I might be way off beam in my thinking in comparison to how others think, but for what it's worth, this is why I am so annoyed with the carry on by some micro Senators over Senate Reform.
When I vote for a major party I know what I am voting for. I’ve voted Labor in the past. That said, that isn’t unusual when you are a student. At the time their policies aligned with my idealist beliefs. I then grew up and I have been a Liberal voter for the vast majority of my voting life. I don’t agree with every policy the Liberals put on the table. Anyone who follows me on social media or who reads my blog knows I am very critical of some things the Liberals propose and do. I vote for the major parties because they usually manage to get things that I believe are important done. Or they did. But, that has become much, much harder than it was over recent years due to the major failures within our voting system.
I vote for the Liberals in both houses. Why, because I do my homework and I can’t see the logic of supporting a party, putting them into power in the lower house only to have their progress blocked in the upper chamber. In not into two way betting. In voting for the Liberals, I know where their preferences, go and therefore I can make an informed decision with regards to supporting it or not. In other words, I know what my vote buys me and usually preferences are given to others who are somewhat aligned in thinking albeit there are differences. Conservative candidates may support different causes, but their fundamental conservative values are usually very much aligned.
I've read some comments from people taking aim at the majors accusing them of doing preference deals for years. It's true they do but we know what those deals are, where the preferences go and informed people make choices based on that knowledge. If I were to vote for a micro in the Senate, which is what micros target, I would have no idea where my preferences would end up. That was highlighted in the joint committee review of the 2013 election.
A classic example of that would be Senator Ricky Muir and the Motoring Enthusiasts Party. Ricky is very upset that Malcolm Turnbull singled him out as you will see from the following tweet.
If the truth offends Mr Muir tough & I’m furious that because the truth is spoken you responds with threats. So typical of the senate cross-benchers behaviour. There isn’t a more graphic example of the failure of the senate voting than Senator Muir. Mr Muir got a measly 0.51 per cent of first preference votes (or just 0.0354 of a Senate quota) and he ended up with a seat in the Senate. How? Because of a backroom deal done by his party HQ to achieve the transfer of 143,118 votes from the Australian Sex Party. As was pointed out today by Paul Kelly in the Australian, Ricky Muir’s election had nothing to do with public support, but everything to do with manipulation of the preference system.
So, here are some of the policy snippets from the Australian Sex Party’s website:
Advocate for the sale of X rated films be legalised in all states, including the introduction an X rating for computer games.
Remove criminal sanctions for the purchase, possession and consumption of all drugs for personal use, such quantity to be defined as an amount equal or less than 14 days supply for one person
Extend a non-compulsory voting franchise to young people aged 16 to 18, to encourage engagement by interested individuals and in young people’s social networks.
Bring about equal numbers of women in the Parliament through enabling the Federal Discrimination Act to have jurisdiction extending to political parties (so law takes precedent over talent, no thank you)
An abortion may be performed at any time with the consent of the woman and if a medical practitioner certifies that it is appropriate under the circumstances.
Minors (under the age of 16) may obtain an abortion without the consent of a parent/guardian.
Can anyone tell me what these policies would have in common with people who would support a motoring party? I would be surprised if some of the people who voted for the Motoring Enthusiasts know what the Sex Party stands for. It could have been worse, however, they could have voted for the Motoring Enthusiasts and if a different deal had been done, they may have helped put a Sex Party candidate into a power position.
ABC analyst Antony Green got it right when addressing the 2013 election results, he said of the current system: “It has produced results that were engineered by the preference deals rather than by the votes cast by voters. Voters have to have some ability to know what is happening with their vote. The system, if changed, should advantage parties which campaign, not parties which arrange preference deals.”
Hear, hear Mr Green, I could not agree more.
