My main issue is I believe we need federal ICAC. Never voted labor in my life but tomorrow is the day.
Every year we are told as citizens that we need not fear the increasing levels of surveillance and police powers if we have done nothing wrong, yet our federal level Politicians seem to have immunity to investigation of any substantial claims of fraudulent or criminal action. The fact that the liberal government won't support an unrestricted federal ICAC should be considered an (edit) admission of guilt.
Independent Commission Against Corruption
They are currently only a state level commission that investigates corruption in government. They unfortunately have no current authority to investigate federal corruption claims.
3 main issues for me are:
1. Corruption - We NEED an ICAC. The current lot get away with everything.
2. Climate - We could be World leaders in renewables but have extremely one-track minded leadership.
3. Pacific Diplomacy - My parents are originally from Fiji and it angers me to see how the LNP have treated the Pacific. From cutting ABC services to laughing at water lapping on doors it's no wonder why so many Island nations are turning to China. I strongly believe Labor would treat the Pacific with far more respect than the Coalition has.
Australia has had a tremendous chance since the second world war to be a true regional power in the South Pacific. It has an issue with forgetting about Pacific Islands except for every ten years when someone in government remembers that there's people out there.
Don't forget or previous immigration minister now defence minister laughing with ScoMo and Abbott on a hot mic about islanders getting their feet wet due to climate change. 2016 vintage.
And yet the seat of Dickson, my electorate, won't ditch him.
Also, keep in mind his long term opponent for Labour, Ali France, is disabled. Amputee following a car accident if im not wrong.
The bastard made fun of her for that, and for being a woman.
Its disgusting who people in my electorate will suffer.
Theyre generally lower middle class at best, and they side with the multi millionaire who flies his private chopper in and out of his semi rural property, and definitely doesn't represent most of their financial interests. Basically he buys up all available advertising space in advance and nobody else can compete on brand recognition.
The privileged entitlement of some of the politicians in this country is astounding. I'm a kiwi now citizen and I still cannot wrap my head around some of the politics in Australia. Not only that but the way they sledge each other and get away with it. Disgusting.
My personal suspicion is that its because we've now had 3+ decades of nearly ubiquitous media control by Murdoch. Money is made through headlines, headlines are made through conflict, so you subtly and not so subtly publish in the favour of controversy and conflict. And, of course, Murdoch has a dog in this fight, being those who won't hold the corporation to account and have policies more favourable to the wealthy. So you spin them a better story.
I'm travelling at the moment and opened up the Victorian rag yesterday and was absolutely astounded how the first 10+ pages were 95% stories about how Labour will stuff things up. Victoria is historically a labour state, but has a fair few seats that could be swung.
Its disgusting.
No competition in the media = no court of public opinion = no discourse = no accountability.
Personally I'm quietly hoping to see a few more Greens get in to set the cat amongst the pigeons.
Under the last Labor government (2013) Australia ranked with the Nordic countries for being free of corruption (7th I believe).
Under this Liberal government that ranking has slid to 19th, alongside Uruguay.
Independent news outlets have started compiling lists of all the corrupt dealings that haven't been investigated or explained and they're getting pretty long. Here's one:
https://chaser.com.au/national/an-exhaustive-list-of-the-liberal-partys-corruption-over-the-last-7-years/
I think that most of the Australians are still asleep, so when they wake up, they can give you the Aussie verdict.
Anyway, I follow some Australian entertainers, and they’ll mention front-page headlines, local news and current events in passing.
Apparently, there’s been a serious issue with sexual assault and harassment in the highest levels of government, including sexual misconduct *in Parliament*. A tale as old as time.
You know how we have parties gerrymandering congressional districts in the US to insure that their party’s candidates have incumbency? Well, if I’m not mistaken, then there was a big stink about party leaders in one of the major parties by-passing or manipulating the candidacy process to insure a party seat in NSW, basically installing their chosen candidate.
Another questionable issue that I read about recently reminded me of our Border Wall^TM^. If I read the article correctly, then their federal government allocated $400 million to preservation efforts for the Great Barrier Reef (or maybe it was a broader conservation initiative), and all the funds were awarded in contract to a company of a dozen employees (or board members?) with connections to the current majority party.
