Reflecting over the past 10 Federal elections that I have voted in, I reckon I’ve voted for both major parties at least once, as well as the Greens, Australian Democrats, Centre Alliance and I think I’ve even given the Legalise Pot Party a vote back in the day. But whilst I have never been a ‘rusted on’ voter of any particular persuasion I would have to admit that for much of my voting life, the political party I most align with in regard to policy and principles is the Australia Democrats, and they would have received more of my votes than anyone else over those 10 elections.

But this blog isn’t a plea for you to vote for them, or anyone else for that matter. My intent for writing this blog is to share my thoughts and reflections on the election as well as provide an overview of how I will vote and why. I am writing this as I am concerned at the polarisation of our society and the move towards the extremes of the political spectrum and that it is increasingly difficult to have a robust discussion on any topic without it turning to hysteria, especially on social media. We also have a widespread view that we should never talk politics, or religion for that matter, but I don’t think that is helpful in building understanding and appreciation for others’ views and beliefs. I believe a healthy democracy relies on understanding and appreciation of others, especially if they are different from ourselves.

Please read this blog in the spirit it was shared; with love, compassion and a desire to learn. I wish to state that in no way am I wanting to impose myself on others with my writing, but I feel a deep desire to share my thoughts and inspirations with whoever may be reading this, and I am very grateful that you are, I warmheartedly wish you all the very best.

My aim is to improve myself and strive to be better each day. Writing is one way I am trying to meet this aim and it is one way I can contribute towards my wish to live in a society that sustainably exists within our planetary limits and that has a loving heart at its core. Hopefully my writing will go some way to showing why this is important and how we can achieve this.

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 I think I share the sentiment of many other Australians, that is, our politics is broken, certainly at the Federal level. Our political class have moved beyond just letting us down, they are now failing us and have done so for some time. I am frustrated that our current Federal government appears more interested in slogans, political point scoring, power and ego and are consistently being found to be either lying to us or incompetent, and sometimes both. I am frustrated that we are not making any headway on the issues that matter, such as climate change, having a progressive tax system, having adequately funded and resourced aged care, promoting social cohesion, ensuring accountability, removing corruption in politics, having a strong and independent ABC, treating refugees and asylum seekers with compassion, and ensuring the safety of woman.

I wrote a blog back in February addressing all these issues and how I believe we need to reform our democracy, here is a link. I don’t want to go over all these issues and policies in this blog, but I will apologise in advance if some of my frustration and anger at our current Government and our political institutions bubbles up in this blog.

 It is probably of no surprise to you that I believe we need a change of government. For me, this election should be all about honesty and integrity, of which our government has neither. It should also be about addressing climate change and sharing ideas about how we can successfully and quickly transition to a post carbon economy and our government has sabotaged any efforts to do this. Given the track record of the Morrison Government over the last 3 years and the Coalition over the last 9 years I find much of the rhetoric during this election in mainstream media to be farcical. It’s like we must forget the last 3-9 years and focus on picking a winner based on the performance of answering ‘gotcha’ questions between only 2 candidates, Scott Morrison or Anthony Albanese. Hence, I have thought at times over the last few weeks that this election, well, the process of it at least, is actually a complete waste of time as from my perspective there is nothing that the current government has done that deserves re-election.

Sometimes we just need a change and now is one of those times.

What I look for in a politician, and for any other person for that matter, is their character and values. I would like our parliament to be filled with people who are caring, honest, respectful, responsible and fair and I want those people to ensure our political institutions (be it parliament, the political parties and the public sector) uphold the values of accountability, transparency and integrity.

I also wish for our parliamentarians to be driven by what’s best for all the people of our nation and not by their own aspirations for power. A simple approach or value that would get my vote is if a candidate said they based all their decisions on what is best for their grandchildren. We have become a selfish society and are currently doing our future generations a great disservice with the way we are continuing to decimate our environment through our obsession of all things wealth and money (and greed and power). If we are to successfully tackle the existential crises before us, we need to do it cooperatively and not in competition with each other. Basically, I want to see more humility and less ego in the next parliament and more bipartisanship.

It has been disappointing to witness the way the Liberal Party has lost its way. The values of the Liberal Party are not what they were 10 years ago let alone when they formed back in the 1940’s. For me, the Liberal Party need to get back to their traditional values when they fought for the freedom of the individual and sought to produce enlightened liberal policies. Todays Liberal Party has become an ultra-conservative party that it being overrun by Christian zealots.

