Vote Smart;

Both major Australian political parties are corrupt and tired, vote for independents or minor parties and an honest government.

In August 2005 John Howard said to the first gathering of all federal Liberal parliamentarians following the 2004 election, "Your first loyalty must be to this party room". Wrong John; truth, justice, the good of the people of Australia and of the Earth as a whole should be higher on their list of priorities.

We can achieve better government than this!

If you give your first preference vote to an independent or a member of a minor party, and he/she does not have enough votes to be elected, then your second preference vote will be counted. Give your first preference to someone with an environmental conscience, use your later preferences to place one of the major parties before the other.

Help with making a decision on who to vote for is available at GetUp. This site helps find those candidates whose aims best agree with yours.

Introduction

Honest men and women generally don't, can't, go into Australian politics. As I write this it is almost impossible to get elected as an independent member of parliament; and to go into either the Liberal or Labor parties means that you must 'toe the party line' and betray your conscience. The way the system works stops honest people from being elected.
There are exceptions. It is possible for a very few honest people to be elected as members of minor parties, and the recent election of Nick Xenophon to the South Australian Legislative Council (March 2006) is an example.
Independent members of Parliament must be loyal to their constituents or they will not be re-elected. Members of the two big parties must be loyal to those parties or they will be kicked out at the next preselection.
Dontations to campagn funds have corrupted the two major parties. These parties belong to the big corporations who give big donations. Many companies donate to both parties; they know that whichever party is elected they will be able to 'call in the favour' when they need to.
If in 2003 there were enough independent members in parliament to produce a vote of no confidence in John Howard, Australia probably would not have become involved in the Iraq war. If there were enough independent members of parliament Australia would probably take its proper place with responsible nations in the Kyoto Protocol and help move toward achieving something toward controling the greenhouse effect.
Parliamentarians in the major parties are under the thumb of lobby groups. For example the Christian lobby, through MPs of the major parties, have denied the right to voluntary euthanasia to the great majority of Australians, who believe they should have that right.

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Voting for the major parties

Australians have long tended to vote for one or the other of whatever two major parties there are; in my lifetime (60 years) this has meant the Liberals or the Labour party (the National party, at least in federal politics, has been defacto Liberal in recent years).

Why do people vote for the major parties?

Many vote for one of the major parties because they have always done so; perhaps because their parents did so before them. Many vote for one of the major parties because they believe that is the only way to stop the other major party from getting into power. Many vote Labor because they are wage earners and they believe Labor will do a better job looking after the workers than Liberal. Many farmers and small business people vote Liberal on similar reasons. These people don't seem to see that both major parties have betrayed them. They don't seem to see that both major parties have become corrupt.

Don't vote for someone because you believe that his/her party is marginly better than 'the alternative'. Look for an honest independent or minor party candidate instead.

A confederation of independent candidates

Political parties are, by their nature, likely to attract corruption in the form of bribes, especially given the campagn donation scheme that exists in Australia.

Independent politicians are also open to bribes, but if they become corrupt they are easier to get rid of than are large parties.

But how to become known if you are an aspiring political candidate? I suggest setting up a confederation of independent candidates that will be devoted to helping the Australian public know their potential politicians. There are honest women and men out there, but we need to change the system so that they can get into parliament without loosing their morality.

Also see Independent politicians and candidates

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The need for action on climate change

The Australian people are crying out for serious action on climate change but neither of the big two parties will do enough. There is scientific consensus that most of the climate change we are seeing is due to human activities. Climate change is now recognised as probably the major cause for the drought that is effecting the populated part of Australia, it will greatly worsen fire danger in future, and Mick Keelty, head of the Federal Police, has recognised future population movements forced by climate change as the greatest security threat to Australia.

As of the beginning of November 2007 the Coalition has a renewable energy target of 15% by 2020 and Labor has a more ambitious target of 20% by 2020. (Both these targets, as stated, are not very meaningful; they are too far into the future. The major parties should state intermediate goals, for example, how many percent by 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018. A lead time of 13 years, being much longer than a term of government, is too long. Each government can put off action and in the end, when the target is not reached, the then government can blame those that came before.)

The corruption of the major parties

Big businesses donate large sums of money to political parties; often the same multi-national company will make donations to both of the two major opposing parties. The citizens are content to allow this on the grounds that it is better that business pays for political campaigns than those costs coming out of taxes; but is it? The managers of big businesses are not stupid; they would not make donations unless they believed that they would get favours in return.

The federal government's immoral support for the fossil fuel industries (and relative neglect of greenhouse friendly industries) must be repayment for favours received from the former; what other reasonable explanation is there?