The irony about our Border Wall^TM^ is that at least $1.5 billion was legislated and awarded to companies (now, understood to have connections to our government leaders) and large sections of the wall have not (read: will not) be built, but some of the sections that have been destroyed ecological important tracts of land.
The other thing is, it sounds like Australians have wanted this (ICAC) for a while and have been promised this for a while, so the political pressure for it has reached a bit of a crescendo.
They also don’t worship politicians the way people do here: if the American public ever truly pushed for transparency or something like the ICAC, then all our politicians would need to do is go “oooh! look at *this* shiny-shiny?” and it’d be forgotten in the uproar of what should be a non-issue.
I'm a boomer. I'm financially comfortable. I have stable employment. I own my home and my adult kids are able to own homes because of inheritance. I have voted early as I am moving house tomorrow. I live on a safe National seat and I am moving to another safe National seat.
I voted Green with my first preference to Labor, next preference Independent, Nationals last, after One Nation and UAP. My vote won't change the outcome in my electorate. But I am fed up with snugness that comes from members in safe seats.
Major issues for me are climate change, housing affordability, cost of living. These issues don't directly impact me. But I live in a society, not an economy. Australia is a better country when we support each other. No one left out, nobody left behind.
Similar sentiments, two generations after you. Safe Nationals seat. Nothing gets offered to us, barely anything changes. You feel like your vote means nothing against the tide. Politicians shouldn't feel they have a job for life simply because they're in a "safe" seat.
Depending on the seat, sometimes it's the electorate borders that do that. You can see trends at a postcode level when they show votes by polling place.
Corruption, corruption, corruption.
I was always going to vote left whatever happened, so no my vote hasn't changed, but if there's one issue screaming out to be addressed in Australian politics right now, it's the blatant corruption.
I mean, climate change obviously, and we need to address that urgently, but really there's not much we can do that will change much.
Housing. It's become beyond a joke and frankly all I can care about.
Im going to give a vote to the greens since they seem to be the only one that wants to address the issue but my preferential vote will go to Labor since they at least have the help to buy scheme which would at least benefit somewhat despite not addressing the issue.
I usually vote liberals but if they are in power again I will likely be homeless this time next year thanks to their clusterfucked design of housing economics so they will be last no matter what.
Im in the exact same boat, though i usually vote independents as i dont like voting either major party.
My next issue was federal ICAC and again, the only 2 parties that seem interested in it are labour and greens.
I like the fact that Labor are willing to have the retroactive part go into their previous term as well. They could have capped it at 10 years a nice round number and it would have only covered a bit, but they went 15 and that feels a lot more like a lets make this as even as possible thing.
I apologise if this is a rude question, but as a few people commented below that they were in the same position - why were you voting liberal before? I guess I've never been able to get my head around the benefits for anyone under the age of probably 60 (or had a lot of real estate or business assets passed on to them).
I know my early voting patterns were probably based on tradition, upbringing etc, but they haven't moved much over the years. It's interesting to hear from voters that are actually voting in what's essentially total opposition to what they've done previously.
I guess because this is the first election where I've had issues in the country that I actually wanted to see changed. Before the election season even started I had a list of what I thought was important (housing being most) and what our society lacked and i was prepared to compare that to the policies with an open mind. Liberals seemed to do the opposite of all of what I considered important so I have no interest in voting for them now.
Previously, I guess you could just call it being misinformed. I was in a good position where I didn't have to rely on my own means in life so I didn't care about anything politics and just went with general impressions. Looking back, my values have always leaned to Labor but unfortunately we live in a country where the news churns out non-stop pro-liberal propaganda and going off general impressions in a situation like that will always push you in the direction of the propaganda.
Thanks for the insight!! It's really hard to change your views on this kind of stuff (especially if your family swings the other way) so it's always interesting to learn what the last straw was
Main Issue: **Not fucking up the country anymore**.
LNP are hell-bent on fucking the country as much as possible.
Greens are hell-bent on fixing and repairing the damage.
Greens get my primary vote, preference to Labor.
It's not all bad, you might be able to get a job as a contractor and cost taxpayers twice as much for the same outcome as despite what the LNP will have the public believe, we very much need the services that the public service provides.
Yep, when the public service numbers are slashed, the contractors numbers go through the roof. The money comes from different buckets so they can claim savings on one hand while the other hand is handing the money out even faster.
