in the north, the Animal Justice Party in the vegan-friendly northern metropolitan region.  But it could also be that they have no clue what they are doing, and I find it unsettling that I can’t tell.

Basically, if you are going to vote for this party, do it below the line.  You don’t know where your vote might end up otherwise.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs and Other Observations

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Victorian State Election 2018 – Meet the Animal Justice Party!

November 12, 2018 / / 8 Comments

I don’t have time to read all of this!
The Basics

AJPWebsite: https://www.ajpvic.org.au/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ajpvic/

Themes: A voice for animals in politics, and the party for people who think that the Greens don’t go far enough on animal welfare.  Left, slightly lunar.  Veganism can fix all the world’s problems.

With friends like these…
The Group Voting Ticket

The AJP has different voting tickets in each region, but there are some common themes.  At the top of the ticket, you either get the Aussie Battlers, Sustainable Australia, or Health Australia.  Fiona Patten’s Reason Party, The Voluntary Euthanasia Party, and Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party usually come next, and either Transport Matters or the Victorian Socialists will also be in the top five.

After all the left-leaning parties, they generally put the Greens somewhere around 21 on the ticket, directly followed by Labor, the DLP and the Liberal/National Parties.

The last four slots on the ticket are always the Liberal Democratic Party, the Australian Country Party, the Australian Liberty Alliance, and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, in that order. If there are independents, they usually fall somewhere between the ALA and the Shooters and Fishers, regardless of their actual political views – I’m guessing the AJP didn’t have the time or inclination to do the research on them.

Basically, this is the portrait of a decidedly left-leaning party that really doesn’t like guns.  Nobody is surprised by this.  They don’t seem to hate the Greens as much as they used to, but putting them directly before the other major parties sends a clear message – you sold out.

The Body Politic
Policies, Snark, Terrible Theme Songs and Other Observations

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Wentworth, or, How to Hang a Parliament

November 6, 2018 / / 4 Comments

I’ve been meaning to do another ‘what the hell is going on in Australian politics this week’ post for a while, but I simply can’t keep up.  The ridiculousness just moves way too fast for me to keep up.

But since my computer has just died, and trying to read and synthesise dozens of tiny party policies is an absolute pain on my tiny travel laptop (I like having all the policies open at once in separate windows, so I can group them more readily, and you need a big screen for that), and since I’ve wound up having a day off to take my computer to the computer doctor (two hours with no news is hopefully good news for my data, at least); and since my US friends could probably use the distraction of someone else’s utterly ludicrous politics right now, I feel like now is a good time to catch people up on the most recent installment of Australia’s most popular new soap opera – Pollies  Behaving Stupidly.
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A new Prime Minister – Lest we forget what he stands for

August 24, 2018 / / 4 Comments

I made fondant from scratch today.  Then I flavoured it and dipped the results in choolate.  I’m pretty sure this makes me more productive than the entire Federal Government put together this week.  And probably much happier, too.  (And definitely more hopped up on sugar!)

So, in case anyone missed the news, we have a new Prime Minister, and it isn’t Peter Dutton.  Unfortunately, it is Scott Morrison, who, while marginally less appalling than Dutton, is not precisely a cause for celebration.  But we’ll get onto why that is in a bit, because I think it is proper to finish recounting the events of the day before we get onto the evaluation.

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No, but seriously, what the hell is going on in Australian politics this week?

August 23, 2018 / / 3 Comments

I have to say, this is not how I had planned to return to my politics blog.

But good God, Peter Dutton as Prime Minister?  I mean, I don’t even know where to start with this.  I’m torn between my personal revulsion and queasiness at the idea of someone who is this destructive and lacking in empathy as PM, and a certain awestruck astonishment at the sight of the Liberal Party apparently self-destructing before our eyes.  I mean, we thought the ALP was self-destructive and stupid back in 2013, but this is looking less and less like a spill and more like an actual split in the party.

I’m not going to attempt a lot of analysis here.  I have been at home with a nasty cold all week, my eyes glued to the ABC News channel and to Twitter, and I’m not sure how much analysis I am capable of.  But I feel like the situation is getting so convoluted that it’s worth trying to take a step back and write out the timeline.  Also, I’m feeling bad for all my overseas friends whose timelines have suddenly been taken over by Australians expressing visceral horror about potatoes, or incomprehensible glee about Section 44.

So this is going to be my attempt to disentangle the week’s events so far.  I’m going to make it as complete as I can, but there is just SO MUCH going on that I am bound to miss something.  And I’m fully aware that if this takes me two hours to write, I might miss a change of government, but hopefully this will not be too far out of date by the time I manage to post it.

Also, there will be links to sarcastic commentary because this is frankly a horror story, and I, for one, need a little bit of humour to cope.  And, after all, this whole situation would be genuinely hilarious, if it wasn’t the actual government of our country which affects actual people, and the punchline wasn’t the potential installation of a racist, conscienceless, cruelty-embracing, right-wing politician as our next Prime Minister.

Phew.

Now, this has all been brewing for a while, but I think I’ll start with Monday.  Because God knows, there is enough that has happened since then to keep us all on the edges of our seats.  But first, a little background.

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