Tag: elections

australian politics, democracy, free speech, Uncategorized

A Green View of Democracy

Australia is such a wonderful place, amongst its pristine beaches and warm weather it espouses a Greek concept called Democracy. A system whereby we are all equal, no one is above the law and that we all must have equal access to the legislative process. Every three years Australians go to the polls to vote in a federal government. This notion is envied in many countries which don’t hold democracy as part of their values.

Sadly, there are some people who want to take advantage of the principles of democracy. On Wednesday 30th November 2016 protestors stormed Parliament House, glued their hands to railings and disrupted a democratic process called Question Time.
The Greens praised these ill-informed nitwits, congratulating them and saying that they are proud of their actions. Those with any form of decency have condemned the actions of these Marxists, but I note many on the left have stated that this is their democratic right to protest. As mentioned, Australia does have a proud history of the concept of Democracy, however there is a huge difference between protesting peacefully outside, and protesting in a house whereby it has rules and regulations to uphold the very same principle we espouse; DEMOCRACY.

What we have seen today is a Green View of Democracy. A viewpoint whereby we must shut down debate that is in opposition to the left-wing agenda. Those nitwit Marxists who protested today were not exercising their democratic right to protest, what they were doing was shutting down freedom of speech.
The right are not innocent either, I was the first to complain when the right stormed Gosford Anglican Church dressed as Islamists and disrupted the service provided by Father Rod, the difference between that incident and the one today at Parliament House, was that all those on the right, including Pauline Hanson, condemned the actions of those involved.

Richard Di Natale, as the Greens Party leader you must show leadership and condemn these actions and inform these protestors to go elsewhere to protest rather than holding our democratic process to ransom. Adam Bandt needs to apologies for his ungodly tweet praising the protestors and the rest of the Greens need to be educated on the concept of DEMOCRACY.

australian politics, Uncategorized

The biases of GetUp! #getup #ausvotes

GetUp! claim to be impartial when it comes to politics. According to their website it states

“Our work is driven by our values, not party politics. GetUp is, and always has been, an independent organisation.”

Then why is it that they are campaigning against right wing politicians and have come out to support Nick Xenophon and Glenn Lazarus?  They have released how to vote cards for the Senate and key lower house seats. They have also asked for volunteers to help them on election day.

GetUp! is a left wing activists arm of Labor, Greens and other leftwing lunatic fringe groups, it’s about time there is a real alternative activist group that caters for centre right politics. When will GetUp! admit that they are not an independent organisation but merely lap dogs for the leftist elite?

australian politics, democracy, uk politics, Uncategorized

Time to strengthen the Commonwealth! #brexit #commonwealth

Australia can benefit greatly from UK’s decision to exit the European Union but it would need balls from both leaders of retrospective countries. Once the United Kingdom finally takes the shackles off, placed by members of the EU, it will have an opportunity to strengthen the Commonwealth and be a leader on the world stage.

Fifty three (53) countries are members of the Commonwealth from Africa, Asia, Caribbean & Americas, Europe and the Pacific region. Leaders of these countries now have an opportunity to work with the United Kingdom to bring about better free trade deals as well as the possibility of free movement of peoples.
Tory leader contender, Boris Johnson, once flagged an opportunity for countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand to have a visa free migrant bloc. This would be great news for young Australians who want to work and live in the UK and vice verser.

The recent referendum for #brexit is fantastic news and whilst I have always conceded that there will be short term pain, there will be long term gains such as strengthening the Commonwealth. Having a strong Commonwealth means that republicans such as Malcolm Turnbull will need to argue more strongly for a case to become a republic. Well done Britain!

australian politics, current affairs, politics, Uncategorized

Is One Nation, Australia’s UKIP?