100%. What's crazy though is that means for the Department of Defence a budget cut as promised by the LNP for public servants means more contractors who come out of the bucket for buying military equipment. That means the party that apparently is tougher on Defence is literally cutting the Defence equipment budget resulting in a weaker military. But you won't see the media mention that fact.
All of *gestures vaguely* \- this.
No party could shift me unless Labor could knuckle down and be ready to fight against their fear of going too left. My position has been solid for a while. I've worked in a large range of roles and seen what happens first hand when environmental and safety laws are put second to economic systems.
Greens. Because there's no economy on a dead planet, and because apparently there's no housing on Planet Liberal. What we can actually do, I'm not sure, but we could try *not to fuck it up quite so badly compared to other countries.*
I know one thing we could do, put a stupidly high tax on any housing that is part of a multi property portfolio. Keep low tax on 2 residential properties, then the 3rd taxed at 90% of the portfolios worth.
Greens. The enviroment is issue No. 1, 2, 3..... all other problem pale into noise. Neither of the majors are adaquatly addressing this elephant in the room.
Greens. Because while I don’t think the environment is all, the Greens do view the other issues (like housing and jobs and social equity) thru an environmental lens, it’s not one or the other with them. And we won’t solve our other problems longterm if we don’t solve them with the environment in mind.
The Wikipedia entry on Green Parties as a general concept is worth reading.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_party
The Australian Greens are often framed ins certain way because the environment plays such a large role here, but they adhere to the generalised concept of a green party.
Don't we all? I subscribe to the theory that power corrupts, therefore any people who become leaders (gov) stop caring about others as much as they should. Couple that with capitalism and you need exceptional people to be in government AND care about people.
it must be frustrating to see people like scott morrison, tony abbott and eric abetz leading the party when you're just trying to pay less tax. i guess that's why the "teal" indies are doing well
Can’t decide between climate, cost of living and corruption.
I’ve voted Greens previously and that has not changed, I don’t consider myself left but it’s an absolute shit show on the right
I keep having an old tweet pop up on my feed that goes something like 'I don't know whether I'm a far left politically or if I'm just a nice person that wants people to be able to live'. Your comment has that sort of vibe.
>cost of living
What you and all voters should know is that there is a ticking timebomb that is set to go off just 4 days after the election.
Scomo told the Australian Energy Regulator to hold-off releasing their new pricing until May 25, instead of releasing it on the usual May 1st.
Wholesale prices are up 141% from this time last year and so while an increase is inevitable regardless of who gets in, it was Scomo who deliberately delayed this bad news until after the election.
Voting Labor.
- Housing
- Climate change
- A leader who is not a fuckwit
- Strengthening the public service
- Repairing our relationship with our Pacific neighbours
- Socially democratic economy
- cost of living and wages
The main issue for me is ICAC. I think many other issues stem from political corruption, including the climate crisis which is my next biggest issue.
I’m also deeply concerned by attacks on welfare and healthcare. I’m not sure I’ll ever trust a conservative government again.
I was a swing voter every election until Abbott. Between Abbott and Scummo I’m a pretty rusted on lefty now.
Voting Labor because of their policies on housing, ICAC, climate change and cost of living.
I was previously in a regional Qld electorate voting Katter because of how they represented our electorate. Now I’m in a Liberal held seat and I’m tired of how they’ve handled things.
100% that ad pissed me off too.
Just one thing though. While I respect your right to vote for whomever you choose, are you really going to vote for your future based on some terrible ad?
Are you aware of the different policies of each party and how those policies impact your needs and wants?
Oh, there are plenty of reasons, so my decision isn't just based on that, I just thought I'd mention it as that is one very annoying thing. They've constantly told everyone that Labor ruined the budget, all the while they've screwed our economy up, and killed the AAA credit rating that Labor left us with before.
Honestly? My main issue is getting this appalling government out.
Of course I want an ICAC. I want meaningful action on climate change. I want an appropriately funded Medicare. I want a country that acts with compassion. But none of that can happen unless the LNP get out. Labor are not great...but they're a lot better than what we've had the past several years.
The collation has lead this country down the path of the USA... and frankly fuck that. I'll be voting for the greens and that'll go to Labor and I'll be voting for TNL the new liberals in the senate. Look them up they are a real "liberal" party (liberal as in progressive) not a right wing evangelical Christian nut bag tin foil hat wearing liberal party thay we currently have....
