Not Another Election Article

Well we know where all of the LNP’s money is going, into a once a week mail drop.

Understanding that there are currently hundreds of articles and social media comments regarding the Australian Federal election, I am going to try and keep this brief. The main reason I feel such a strong urge to join in on the election brawl is to motivate people, particularly the younger demographic, to exercise their full democratic right to vote.

All of the independent blogs and news platforms claiming “Abbott will be Prime Minister in X days” are just as bad as the Murdoch newspapers claiming Kevin Rudd is the devil. What sort of motivation and hope does this give the people of Australia, particularly the young audience who read such independent blogs? Sure the polls are saying that this is the case, but they are only polls. Furthermore, most often than not, these polls are run by organisations who are far from objective in their political views.

As you know, in order to win power in government, a political party such as LNP must win a majority of 150 seats in the House of Representatives. I can only hope that the number of videos and quotes floating around social media in the last few weeks has deterred anyone from even thinking about voting for this party and their sexist, racist and homophobic leader. Alas, if you do believe in the polls, please use your democratic power in your Senate vote by taking the time to number all of the boxes. If you vote BELOW THE LINE and number your candidate preferences from 1-82 your vote will NOT be wasted, as many people flippantly say. This is due to Australia’s preferential voting system.

More LNP. Where are The Greens? Also, what am I being patient with? LNP’s spam mail each week perhaps? Seeing Abbott’s face too many times a day?

There is a whole lot of jargon floating around the media surrounding elections and politics that understandably turns people off reading about it. Preferential voting is one of these terms that has the potential to not be fully understood, so I hope the above link helps to outline it. Australia is one of the only countries in the world that conducts this style of voting. Even so, many Australians ignore this option and believe that voting for an independent party or The Greens is a waste of time and focus on the idea that Australia is a two party system. Using the images I have uploaded for support, it is easy to see why so many bang on about only two parties, as it is only these two major parties which have the money to be seen by the public eye, oh, and Clive Palmer..

Those close to me have warned against watching the included Titanic II video as it may have some sort of hypnosis affect.

Standing by what you believe in is not a waste of time. If you number 1-82 in your Senate vote, you will help elect a range of voices, including independents, to scrutinise legislation put forward by our next Prime Minister. If our government does end up being run by LNP, don’t let them gain a majority in the Senate also. Also, in numbering 1-82, your vote doesn’t go towards the party’s preference (eg. Greens vote goes to Labour) instead, your vote is determined by YOUR preferences. If you do choose to go down this path, don’t leave any boxes blank as this will void your vote.

To help you independently decide who to vote for, I have linked the main parties policies here: Labour, LNP and The Greens. These websites will give a better idea of what each party stands for as it is hard to pin point their policies when all we see in mainstream media are little bitch fights over who can be the bigger demon (in regards to asylum seekers, for example).

It is evident that some people are scared of voting for The Greens as they don’t believe their policies are realistic. Though it could be said that most of these people are just regurgitating information they heard through chinese whispers. Taking mining companies as an example, it is well known that The Greens stand for environmental protection, though this doesn’t mean they are instantly going to shut down all of Australia’s mines if they came into power. Unlike the Liberal National Party (as seen in the case of Campbell Newman), The Greens aren’t looking to put a large portion of Australia’s population into unemployment. Instead, they will move to a “clean, innovative, highly educated economy,” investing in new jobs for a progressive nation. Seeing as Australia is a first world nation, shouldn’t we be aiming for the standard of sustainability places like Germany hold? How much longer can these Liberals hide their heads in the rocks, thinking that there is an everlasting supply of natural resources?

I will end here as I claimed this was going to be brief. I just wished to outline that by using our preferential voting system no vote is a wasted vote. Furthermore, we don’t have a two party system in Australia, if you don’t want LNP to hold full power in parliament, preference the full range of independent parties ahead of these buffoons this Saturday. Also, if you aren’t enrolled, I don’t want to hear a single complaint out of you after the votes are counted.

WORDS by TESSA FOX