When the Liberal Party knifed Tony Abbott last year they should have known that it would create controversy amongst the rank and file conservatives who pay $100 a year to be Party members. They should have also known that non party members who lean towards the right would also be disgruntled to see a Malcolm Turnbull resurrection. Unfortunately they believed that Malcolm Turnbull, despite alienating the right, would attract those on the left and subsequently those on the right would still vote Liberal because let’s be honest, do we want a Labor Government? Little did the Liberal Party elite know that someone, a blast from the past, a nagging former Liberal and a figurehead for the right was working tirelessly to reform her political party and provide an alternative to the two major parties. Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party.

Pauline Hanson became famous in 1996 when she stood up and spoke what the majority were thinking, she formed Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party in 1997 but failed to retain her seat in 1998 Federal Election but her party gained one senate seat in Queensland. The Queensland based Party gained 11 seats in State Parliament, 8 more seats than the Liberal Party, the Liberals had a measly 3 seats. In Western Australia in 2001 it gained 3 upper house seats and produced 3 excellent MLC’s. Problems arose for One Nation with infighting rife in all state divisions of the Party and ultimately it destroyed itself from within. Last year, Pauline Hanson took over the reigns of the Party and rebrand it with a new colourful Logo. It has produced policies, or broad policy statements if we want to get technical that doesn’t just talk about Immigration. Pauline Hanson has managed to improve her public speaking skills and has managed to get with the times with the use of social media and acquiring a plane which has the party logo on it, not as big as Clive Palmer’s plane though. Pauline has also obtained a vehicle which is heavily signed, great form of advertising. Pauline Hanson has been invited on many news programs such as Paul Murray Live, Today Show, Sunrise and has been heard on many radio stations. It’s safe to say Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Political Party is back and is ready to fill that void the Liberal Party has created by knifing Tony Abbott. The question remains though, can Pauline Hanson do it? Can One Nation ultimately rise to be the third major conservative voice in Australian Politics? In other words, is One Nation the UKIP of Australia?

As mentioned in previous posts we have seen a rise in the number of right-wing political parties such as:

  • Rise Up Australia
  • Australian Liberty Alliance
  • Katters Australia Party
  • Australia First
  • Hinch Justice Party
  • Jacquie Lambie Network
  • and more! 

The difference between these political parties and One Nation is Pauline Hanson. Pauline Hanson is a great figurehead for One Nation, her brand has been around since 1996 and the party gained a lot of electoral support. It has been proven without Pauline Hanson the party failed to continue to sustain their electoral successes.
There has been talk that many disgruntled Liberals have gone over to the newly created Australian Liberty Alliance but unfortunately they have not gained much media attention unlike Hanson therefore it would be hard to see ALA as a potential third major conservative party, this leaves One Nation on top.

The issue now is can Pauline Hanson’s One Nation continue to rise? In order to cement themselves to be that third major conservative force it is imperative that Pauline Hanson is elected into the Senate in Queensland. If she is elected into the Senate, it will give One Nation Political Party some focus, a means for people to join. At the moment they are classified as a micro party, with a member of parliament, people will see that One Nation has potential and purpose. If Pauline Hanson fails to win a senate seat, I think it could be over for One Nation as an organisation unless they remain focus and on top of the issues especially if Malcolm Turnbull or Bill Shorten remain as leaders of their retrospective parties.

I see great things for One Nation, the knifing of Tony Abbott and the infighting amongst the factions within the Liberal Party is a blessing in disguise for Australia as it does open the door for a third major conservative political party. It makes sense for One Nation to fill that void as it has already been established, has community recognition, has a figurehead and a potential youth movement called Young Nation, which can be reformed. It all comes down to whether or not Hanson can gain that senate seat.

politics

Repost – Why do minor parties fail to sustain their electoral success?

In Australian politics we have seen minor party’s come and go. In the early 90’s we saw the Australian Democrats gain significant power in the Senate, in the late 90’s we saw the rise of Pauline Hansons One Nation Party which gained a large number of seats in Qld State Parliament and then in the noughties we have seen the Australian Greens gain some momentum. The big question is, why do these party’s continually fail to sustain their electoral success?