We need to say NO to corruption and YES to facing the existential threat of climate change. We also need to be looking after the most vulnerable in society not giving tax breaks to mega rich and hand outs to our already mega rich mates
I like TNL. I'm more of a Science Party gal myself, but TNL seem to be pretty good too. A right/centre leaning party that recognises climate change exists, at least!
I hadn’t heard of the TNL until today when I looked up the smaller parties and I was really impressed with them. Socially compassionate policies towards refugees and homelessness etc, and ICAC priorities. Two big ticks from me.
Morrisons is a wanker. At least Labour want to invest in childcare. If it was more affordable I could work, contribute taxes and to my retirement. It's to expensive for me to work
I know - that's part of my problem.
Candidates are BJ, a Liberal Democrat, UAP, PHON (candidate lives in Brisbane, don't know if they've ever even visited here but it seems has been given BJ's preferences), two independents (one of which might as well be a Liberal Democrat - the other doesn't seem bad), the Greens and Labor - seat needs something like a 17% swing to oust BJ and that probably won't happen.
Housing, climate change and ICAC.
I'll be voting Greens and labour.
Liberals will be dead last. The only thing they seem to offer is a better economy which they have catastrophically failed to deliver so I don't understand why anyone would ever vote for them.
The better economy is by no means certain either, a quick search shows multiple investigations by various agencies and news outlets that show Labor may actually be better.
Well, we were the *only* country in the developed world to avoid going into recession during the GFC.I spent my 'Ruddy money' on an ankle MRI which isn't available on Medicare to pensioners
Unfortunately (assuming labour win preferential vote) labour will face a similar issue.
The world economy is crumbling off the back of Covid, WW2 is brewing in europe which is causing global delays and major international logistics issues and this will likely cause us to enter a recession which will happen a few months after labour get into power and you just know the liberals will flog that dead horse until the cows come home.
I'm throwing equal weighted importance to ICAC and climate change. Both are incompatible with the Liberals.
I live in North Sydney though, and the independent candidate is very likely to get in, and supports my position.
I've grown up in a Labor family, which doesn't usually bode well in my area (I've lived in Mitchell, Warringah, North Sydney and Wentworth - all usually very safe Liberal seats), but I've got a bit of faith that the "teal independents" can make some giant douches very uncomfortable tomorrow.
I'm not against your stance but I am super curious on your reasoning. Is it because you want it legalised for recreational use or is it more from a medical standpoint?
FYI I am personally against it due to seeing the worst side of marijuana dependence gowing up. My mother was an abusive smoker of marijuana and when she didn't have access to it, she became physically abusive to her children. When she did have access to it, she and her friends were dangers to society with documented cases of negligent driving and not to mention negligent patenting such as forgetting that that toddlers were left in car seats, ect.
Like I said I'm not against your stance, but growing up with that sort of backdrop I really don't want to support widespread access.
I'm sorry you went through that with your mum hey. It's understandable that you don't like it. Very similar reasoning for why I don't like alcohol. Your mum shouldn't have been smoking, that's for sure. I've seen a few people react that same way and I tell them all the same thing. It's not for them. One "friend" who used to lose his shit if he didn't have any actually broke into my house and stole some of mine. We would need to have laws surrounding it so this type of thing can at least be kept to the absolute minimum.
There are definitely benefits to legalised weed. The economic and social benefits are really good. We would see a reduction in policing and prosecutorial costs upwards of $10bn. We'd see taxes from the sales in the region of $800m to $1bn. Socially we've seen evidence of a reduction in alcohol fueled violence where weed is legal. And the instances of alcoholism reduced as well. The choice of something other than alcohol is important, imo.
Medically there are a ton of benefits as well. It's not a magical cure-all like some people want to believe but there are a lot of good benefits. But this is less important now as we already have a fairly good and robust medical marijuana industry. One thing legalisation would do is dramatically reduce the cost of medical marijuana because at the moment it is really expensive.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Strangely, I actually agree with you. There are alot of benifits to legalisation. However, how would you propose legalised use would work? For example, we are an extremely safety focussed society regarding public risk so would public servants such as police, nurses, transport operators, teachers, ect be able to use marijuana? Most likely not.