I find it intriguing that one of the biggest challenges the Liberals face in this election is the rise of the ‘teal’ independents, yet these very independents would likely have been Liberal candidates had the party not sold its soul to the far right. It is not lost on me that these candidates are running against the Liberal Party, not the Labor Party as they represent the social progressiveness that the Liberal Party has lost.  The rise of the ‘teal’ independents is also putting a stronger focus on the candidates in our respective electorates and not just focusing on the leaders, which is an important thing for us to do.

I also think the Liberals have forgotten they are there to govern on behalf of everyone, not just for those electorates that voted for them, or just for those that fund their campaigns and/or smooch them through lobbying and influence, such as the mining and fossil fuel industries. They have unapologetically made it very clear that they are only interested in helping their mates even at the expense of the nation’s interest which is one of the reasons why we need a Federal Integrity Commission as the corrupt behaviour they promote is further eroding our trust in our political institutions.

And finally, the Liberal Party’s decision to confect some culture war bullshit by using trans kids as a political football is some evil shitfuckery of the extreme. I don’t understand the need to single these people out. Trans people have always been in our community but weren’t visible. A good analogy is left handers, we used to make left-handed people learn to write right-handed. Now that we don’t do that we have more left handers in our community. Same with trans people, they are more visible now because we quite rightly enable them to be so. These trans kids would already be feeling uncertain because of their ‘difference’ and as such we should be getting around them even more, instead the Liberals would rather be perpetuating hate and bigotry for some perceived political gain. Such divisiveness is abhorrent.

For a long time, I have regarded the Liberals and Labor as two sides of the same coin and that there was not much difference between them, especially when it came to changing their leader’s mid-term. However, at the last election I was excited by the reform agenda of the Labor Party, it appeared an authentic attempt to highlight their difference from the Liberals and to start to address issues such as climate change. There are several reasons why Labor lost that election but having Clive Palmer spend over $60m on an anti-Labor campaign would not have helped.

Labor haven’t brought a reform agenda to this election and while this disappoints me as I thought some of their reforms to be worthy, I can understand the need for them to do so. As it is, Labor has to also contend with a hostile mainstream media and trying to gain any traction with reasonable debate on ideas and policies that may seek to implement change, no matter how necessary or worthwhile, appears almost impossible with the way our media presents its news. Anthony Albanese has certainly proven his patience and fortitude by the way he has faced the media and from what I have gathered he is a genuinely good person, albeit a politician.

Whilst the Labor Party have not brought a reform agenda to this election it may be forced upon them by the ‘teal’ independents and/or the Greens who are demanding action on integrity, climate change and transitioning to a post carbon economy. As such, I hope that Labor form a minority government following the election and that the ‘teal’ independents hold the balance of power in the House of Representatives and/or the ‘teal’ independents, ‘centrist’ independents, the Greens and/or the Democrats hold the balance of power in the Senate. I believe a minority government having to negotiate with reasonable people on the cross bench will be great for our democracy and the culture of our parliament.

I also note that whilst I have long held the view that Labor and Liberal are both to blame for the parlous state of politics at a Federal level I also have to remind myself that the Liberals have been in power for the last 9 years so we can’t blame Labor for the policies and decisions the government has made for the last decade. One thing I’ve heard during this election which saddens me the most is a person who said, ‘I think Scott Morrison is a f**kwit, but I’ve always voted Liberal’. Implying that they don’t care how bad someone is, they’ll vote for them anyway. My response to that is how can we expect change and/or improvement in our parliamentarians if we continue to reward poor behaviour or poor leadership. I know many of us don’t think much of politics or politicians but if we just don’t care and are apathetic things will only get worse and we can’t afford for that to occur.

Just one final thing before I go through who I’m voting for. This election has highlighted to me just how important the ABC is. The ABC is an institution that is indispensable to our democracy and fundamental to our free society. It has been attacked and weakened by our current Government as they do not wish to be accountable, and they would rather us blindly follow the propaganda of the Murdoch press. One of the most disappointing aspects of this whole election has been the biased way the mainstream media (including the ABC) have reported the election. It really has been a disgrace and the state of our mainstream media industry needs to be addressed through a Royal Commission. However, one of the positives of this election for me has been the SBS who have provided excellent coverage. I have also appreciated the coverage from the likes of Michael West and The New Daily.