Corporate political donations are a form of corruption and they are a means that the wealthy use to obtain more power. It is unlikely that the big political parties will put a stop to corporate political donations without being forced to, because the practice advantages big parties over small parties and independent members of parliament.

Australia has become a corporatocracy rather than a democracy. In effect we are governed by the big corporations.

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Party loyalty

Party loyalty, in both politicians and voters, is one of the causes of the poor quality of government that we now have in Australia. The parties have lost their way, but the voters stay with them; the politicians stay with them because if they did not they would be out of a well paid job.

We must all take a careful look at our priorities. If your party is no longer standing up for the principals that you believe in, why does it deserve your loyalty? Members of parliament should consider whether doing the right thing, and taking the political consiquences, might be better than taking the easy option and following the party line. There are more important things in life than money and a secure job; a clear concsience is one such.

Party loyalty has got Australia into the Iraq war and, due to Australia's support for US oil imperialism, has made Austraians a target for terrorism. Again, party loyalty has brought about the 'anti terrorism' laws that threaten our free and democratic way of life. Party loyalty is responsible for Australia being one of the worst greenhouse polluters on the planet. Party loyalty has brought us sycophantic parliamentarians that support their parties to the detriment of their constituents. As an example Barry Wakelin, the federal member for Grey, was quite happy to support the Liberal party in keeping the mandatory renewable energy tartet (MRET) at 2%, overlook the climate change disaster, and forego development in his electorate worth $20 000 for every man, woman and child.

My impression of some minor parties

I have tried to give an unbiased impression of the main Australian minor parties in this section. It is, of course, impossible to be entirely unbiased; we all have our own stance and point of view.

One of my beliefs is that it is the political party system itself that leads to corruption. Party members tend to support the party itself rather than the party's stated aims. I was a member of the Australian Democrats for many years, but left the party about two years ago because of my fealings about political parties in general.

One of the triggers to my resignation was a statement that came from the party hirachy in the lead up to one South Australian state election. The statement was something like "The Democrat's primary aim this election must be to stop the Greens from getting a member into parliament". This, I believe, is an example of the party mentality being placed above the party's ideals - the Greens and Democrats have very similar ideals.

The only way a political party can ever achieve a majority of votes from the Australian voters is to place their ideals to one side and blatantly do whatever it takes, and make whatever promises are needed, to chase votes. The Liberal and Labor parties are prime examples.

Australian Greens

The Greens have very similar ideals to the Democrats; primarily social justice and environment. Their politicians, I believe, are honest and strive to support the party's ideals. Aust. Greens

Australian Democrats

The Democrats have very similar ideals to the Greens; primarily social justice and environment. Their politicians, I believe, are honest and strive to support the party's ideals. The word 'democrat' in the party name comes from the party's democratic structure; for example the leader is elected by the members, not appointed by the elected politicians. Aust. Democrats

Climate Change Coalition

Climate Change Coalition is a new political party seeking representation in the federal election.

"Australia is one of the biggest per capita greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters in the world. We should help restrict the world's temperature increase to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels by leading the way with emission reductions consistent with that global environmental objective..."

CCC

Family First

The name is a little misleading, the Family First party's ideals are based on contemporary Western Christan values. Family First

Citizens Electoral Council

The CEC seems to hold almost as a god Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr, economist - (they say he formulated Reagen's Stratigic Defence Initiative (SDI = Star Wars).

CEC denies that climate change has anything to do with human activity.

"We oppose the fraudulent Kyoto Protocol and any other simplistic greenie scare mongering. Human impact on global temperature is negligible. Any credible scientist would confirm Milankovitch Cycles (the earth's long-term orbital cycles) and variations in solar activity are the main factors affecting climate."

The above quote, from the CEC's environmental page (http://www.cecaust.com.au/main.asp?sub=info&id=platform/energy.html) is quite wrong. The great majority of scientists, and climatologists in particular, while recognising the importance of Milankovitch Cycles and solar activity, believe that human impact has been fundamentally important in the observed climate changes over the last hundred or so years. CEC

Liberty and Democracy Party

Want to reduce tax, more freedom to do as we want as individuals, smaller government. LDP.

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Index

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On this page...
A confederation of independent candidates
Australian Democrats
Australian Greens
Citizens Electoral Council
Climate Change Coalition
Corruption of the major parties
Family First
Introduction
Liberty and Democracy Party
Links
Need for action on climate change
Party loyalty
Some minor parties
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Voting for the major parties

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Vote Smart;

Both major Australian political parties are corrupt and tired, vote for independents or minor parties and an honest government.

On this page

Why do people vote for the major parties?

Information on the coming 2007 Federal Election