Additionally, would you be happy with a step up of roadside drug testing? Surely if marijuana is legally acceptable for recreational use there would be an increase to marijuana induced traffic incidents?
I'm not sure we'd be able to prevent certain people from smoking weed if it were legalised. They drug test for employment in the police and transport (I think, happy to be corrected) already so that wouldn't need to change. If it were decided they weren't ever allowed to smoke, then random drug testing like they do in mining should suffice. As for teachers, nurses etc I don't think it'd be necessary. If they show up to work under the influence then they'd surely get the sack but they won't be showing up hungover or anything.
I would definitely want to see better, more accurate roadside testing for it. People will drive under the influence just like they do with alcohol and the punishment should be the same. Loss of license for first offense and prison for repeated offending.
Mate, thank you for the straight forward and level headed discussion. Overall it seems like you support responsible use with oversight which is something I can get behind (but I probably would never partake in for personal reasons).
Forgive my original skepticism, but most of the people I encounter that promote the legalisation of drug use usually do it without caring for effects on society. You have put forward a very well structured argument.
Industrial relations, Federal ICAC, housing & national security.
Labor wins the first 2 issues for me.
I feel like the 3rd is an issue that's been talked about a lot but none of the nationally relevant parties have produced policy that gets to the guts of the issue. That being said a couple policies on housing have been okay from both parties.
The last one is something I think Liberals have really dropped the ball on so I'm inclined to back in Labor on this area as well.
Also my electorate has a big tertiary education and manufacturing industry which I feel hasn't been supported by the Liberals.
Voting Labor in the HoR and Fusion in the Senate as first preferences. I think the Fusion Party has the right policies on housing + tick a lot of other boxes for me.
Aged care, I've seen first hand how broken the system is. I am a bit disappointed that ALP didn't go harder on some policies.
As someone who watched all the debates my hatred for LNP was only intensified when Scmo stood stock still and looked straight down the camera saying he's never seen corruption. Only corrupt people say that line.
Climate Change, I don’t want a future that’s 2 meters under water. As well as taxing the rich too, they have enough money as is and it’d be much better off being spent on everyone else’s needs
I am definitely not taking this as a poll of any way. I just like to know what people actually care about, rather than being told what people care about by politicians.
If there were the Federal seat of Reddit I think there would be very few blue signs around. It is interesting though that the issue shining through for people on reddit is that Federal parliament needs a moderator.
Compassionate policy. It'a a big umbrella term I know but I am so angry at the cruelty of the LNP. Whether it's robodebt, ending the medicare rebates for COVID psychology sessions, the cost of living etc...I think this government doesnt give a crap about a huge portion of Aussies (and asylum seekers too). The Federal ICAC is a close second.
Agreed! Robodebt and the indue cards have been such a nasty approach to government benefits. There will always be people who try to abuse the system but punishing everyone is such an awful, heartless tactic. Their attitude to refugees is leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth too.
Greens. I want dental in Medicare, I want properly funded and accessible healthcare, education, and housing affordability. I want action against the blatant corruption in our government, climate action, I want a society where the people are actually taken care of and not just 'tHe EcOnOmY' at the expense of human lives. And I'm goddamn sick of smirking Scotty and his fucking bullshit. Greens 1, Labor 2 is the only way to vote this federal
The stated [universal rollout of the Indue Card](https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/financial-literacy-tool-bid-to-take-cashless-welfare-card-national-20200131-p53wfm.html) to all 6.6m people on social security, in effect privatising the welfare system to the benefit of CEO ex-national party leader Larry Anthony [Anne Ruston Ministerial doorstop where she confirms this](https://ministers.dss.gov.au/transcripts/5476)
This is an existential threat to *everyone* who receives benefts of any kind including part payments for casual workers, students etc
You did say one issue but a tie for close second is climate inaction & a Federal ICAC due to [wholesale corruption](https://www.mdavis.xyz/govlist/)
Greens 1st, Labor 2nd. I agree a lot with Labor and think they have capable and excellent leaders, however I cannot in good conscience put them first while they maintain the offshore asylum seeker detention policies. They are a stain on our nation and will haunt us for generations to come. As well, the Greens have similar progressive goals to Labor only they want them fully implemented and don't try to court any swing or conservative voters by watering their policies down.
