It doesn't matter in the end. Whoever gets in will be a politician and therefore represent a particular class, the political class. I'm coming to think representative democracy on a state or national level is the neatest trick that has ever been pulled in history.

Southpark has it pretty well spot on when it comes to authority.

I'm 39 and never voted and never been fined!

I'm there to vote *against* abbott rather than for someone. Most likely a smaller party (pirate party, sex party, etc) which preferences Labs because I want NBN and I hate Abbott.

Edit - I also fill out all the numbers so I can put ACL last in senate. Family First Second Last. DLP/fred nile 3rd last. Katters Nutters 4th last. etc. Not keen on god nuts.

I have already done my voting,
Open up the ballot papers,
found out our electoral boundary has been moved,
(for some reason we are now in the Girrawheen district)

Checked out the candidates and thier parties policies on thier websites,
found out there is now a shooters and fishers party in Western Australia's North Metropolitan Region (I had no idea) -who also want to open up more areas for proper outdoorsy stuff like camping, hiking, spearfishing, 4 wheel driving etc.

So, since I am fed up wasting votes on mobs that:
a- couldnt give a stuff about what I care about as long as I vote for them.
b- cant be trusted to keep any promises they make.
c- waste my taxes with more bread and bigger circuses.

I am going to vote for a crew that think like me for the
North Metro Region,
The Girrawheen District choice is pretty crook though........

stephen

^^^^ Not having a go mate but wtf

This is the major problem with mainstream politics alot of people see as a red or blue race because my dad voted blue, my dads dad voted blue and so on.....do not evaluate policy differences at all. These are not football teams.

There is little or no difference between the two major parties... all w%n%ers, i am the same, i vote because i have to and believe my vote is meaningless really. The PR exercise(unless the country is going really badly) 6-12mnths prior to the election is where it is won or lost.

The parties need to get on with each other its pathetic, power hungry struggle at best, if they ever think about and work together this country could be even more amazing than it already is.
I will vote liberal(i hate Abbot, but believe he wont be in charge long) this time as i believe labour have lost the plot a bit(did vote for Rudd also a while back and that still erks me what Julia did, again my vote didnt count, i did not vote for her). Sincerely hope Turnbull takes over.

ikw777 said...
Unionism, reform, social security, education, public health, environmental security, egalitarianism, equality for all races, genders and sexualities - these are the things we should be in the business of working on as a society.

If there was a political party on this planet who had worked out how to do the above and have the resources to be able to afford it then they'd get my vote! Just a shame there isn't one!

France is probably the closest to having this...but it's full of French unfortunately.

Was always Liberal - and coalition with the Nats was just fine.
And I mean always Liberal.

However the Nats totally fk'd us here with Royalties for Regions. Numerous promises were made that mining royalties would really benefit the country areas - none of them happened bar a couple of road projects and all the famous examples like hundreds of thousands for self cleaning dunnies at beaches. None of the truly beneficial promises to do with retaining coppers, nurses, teachers etc in rural areas, and replacing aging hospitals etc - NONE of it happened.

Right now in Perth, courtesy of the Libs, we are getting a foreshore development that will benefit only the big business who will locate there and nobody wants it, a new sports stadium and recently finished concert hall thingo. All at the cost of billions.
Meanwhile power costs are up so much that normal middle class families need a time to pay scheme, and the Govt is refusing payrises for nurses and prisons officers. No money to fix road network or put more trains on in peak hour. Can't supply water.

To build monuments that are luxuries and cry poor about essential services is digusting in the extreme. To totally lie about where money would be spent, just to get voted in and then not do it, is a low act.

Shooters and Fishers Party all the way. Normal average switched on people who live in the real world.

I'm a paid up member of the Democrats, but they are a mess and won't be fielding any candidates for me to vote for.
I like some of the fringe parties - the Stable Population Party and the Sex party actually have some fairly good policies and generally tend to be fairly left leaning which aligns better with my beliefs than the major parties. Family first etc are well down.
I vote greens over labor over liberal. Not sure if I would still vote for the greens if they were likely to hold power (that's a long long way off), but their presence in parliament is a valuable voice for the environment which I value and against some of the more rabid right wing elements.

If the liberal party replaced Tony with Malcolm I might consider it.

Ain't representative democracy grand? We talk of voting for or against Julia or Tony. Fact is we don't vote for or against them unless you happen to live in their fiefdom, I mean electorate. Fact is also its pretty unlikely if you live in their electorate your vote really matters. They are in the safest seats. One of the few decisions I find admirable with John Winston Howard is his refusal to move to a safer seat as his became less blue blood lower north shore over time.

My vote is completely meaningless too. The local Liberal MP has held the seat for about 45 years. So what that effectively means if the Liberals put Josef Stalin up as their candidate and he campaigned on the policy of collectivizing private homes, he would win. The Libs would win if they put a 3 legged dog up as their candidate too.

Most Australians live in such safe electorates to one degree or another. Thus they are taken for granted and ignored by the political class. If you happen to live in a more marginal electorate then you can look forward to politicians pretending to listen and take an interest in what they see as your petty issues related to your meaningless life, every now and then.

www.skynews.com.au/video/?vId=3836434&cId=Programs&play=true
.be

I'm thinking of enrolling to vote so I can vote for assange or the sex party.. I care about civil liberties, non nanny state etc. never voted before cause I always saw a bunch of old geezers spewing crap and kissing babies.

Will I regret enrolling? Means I have to do it every election tillbi die. . :(

It is interesting just how many times I hear people would vote for Malcolm. I just wonder if he won't make a play for it because he doesn't have confidence in the party he represents, a bit like Costello. Would you want to lead an ineffective and embarrassing party and not achieve the things you hoped to achieve?

I think people, at my estimation, like the person Malcolm and his views, but not his party.

Since everyone has thrown down which way they would go, I'd be inclined to vote for Assange for the Senate and whatever party which wants to tackle the blatant misappropriation of public funds that is so common in governments these days.

My view on governments tends to be follow the money:

1. Local governments, you are essentially voting on property development plans. (Look at Doyle in Melbourne).

2. State government you are voting on which company will benefit from infrastructure cost blow outs. (Victoria look to the 1.5 billion dollar Myki project, Desal plant etc).

3. Federal government you are voting for whoever fairfax and news limited want you to. I can't believe just how appalling the standard of media is in Australia. Some of the front page articles on politics quote statistics that are weaker than the journos spines who write them............... the sooner the media is cut up into pieces the better for all of australia............. time for the ACCC to be given supreme chancellor powers of palpatine...........

So the whole wikileaks senator appeals to me, because its been a long time since our system had a good hard critical review of the "softcore" corruption that is so widely accepted........

How about Malcolm taking over the leadership of Labor! Genius!

struth what a pack of drongoes.
i feel really lucky to vote. i know people who come from places where they never get the chance and are now here that are more dedicated to the democratic system than what i read above.
sure theres little choice, but fair dinkum, dont you want your say at least? not voting is just sticking your head in the sand.

i welcome your red thumbs.