I can’t emphasise enough my belief that we need to reinstate the ABC as a strong independent and impartial institution so they can hold all those in power to account whoever they may be. I hope the next parliament will ensure their funding is reinstated and that the attacks and undermining of the ABC ceases. Don’t get me wrong, the ABC also needs to be accountable for their reporting and pulled up if they make an error or are biased, but what our government and it’s allies have done over the last decade has been malicious, inexcusable and unfair and must stop for the good of our democracy.

How I’ll be Voting …

I live in the seat of Barker which basically covers approximately 65,000 square kilometres of the south-east corner of South Australia and includes the regions of the Limestone Coast, Riverland, Murraylands and Barossa Valley. I have worked at five different Councils within the seat of Barker and through this I have met several of the candidates including Tony Pasin (Liberal), Mark Braes (Labor) and Rosa Hillam (Greens) so I am fortunate to be able to draw from my own personal impressions and perceptions of these people when considering my vote.

However, it does feel that whoever I vote for doesn’t really matter as Barker is an extremely safe seat for the Liberal Party with the vote in Barker being consistently 15-20% stronger compared to the state overall. In fact, I recall when I was living in Naracoorte many years ago, there was a state election and the Labor Party won with substantial swings to them across the state, apart from the seat of MacKillop which was the only seat that swung even further to the Liberals. Anyway, in the last election, the sitting member, Tony Pasin received 58% of the primary vote and 69% after preferences. It would take something miraculous to make the seat marginal let alone unseat him.

In the last election I voted for Kelly Gladigau from the Centre Alliance (which was formally the Nick Xenophon Team). There is no Centre Alliance Candidate this time around, but we do have a couple of new Independents and an Australian Federation Party candidate. It appears these candidates have been moved to stand because of the freedom/anti vax/pro-choice movement that has arisen during the Covid pandemic.

This is how I’ll vote on 21 May … 

1. Mark Braes (Labor)

My recollections of Mark when I lived in Millicent and worked at the Wattle Range Council are very positive. He was an Elected Member at the time, and he later became the Mayor. I rate Mark as an intelligent, sincere and authentic person who upholds the values of being caring, honest, respectful, responsible and fair, hence Mark gets my vote based on the quality of his character and not his party affiliation as such.

Based solely on party, and what I can choose from, Labor would have got my second preference.  

2. Rosa Hillam (Greens)

From all the candidates/parties I can choose from in my electorate, I align most with the Greens as far as their principles and policies are concerned. In particular, we need more progressive taxation to ensure billionaires and corporations are paying a fair share of tax, that dental and mental healthcare be covered by Medicare, that student debt be removed, that all education be free, that we have a treaty with First Nations people and that we tackle climate change by moving to a post carbon economy.

What I find startling though is the perception that many of us still hold about the Greens, that is they are ‘dole bludging tree hugging hippies’ despite none of their candidates meeting this stereotype. In fact, the policies of the Greens regarding climate and renewables would not be considered ‘far left’ or radical in Europe, they would actually be considered mainstream and centrist.

I believe the Greens policies very much align with the sentiment of voting for what’s best for our grandchildren.

Be that as it may, I think Mark Braes is a better candidate to represent my electorate and so the Greens will be second on my ballot.

3. Kym Hanton (Australian Federation Party)

I’m not totally sure about this party and I don’t know Kym and have only had a quick look through his Facebook page. Regarding the party, I think there is some synergy between my values and principles and theirs and I also agree with some of their policies such as having a ‘Bill of Rights’, improving the NDIS, supporting a hemp industry and focusing on representative democracy with candidates being free from party affiliation when making decisions (the Democrats also promote a conscience vote). I also agree that the 2-party system is not currently serving us well but I do hold some hope that the major parties can reform themselves to be more representative of us (they just may need a substantial kick in the arse to do this). Failing this, I would agree that we need a new political party/voice in our parliament.