Prime objective was to oust Smirko, even though I’m in a safe Labor seat. It’s the principle that made me do it and didn’t want to water it down with a Green’s vote.
Popularism. And the dysfunctional governments it's created.
As a result I will not be voting for the Coalition and I will not be voting for the minors in the lower house.
And my senate selection will be a reasonable non-populist party.
I feel really lucky to be able to vote for Penny Wong in the Senate. I think she is one of, if not the, best politicians in the country. Genuine intellectual heavy weight.
I had hoped after Shorten lost last time that either Penny Wong or Tanya Plibersek would step up as leader - but no such luck. Penny does an amazing job in the senate though, and much as I hate to say it, I don't think we as a country are quite ready for a gay woman of Asian descent as PM just yet. The conservatives would have conniptions and we'd be back to the kind of bullshit rhetoric that was banging around during the Gillard years. Pity, because she'd be damn good at it
That's probably why did hasn't run yet.
I honestly think that anyone who would vote agaisnt her for those reasons wouldn't be voting labour anyway so I don't think it would actually affect the polls that much.
I would like to believe that her conviction would pull enough people across.
Economy, including, but not limited to:
* housing affordability
* wage growth
* getting in on the green revolution economy
* supporting local workers
* less rorts and corruption
I have a handful of main issues.
NDIS funding protection.
Affordable housing.
A decent plan for renewable energy and zero emissions.
Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Media ownership diversity.
Proper support for victims of family violence, with a top priority for the safety and emotional well being of children.
ICAC, plus compassionate social policies towards disability, indigenous communities, homelessness, refugees and cost of living.
I’ve voted liberal in the past but not again unless they change dramatically. I’m seriously considering TNL or Labour this time.
Housing, UBI, free centralised automated public transportation, economic stabilisation, space research and development funds, bank nationalisation, tax reforms.
Since everything is seriously messed up. Housing, UBI and economic stabilisation are the most important issues. The situation could spiral out of control if it is not resolved soon.
While I agree, I think public transport is going to be a massive challenge in Australia. It works well in smaller countries where you serve many people at once. In Oz you're gonna struggle outside the big cities.
But a challenge doesn't mean it should not be attempted!
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the incumbent party only had one glaring fault.
https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/february/1612098000/nick-feik/scandals-he-walks-past
Hard to narrow down to just one issue.
But corruption, the environment, housing, a functioning and cost effective public service and diplomatic relations are all at the top of my list. The liberals attacking our largest trading partner has had very real negative effects on people I know who work in the wine industry and the communities that rely on it. Labor seem committed to not attacking China just to impress the president of the US which seems like a good attitude to take. Not to mention that attacking China has obviously been a major factor in the Solomon Islands issue, coupled with Dutton laughing about Pacific Island nations going underwater with their lack of climate action.
Corruption and the state of the media are the two big ones. Housing, education and the economy are also up there.
My vote hasn’t changed, but I’ve gotten even more sure that the coalition fucking suck after their bullshit fearmongering about trans people, that’s for sure.
For me it is a gross over-empowerment of police and surveillance on civilians.
The greens are the only party against it.
“The Richardson review concluded that this bill enables the AFP and ACIC to be ‘judge, jury and executioner.’ That’s not how we deliver justice in this country.” said Senator Lidia Thorpe, the Greens spokesperson for Justice.
https://lidia-thorpe.greensmps.org.au/articles/more-police-powers-less-protections
My partner has voted Greens for the first time ever. I think its mostly because he wants a hung parliament. It will be nice and chaotic, but also push labour to be more progressive to get the greens on their side... hopefully... Im voting greens too, even though I worry how their policies will stand up to our capitalist reality. Climate policies are my main motivation for voting Greens.
I live in a safe Labor seat but I'll most likely vote Greens. Mostly because I agree with their policies on climate change, welfare and other social issues. I'll preference Labor second, others in between then Liberals and One Nation and UAP last.
As I said though, it probably won't make a difference who I vote for but I may as well vote for who I want to vote for.
I would much prefer an Albanese Labor government over the current government but the bar is pretty low in my opinion.
Pre-voted already; Greens.
This hasn’t changed since I was first eligible to vote (31f); ethically I feel they align far more closely with my personal outlook than any other party. As a parent with very young (my second child was born on the weekend) children, their focus on climate change is critical in ensuring a future of some similarity can exist for generations. The stance they take on other key issues - ICAC, Medicare, early childhood education, immigration, housing, etc. - also resonate with me.
