OK, so it’s Friday, and I’ve written at least 60,000 words so far this election, so if you’ve only found me now, you probably don’t have time to read everything I’ve written about every party before you go and vote.
But don’t panic. Many people in the world are more concise than I am. So very many.
Here are some of them.
Briefer party reviews
Axvoter has reviewed all the parties in Victoria AND all of the independents in his Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews. He is more concise than I am (his reviews lurk around the 500 word mark), but still usefully thorough -. Generally shares my lefty biases, and the title speaks for itself! He has also written about how to vote in both the Upper and Lower Houses, in case you weren’t sure.
A briefer, and quite entertaining summary of parties and candidates from Victoria comes from Anthony, who asks Who the hell are all these people on the Victorian Senate ballot paper? I especially like the reviews for the ALA, One Nation, and Rise Up Australia.
Know Your Parties takes on the NSW ballot. The author is quite brief, and enjoyably sarcastic. Independents are not included.
Tiara does the same for – I think – the QLD ballot.
DonkeyVotie has created brief profiles for all parties in all states, including likes, dislikes, and quotable quotes. It’s a good collection of highlights and lowlights, but you will have to research your own independents.
Perth Cactus has party profiles with illustrations, videos and memes. Highly entertaining, may not take much less time to read than my stuff. (OK, it will take less time, and it’s definitely a fun read, so go for it).
Note that all the summaries I’ve found lean rather to the left – despite my vigorous Googling of right-wing parties, I suspect Google knows what I really think. And my Facebook friends definitely do. If you know of any other summaries, particularly ones with different biases, please share them and I will add them to this list.
Other handy bits and pieces
Here is a handy Senate Voting Card Creator. This allows you to create a printable how to vote card for yourself, so that you don’t lose track of who is who in the ballot box. The Independents are grouped together, but you can rearrange them on your ballot paper at step 3.
How to vote cards for each party that has registered one for Victoria, NSW, QLD, ACT, SA, NT, WA, TAS. I was not able to incorporate this into my analysis this year, unfortunately, but it is useful information.
Find your nearest Democracy Sausage or cake stall here or here (also includes cake stalls, vegetarian and international options).