I don’t agree with some of their policies, namely that Local Government should no longer provide services on behalf of their communities as I would argue that Local Government is better placed (compared to State and Federal) to provide many services to their local communities. I also don’t agree with their drug policy seeking harsher penalties as I would treat addiction as a health issue, and I support legalizing all natural medicines (such as cannabis and psychedelics) that are currently regarded as illicit drugs.  Whilst they support addressing climate change and have a strong focus on improving soils which is great, I would like to see a stronger emphasis on climate change and transitioning to a post carbon economy.

My greatest concern regarding this party is its association with the freedom movement resultant of the pandemic. Be that as it may, I will put Kym third on my ballot.

4. Tony Pasin (Liberal)

One of my voting philosophies (probably because I have always lived in safe seats) is to vote against the sitting party to try to make the seat marginal. With that in mind I would naturally tend to seek an alternative to the sitting member but it’s not a hard and fast rule of mine, just a philosophy, and in this election due to the conduct of the current Liberal Government, which in my opinion has been utterly appalling in so many ways, I would love to put them last on my ballot. But with what I have to choose from, it is with gritted teeth that I will put Tony fourth on my ballot. I personally have nothing against Tony as he is a nice enough person, albeit, we have some major political and philosophical differences given his support for Scott Morrison. But I do know that Tony works hard for the electorate, and I’m sure this would continue if he were elected (well he is a shoe in really).

5. Maddy Fry (Independent)

I am a fan of an independent, especially the teal ones in this election, but I don’t agree with Maddy’s anti-vaccination views or those of the freedom movement that evolved out of the pandemic.

6. Vince Pannell (Independent)

I get where Vince is coming from (similar to Maddy and Kym) and while I agree with some of their sentiments, I am not prepared to put them higher on my ballot.

Just a general comment regarding the freedom movement and the anti-vax sentiments. I don’t agree with mandates either and I can point to many examples where our governments are letting us down badly (here is a link), but we live in a community and society (which works best when we cooperate and support each other) and I can’t help but feel that this whole freedom movement is based on an overly individualistic view of the world and is quite frankly, selfish.

But I get the anger, frustration and disenchantment that many of us are feeling, and I applaud people for standing for what they believe, and I am also impressed by the way Kym, Maddy and Vince appear to be supporting each other during the election campaign. It’s quite unique and some of the other parties could take a leaf out of their book in this regard. Politics doesn’t always have to be adversarial.

7. Johnathon Pietzch (National Party)

My thoughts about the Nationals are the same for the Liberals, but I hold them in greater contempt as they have been beyond appalling under Barnaby Joyce. The Liberal Party would be so much better if they were not beholden to Barnaby and his cronies. I believe the National Party has sold out our regional communities (and the nation for that matter) whom they purport to represent as they only represent the interests of the mining and fossil fuel sectors at the expense of all of us. As such I can’t support any candidate from them.

If only Tim Fischer was still around to lead them, he was a politician I respected.

8. David Swiggs (United Australia Party)

My take on the UAP, Clive Palmer and Craig Kelly is they want the freedom to believe 2+2=5. I can only think of one thing worse than supporting Clive Palmer’s mob, and that’s supporting Pauline Hanson’s mob.

9. Carlos Quaremba (One Nation)

I don’t think One Nation would care what 2 plus 2 equals, as that implies having an education and caring about things like mathematics. One Nation have consistently shown they stand for bigotry and racism, therefore I couldn’t in any good conscience put them higher than last on my ballot. Also, Carlos lives in Encounter Bay so doesn’t even reside in the electorate so that is another reason to put him last.

So that’s how I’ll vote. I wish I had one of those progressive ‘teal’ independent candidates in my electorate that had climate change and integrity as a central part of their campaign to choose from as I would love to vote for one of them. But alas, that’s not to be for those of us in the seat of Barker so we must do the best with preferencing the candidates we have.

I wouldn’t say my method of preferencing to be completely consistent, as I consider personal character and values as well as party policies. To be honest, I was surprised how much time I’ve taken on finalising the order and I can say that it changed several times and may still do so between now and the 21^st. But as it is in politics, it’s all about trying to be informed, compromise and weighting up my values compared to others to determine what I think will be best for our future.