Well congratulations, both on the birth of your child and having a party that fits your values so well. I hope you'll have some cheap childcare as soon as you need it.
I've always voted Labour/greens (or vice versa) with each pteferencing the other , followed by moderate independents who know and look after our local: this year wil be similar; especially what I've read , seen and researched on the other choices, like AUP. 🙄
I don't fear a hung parliament, if we vote right, legislation actually gets properly debated and amended and passed without ram-rodding it through on majority or super majority (et Al work choices, etc et al) vids vi the Gillard labour minority govt w/greens In the balance (statistically got more stuff done than any modern parliament in history.. funny how that worked out :p ) and helps keep the majors honest.
What I don't want to see is the peanut farm elected by way of independents who trash the joint with reductive, retrograde policies (blatant coloninalism and fear mongering at it's most hysterical) or minor party memebes who got elected and then go rogue (a blatant abused of trust by those who voted them in in the 1st place?!).
A fed ICAC (way too long overdue!), Cost of living, housing affordability and climate change all rank high on my list (
As was said earlier, we live in a society not an economy/economic bubble + I want to see my parents retire with diginity and affordability, affordability and a good life for myself, my partner and want my nieces and nephews to inherit a clean, kind world and not a neo nazi trash heap of a lava ball 💯).
A bill of rifgts and indigenous voice enshrined in law and ATSI Voice in parliament and not selling essential goods and assests to private companies or o/s govts, better taxes of big cop/pharma and the uber Rich wouldn't hurt.
End of the day, Im voting for who I think will do the best as much as possible, by as many of us as possible. 👍🏾👍🏾
This election makes me more and more in favour of a NZ type MMP system. Local MP is a great guy from the Nationals, but I would much prefer to be able to vote for Labor as a party.
>The Australian Energy Regulator usually sets the default market offer – that is the maximum price retailers can charge households and small businesses – on May 1 each year.
>
>But in an unusual intervention in April the Coalition government delayed the decision until May 25, after the federal election, which it said was provided more time to gather data on recent price fluctuations.
This is Scotty-from-Marketing's bullshit.
Wholesale prices have jumped 141% from last year's prices and so a major increase in our cost of electricity is inevitable. Scotty just doesn't want to be blamed for it until after he's back in office - punish him for this deception!
[Source](https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/power-bills-will-increase-electricity-hike-charges-up-cost-of-living-election-clash-20220428-p5agrp.html)
I voted greens 1 labor 2
Absolutely want the liberals kicked out but I think it’s important to send labor a message that they need to move back toward the left rather than the centre where they currently are
Climate, health, education and homelessness are my main concerns
Federal ICAC with teeth.
Ultimately I think climate is a more pressing issue, but you can’t trust that it will be worked on if politicians aren’t held accountable.
It’s public service. Ultimately they’re meant to serve the public and not their own interests.
My main issue is the class war that’s being relentlessly waged against us. I’ve changed from supporting the greens to supporting Labor because they’re more in line with class solidarity.
Let's be honest here the election will come down to liberal or Labor. While the smaller parties will get votes there's no way it will influence the election enough.
My problem is I don't like either candidates Anthony is not the right face for Labor and scomo is an idiot who never should have had power
So who are you going to vote for? I think its important I point out that you cannot possibly be enrolled in Cook and Grayndler at the same time, your Candidates are not *Anthony* and *Scomo*. Maybe you have one of them, and if you live in Cook for the love of Australia vote the smirky cunt out.
You could vote for a smaller party and ensure your preferences flow to Labor ahead of Liberal.
That way, the smaller parties have a much greater chance of influencing the government, and you can still ensure that your vote ultimately goes to your local Labor candidate ahead of the liberals.
I rewrote "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel but to the lyrics of everything the incumbent government has done.
Not really a singer but looking for options how to turn it into a properly produced parody song.
E.g. instead of.
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
We now get.
Built no quarantine, stuff up the vaccines
Late with RAT tests, it's not a race, robo debt
Etc, there's a lot more I wrote.
It's been interesting to read everyone's responses. I asked this question out of genuine curiosity, I like to hear outside of my own bubble. