Tag: australian politics (Page 16 of 17)

Meet the Small Parties: Nick Xenophon Team

May 16, 2016 / Catherine / 9 Comments

I think today is going to be my day for small parties headed by high profile independents, which means that it’s time for everyone’s favourite monkey-pyjama-wearing pollie, Nick Xenophon and his Team.

The Nick Xenophon Team has a hugely annoying website. Sorry, Nick. It’s pretty, but it’s driving me bonkers, it really is. (It works, but it’s a pain to navigate. Maybe I’m too old-fashioned?) We are told that the NXT is “A common sense, fair alternative”.

For us, it’s all about looking at issues on their merits and working out the best outcome for everyone. Politics should never just be about left or right, it should always be about right or wrong.

NXT stands for honest and responsible government and the national interest, and their core focii are predatory gambling, Australian Made and Australian Jobs, and Government and Corporate Accountability. One could do much worse. Unlike the JLN, NXT does think of itself as a party who will vote together on issues. They are not directing preferences and are not trying to form government, they are simply trying to increase the number of voices in the Senate that support their policies. The policies themselves are laid out quite nicely – they provide a guiding principle, and then a few examples of how the policy would work.

Let’s see what these policies are, then…

Meet the Small Parties: The Jacquie Lambie Network

May 16, 2016 / Catherine / 3 Comments

Ah, the Jacqui Lambie Network. I don’t always agree with Jacqui Lambie, but I do like her. For the twelve people who don’t already know this, Jacqui appeared on the political landscape as a successful Senator for the Palmer United Party in 2013, but quickly broke ranks to become an Independent. Like my other Senate favourite, Ricky Muir, she came into the Senate with no background in politics, and intially did say a number of foolish things. She also has a fairly broad, working class accent, which has, unfortunately, made it easier for people to dismiss her as stupid.

But (again like Ricky), Jacqui learned on the job, and has become an effective and popular Senator for Tasmania. She is also, in my view, an argument in favour of our unofficial Senate lottery system – as a non-politician suddenly forced to learn the job of being a Senator, she brings a refreshingly non-partisan perspective to the Senate, and takes the view that her job is to put her State first. Because she is not beholden to a major party and their policies, she is actually in a position to do this. I wish we had a whole lot more senators like her – and behold, here is the Jacqui Lambie Network, which promises just that!

Would you like to vote for an independent Senator, who’ll always put their state first?

The first rule of the JLN is that you must always fight for your State’s interests in Federal Parliament, before any political party interests.

(The first rule of the Jacqui Lambie Fight Club is that you must never talk about the Jacqui Lambie Fight Club)

I do note that this approach does require the ability to discern what is in one’s State’s interests, but a reasonably intelligent person who is willing to pay attention should be able to make a fair job of it.

Meet the Small Parties – Seniors United Party!

May 15, 2016 / Catherine / 6 Comments

The Seniors United Party is a new political party, formed by a group of octogenarian retirees who are not impressed with the way retirement villages and nursing homes are run.

There is not a lot of information on their website as yet, so this post will be put together from articles I have found elsewhere, notably oversixty.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, and Seniors Housing Online.

The Seniors United Party website is still about their initial party, which was NSW-based only. I’m not sure if they will be running candidates in Victoria. Here’s where they are coming from.

We seek your support on behalf of a large group of concerned senior citizens, who, after years of expensive frustrations with State politicians, government departments and Tribunals, have collectively come to the conclusion that, irrespective of lip-service politicians may pay, seniors’ interests will never receive fair and equitable treatment from any Government or Party without strong representation.

Meet the Small Parties – Australian Equality Party

May 15, 2016 / Catherine / 3 Comments

OK, I think we need a palate cleanser after that, and since I’m still in Eurovision mode (yes, I’m watching the show a second time tonight), and I’ve heard at least two people this weekend refer to Eurovision as ‘Gay Christmas’, what better time to visit the Australian Equality Party – which is listed on the AEC website as the Australian Equality Party (Marriage)?

According to their front page “The Australian Equality Party is a proud new voice in Australian politics that aims to promote fairness, human rights and equality for all Australians.”

I am on board with this. I am on board with this entire party.

The Australian Equality Party is a broad based human rights party that has the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) Australians at its heart.

This also works for me.

Meet the Small Parties: Australia First Party

May 15, 2016 / Catherine / 12 Comments

Alrighty. It’s time to take off our Eurovision costumes, don our Personal Protective Gear, and wade into the pit of dubiously directed enthusiasm that is the Australia First Party.

This post might turn out to be a little bit incoherent, because I keep starting to write this post and then stopping because I spot something else on their site which kind of stuns me into silence. There is a LOT on this site – policies, rallies, campaigns, questions about Australia’s future, national restoration. So many articles. And the articles have brilliant titles like ‘ABC Fairfax Leftie Communists’, ‘Elitist Aristocratic Entitlement’, ‘Economic eggs in one China basket case’, ‘Government Fritter and Waste’, ‘Leftists hate our sovereignty’, ‘Mining Industry Fascism’, ‘Laberal merry-go-round sapping Australia’s wealth’ (yes, they have coined the word ‘Laberal’) ‘Offshoring is Fully Imported Scabs’ and, my personal favourite, ‘Australian farmers may be forced to plant rice and noodles’. (Think about that one for a moment.)

I already have an inkling that I’m not going to like their policies, but whoever is writing their headlines deserves a payrise, because each and every one of these links makes me want to click on it (or at least yell it out in a horrified and dramatic voice to my husband, who is trying to do other things with his life right now, but no, he is out of luck, because this whole website cries out to be… cried out).

I cannot possibly cover everything on Australia First’s website – their media people are clearly very hardworking, so I’ll stick mostly to their policies, unless I become irresistibly tempted to click on something that is guaranteed to raise my blood pressure.

Meet the Small Parties: The Australian Mental Health Party!

May 14, 2016 / Catherine / 2 Comments

The Australian Mental Health Party is a very new party indeed – so new, that their website hasn’t entirely caught up with the fact that they have successfully registered with the AEC (congratulations, guys, you have!).

As such, they have, at this stage, a single policy statement, rather than a larger raft of policies, and they do not yet have any candidates listed. (This is where it’s a pity I’m going to be overseas for five of the next six weeks, because this post cannot really do them justice – so if you think that a single-issue mental health party might be your cup of tea, I’d strongly encourage you to visit their website again closer to the election).

The AMHP also has a Facebook page, which is more up to date, and mostly seems to collect news about how various policies affect the mental health sector. Quite a useful resource, actually.

Meet the Small Parties: The Arts Party

May 14, 2016 / Catherine / 6 Comments

With Eurovision upon us (not to mention the grand final of the all-important Museum Dance Off), and yesterday’s news about funding cuts to the arts, the time is clearly ripe to review the policies of The Arts Party!

Their front page is pretty active right now, what with the aforementioned cuts, but their mission statement is front and centre:

The Arts Party exists to encourage a more creative, cultural, educated and prosperous life for every Australian.

I am in favour of this.

The first thing that strikes me about the Arts Party policy page is that in addition to a brief blurb about what they are about, they tell us that they have forwarded their policy ideas to all the major parties ‘in the hope they will consider new creative ideas to improving the future of Australia’. This is an approach that I have never seen before from a minor party, and I think it’s a very good idea. The Arts Party is, by and large, a single-issue party, and single-issue parties traditionally exist to raise awareness and give voters a chance to show the government what issues they would like to focus on. There is nothing wrong with this, but if a party has formulated good policies in an area they care about, wagering them all on the lottery that is our Senate voting system is not the best way to get them implemented – encouraging larger parties, with more chance of forming government, to consider adopting these policies is a pragmatic approach, and turns the party into both a party in its own right and a well-organised lobby group.

They also invite suggestions and critiques (because of course they do, they’re the Arts party).

Meet the Small Parties: VoteFlux – Upgrade Democracy

May 13, 2016 / Catherine / 7 Comments

Squeezing in a quick political post before work for a party whose distinguishing feature – and selling point – is that it has no policies! The ideological, next-generation offspring of Senator Online, VoteFlux tells us that

Flux is an exciting and new political system for the information age. Vote for policies, not false promises, and make your voice heard.

Ah, but what policies? Well, that’s really up to you.

Flux is here to redistribute political power, empower the Australian people through real political participation, and enable specialists to help repair bad policy. Flux will give Australia the framework it needs to meet the challenges of the 21st century head on.

Essentially, Flux wants to put policy back in the hands of the people – creating direct democracy via a smartphone app.

Their plan is to create an app you can access from your phone and computer, and contact you every time a bill is put before the Parliament. You get one vote per bill, and, can use the vote immediately, give it to someone else to cast on your behalf, or save it for another issue. So if you don’t have many opinions about the environment, but care passionately about funding to public schools, you can hoard all your votes from environmental legislation to use on education legislation, effectively making your voice in that area louder.

Flux is very clear that they do not have policies. They are about increasing political engagement:

Flux as a party is a vehicle for driving this systemic political change, with no policy platform beyond parliamentary reform. Flux as a system, is a tool for changing how policy is shaped. It will allow more voices to join the conversation, empower specialists to become politically involved in their fields, and grant Australians direct access to producing better policy for a better Australia.

While they do not have policies, Flux does have values:

We value people, not some people, but all people, and recognise our differences as strengths, not weaknesses.

We believe in a free and open society, characterised by freedom of speech, freedom of association, and the free flow of political ideas.

I’m trying to unpack this in a way that does not come across as patronising, because I think the two founders of Flux are intelligent, idealistic people, and these are great qualities in politicians. But they also come across as being a little unaware of how people work outside their bubble (which, I suspect, is populated with bright, idealistic people like themselves). The emphasis on freedom of speech and the free flow of political ideas are both lovely, but also a little disquieting to anyone who has spent time being female and political on the internet – or, I suspect, aboriginal anywhere, to pick just two examples. Freedom of speech and free flow of political ideas can be about giving everyone a chance to speak – but it also can make it harder to fight against people who want to use that platform for abuse, and it’s easy to underestimate the effect of some ‘free speech’ on the people it is directed at. I do think the intent here is absolutely benign, and in keeping with VoteFlux’s philosophy of increasing engagement in the political process, but I’m not sure about the outcomes. Maybe I’m just too old and cynical…

Overall, I think Voteflux is a really interesting idea, and I’m all for more participation in democracy, but I am a little dubious about how it will work in practice. It does seem open to being manipulated by special interest groups – membership of Flux is free, and Flux senators have committed to voting the will of the people as determined by their app. And I think this is likely to put any Flux senators in a very uncomfortable place sooner or later. Traditionally, conservative churches are really good at getting people out to write letters, campaign or vote on issues of their choice (much better, in fact, than most people on the left) – but the founders of Flux are evidently quite progressive. I like their principles, but they aren’t going to get to vote their principles.

I’ll be honest here – if VoteFlux gets into the Senate in Victoria – and currently, I’m not sure if they even plan to run in Victoria – I’ll sign up like a shot, because (as I’m sure you’ve noticed), I feel strongly about politics and am absolutely positive that my influence here could only be a good one (!).

But I’m not, after all, sure that I could bring myself to vote for them in the Senate. Voting for Flux means voting for the policies and ideologies of whoever in Australia manages to best organise themselves to vote, and I’m not at all sure I’d like what we’d get as a result.

Meet the Small Parties: Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party

May 12, 2016 / Catherine / 15 Comments

It’s time once again for us to consider the delightful smorgasbord of unfortunate opinions, charming idealism, delicious eccentricity, lateral thinking, and, occasionally, surprisingly good policy that is the tiny parties running for election in the Australian Senate. (And, lest that sentence really sounds far too sarcastic, I should point out that it’s rare to find a tiny party that has no good ideas at all. Even the most racist, chauvinistic and mildly unhinged parties will generally have one or two areas in which they display good sense, and sometimes even brilliance. One day, I should start a party that compiles all the weird good bits from tiny parties’ policies…)

To kick off this joyous carnival of political diversity, we have none other than Derryn Hinch, and his brand new party, Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party.

Take a moment to appreciate the name of this party.

And now, take a moment to consider the level of maturity that is displayed daily for our delectation by Members of Parliament during question time.

I think we can all agree that Derryn Hinch, with his characteristic cry of ‘Shame, shame, shame’ would be an ornament to this august body. Personally, I’d like to see him as speaker.

(Incidentally, I am delighted to note that Hinch himself is running in Victoria, which means I could actually vote for him and do my bit to make this vision to come true…)

But let us set aside, for a moment, this frivolity, and have a look at what Hinch’s party wants us to know about itself and what it represents.

It’s on!

May 8, 2016 / Catherine / 1 Comment

For anyone who missed the news, the Double Dissolution was called today, and the election will be on July 2.

The Electoral Rolls will close at 8pm on May 23rd, so if you have not already done so, please make sure you are enrolled to vote – you can check your registration here. (Yes, this is longer than the one week which is the legal minimum. Turnbull has chosen to delay issuing writs by a week, and to lengthen the time to enrol for an extra week after writs are issued. This is a good thing, but please don’t be complacent – make sure you get onto this if you have moved or have just turned 18. It doesn’t take long, but it’s important!)

Nominations will close on June 9, and ballot paper details will be issued the next day, with early voting opening on June 14. If you are travelling between June 14 and July 2, the AEC provides information here on how to vote. A number of Australian airports, and many of our consulates and embassies overseas, have overseas voting centres. This list, naturally, does not exist yet, and by the time it does, I’ll be overseas myself, so I recommend checking back on June 14. You can also apply for a postal vote here, and this will be sent to you at an address nominated by you on or after June 14. Depending on where you are located, this may or may not be practical.

From the point of view of this blog, the decision to close nominations on June 9 means that I will definitely not know who is on the ballot paper in Victoria before I leave, which is frustrating. At this stage, I plan to write up as many of the absolutely new parties as I can between now and then (once my other writing projects, and, you know, my full time job (!) allow time for this). I am probably going to prioritise those parties which appear either especially entertaining or especially enraging, because this is going to be a bit of a gruelling task and I might as well get some fun out of it! If there is anyone that you are desperate to hear about as soon as possible, let me know in the comments, and I’ll see what I can do.

Once I’m back in Australia on June 29, you may or may not be treated to jetlag-fuelled analyses of the independents on the Victorian Ballot. I’ll also link to anyone I find who is also analysing small parties – once again, if you spot anyone good, please link to them in the comments, ideally on my 2016 Election page.

And in the meantime, if you haven’t read it already, go and have a quick look at my post on the new Senate Voting rules. You’ll want to bear these in mind on July 2 (or whenever you cast your early vote)…