The SA Senate

For the Senate we get to choose at least 12 candidates below the line or at least 6 party’s/candidates above the line. Here’s how I’ll vote below the line … 

1. Roger Yazbek (Australian Democrats)

I will put Roger at number 1 on my senate ballot as he is the number 1 Democrats candidate. The Democrats have been in political wilderness for the last 10-15 years and I must admit, whilst I am a supporter of them, I did turn my back on them for quite some time as I was so disappointed with how the party lost its way. But a year or so ago I responded to a request by the party to become a member as their Party status with the Electoral Commission was under threat. So, I am now a member and have reacquainted myself with their policies and principles which very much align with my own. In fact, I get quite excited and inspired by their policies and the role the Democrats could again play in our parliament while at the same time still feeling the utter frustration at what happening to the party all those years ago.

But I think it’s time to give them my support again in the hope they could again be a vital cog in our parliament to ‘keep the bastards honest’. We need a party like the Democrats now more than ever.

2. Sandra Kanck (Australian Democrats)

Sandra is the second candidate on the Democrats senate ticket and as such she gets my second preference.

3. Barbara Pocock (Greens)

In previous iterations of my preferences, I actually had Barbara ahead of Sandra. But I have decided to put the two Democrat candidates ahead of Barbara, but it was really a toss of the coin.

I believe Barbara would be an excellent senator and I hope she is elected (along with the Democrat candidates!).

4. Penny Wong (Labor)

If I was voting in the senate on the basis of party alone (ie above the line) then Labor wouldn’t get in my top 6. However, similar to why I will vote for Mark Braes in Barker, the quality of the individual outranks the party affiliation. I regard Penny Wong highly and think she is a great senator and leader in our Federal Parliament, and this is why I will put her at number 4.

5. Nick Xenophon

I really rate Nick and its indicative of the quality of the field that he could only be my 5^th preference. I have previously given Nick a first preference vote.

6. Rex Patrick

I also rate Rex, but I could only get him in at number 6.

I note that there are only 6 senate seats to be filled and as such these are the 6 I’d select for those seats. But we need to put at least 12 preferences below the line so here are the remaining selections for my ballot.

7. Melanie Selwood (Greens)

I’d love to have Melanie higher on my ballot but alas.

8. Major Moogie Sumner (Greens)

I’d also love to have Moogie higher as well.

9. Elise Michie (Sustainable Australia Party)

Having read the policy statements of the Sustainable Australia Party I thought they deserved my next preference as I agree with their policies which are broadly based on protecting the environment, stopping overdevelopment and stopping corruption.

10. Jack Duxbury (Sustainable Australia Party)

Jack is the second candidate for the Sustainable Australia Party.

11. Tyler Bradley Green (Legalise Cannabis Australia)

I always like to find room for the Legalise Pot Party’s in my preferences for the senate. I have given these party’s my first preference before (many years ago), but I guess the Greens have legalisation of cannabis in their policy suite, so this issue has already been covered by other candidates higher on my ballot.

12. Angela Adams (Legalise Cannabis Australia)

Angela is the second candidate for Legalise Cannabis Australia.

If I was to vote above the line this is how I’d vote in the senate …

1. Australian Democrats
2. Greens
3. Nick Xenophon
4. Rex Patrick
5. Sustainable Australia Party
6. Legalise Cannabis Australia

 So there you have it, that’s how I’ll be voting. I don’t expect that everyone will agree with how I will vote, but perhaps reading this you might at least gain an appreciation for my values and aspirations that have informed my vote and encourages you to reflect on your own values and aspirations and how that will influence your own vote.

As previously mentioned, I have written a rather extensive blog about my thoughts on our democracy and politics and here is a link to it. It includes a much broader commentary on the issues that I think need to be addressed and how we can ensure our democracy remains strong well into the future.

So, how will you be voting next Saturday and why?

Just a little postscript to my blog …. the Labor Party won the election (not sure if in majority or minority at the time of adding this postscript) and many of the ‘teal’ independents have won their respective seats. I am excited at what the new parliament may be able to achieve now that climate change and integrity will be front and centre thanks to the Independents as well as the strong performance of the Greens.

Tony Pasin was re-elected to the seat of Barker with 53% of primary votes and 67% after preferences (so nothing much changed there). 

My vote in the senate did change on the day, I ended up putting all 3 Green candidates into my top 6 with Moogie and Melanie coming in at 5 and 6 respectively, followed by Elise Michie at 7, Rex Patrick dropping to number 8, then Jack Duxbury at 9, then the two Legalise Cannabis candidates with Nick Xenophon closing out my preferences at number 12.