I have a confession to make. I have been looking forward to writing about People Power – No Smart Meters for days. Days, I tell you. Not only do they have a name that screams ‘Ludicrous single issue party ahoy!’, but my preliminary glance at their website a couple of weeks back led me to the delicious realisation that they have drunk from the Well of Crazy, and lo, it has become a fountain, raining blessings over the entire Legislative Council Ballot Paper. Which might explain why so many parties have given them such high preferences.
But, OK, it was only a quick glance, and I don’t want to pre-judge. Maybe it will turn out that they really do have some sensible policies in the mix. Maybe there really is something to fear from Smart Meters. Maybe all my evil, sarcastic hopes are merely a reflection of my bitter, twisted soul.
We shall see.
Let’s start by looking at their Mission:
Our mission is to reclaim our state and set it on a new and better path.
This new political party for Victoria is centred on respect for human rights, the opposition to the mandated roll-out of wireless smart meters for electricity, gas and water, and on the commitment to re-establish a healthy environment for all.
The People Power Victoria – No Smart Meters party (PPV) also stands for fair and affordable delivery of essential services to all Victorians, safe homes and workplaces, consumer protection and a safer, more ethical use of technology.
The privatization and deregulation of the State electricity, gas and water supply has resulted in unaffordable rising costs for customers.
It is time to raise the call for the return of these essential services to public ownership.
You know, if you just took out that sentence about smart meters, that would sound fantastic. Well, actually, I probably would still be looking a little dubious about ‘safer, more ethical use of technology’ because this sounds a little bit like ‘we don’t trust science’, but never mind that. Aside from their fixation on Smart Meters, it’s a nice, somewhat left-wing, socially-oriented set of priorities.
Continuing on with the good, I’d also like to note that this is a nice, easy-to-navigate, well-organised website. I’m learning to appreciate such things.
Yes, yes, I hear you say, but what’s with the Smart Meters?
A good question. Because I’m a tease, I’m not going to answer that quite yet. Instead, I’m going to look at their Group Voting Tickets, which are an absolute mess.