As a former member of a minor party in the past, it has been observed that the support base of minor party’s are a result of a number of factors. Many people join, or vote for minor party’s because they are disillusioned by the major party’s; they believe strongly in a particular ideology or issue and or peoples ego’s are satisfied when involved in a political party, and by joining a minor party they can fulfil this easier than if they joined an established party.

At the 2013 Federal Election the Australian Greens lost some of their support. The Australian Greens, which support base is strong on extreme socialism, decided to do deals with the Australian Labor Party, in particular when it came to the Carbon Tax, one could make an educated guess that this relationship was a probable cause for their diminished vote.

Party’s such as Palmers United Party, the Motorist Enthusiast Party and the Liberal Democrat Party all gained parliamentary representation for the first time. If history serves us anything, it can be assumed these parties will not sustain their electoral success.

Starting with the Liberal Democrat Party. In NSW this party gained 9.50% of the vote in the senate, and lucky for them they gained a senate seat. This has been a controversial gain as they were given the number one position on the senate paper, and many individuals voted for the Liberal Democrat Party by mistake as they were confused and thought they were voting for the Liberal Party of Australia; with a swing of 7.19% from the previous 2010 federal election this was not due to the party campaigning hard, in fact many people did not think this party existed. The Liberal Democrat Party is based on hardcore liberalism, they believe in policies such as gay marriage, no gun control, legalisation of drugs and laissez-faire capitalism. Due to having a strong ideological belief, such party’s attract people with this viewpoint and with this in mind the party most probably cannot appeal to the wider community, as Australian voters are a mixed bag. Once you analyse these factors such as the party gaining a senator by mistake and being focussed on ideology, it is a recipe for failure.

The Australian Motor Enthusiast Party gained a senate seat in Victoria, they only received 0.51% of the vote however was elected in by preferences, too confusing to divulge in this blog. According to it’s website the party has policies that revolves around motoring. Recent news reports however stated that infighting within the party was occurring, a split between the party in Queensland and Victoria were rife, and the Queensland division terminated its Victorian leadership. This party is built on a single issue and clearly there are ego’s within the party that need to be satisfied, this party will probably not succeed electorally due to this.

Finally Palmers United Party, this party founded by Clive Palmer early 2013, a larger than life (Due to his outgoing nature of course) businessman who once was a member of the Liberal National Party in Qld. Palmers United Party has gained 2 senate seats and Clive Palmer himself is now the member for Fairfax. The electoral success for PUP is somewhat unremarkable considering they don’t have any solid policies, and the fact his candidates were unknown in most electorates. In Qld, PUP received 9.89% of the vote in the senate and in Tasmania 6.58% therefore gaining 2 senators. The interesting notion with PUP is this party thrives on peoples dissatisfaction of the major parties, Palmer himself appears to have a vendetta with the Liberal Party which appeals to these voters, and with Palmer being a man with money he can capitalise on this.

All in all, minor parties serve only to those who support them, they generally don’t look at the bigger picture of governing, this is why minor party’s fail to sustain their electoral success. Political party’s such as the ALP and LNP have been established for decades, they have seen the ups and downs of party politics and aim to govern for all Australians regardless of ideology. Of course generally speaking both major party’s lean a particular way but not to the extremes of some minor party’s. As mentioned before in regards to my observations being a former member of a minor party, the three things that create a minor party can also be viewed as detrimental such as;

Dissatisfaction of the major party’s – Voters vote for minor party’s in protest, usually unsustainable and people tend to go back to the established party’s.
Ideology – Many minor party’s as mentioned, base their policies and objectives through strong hardcore ideology, therefore only appealing to a small percentage of population.
Ego’s – Minor party’s are an avenue for people with big ego’s therefore creating a magnitude of infighting amongst party members.
In conclusion, minor party’s come and go, the major political party’s will be around for some time, they focus on Governing not on holding Government to ransom, it will take a lot to destabilise a major party in Australia regardless of circumstances.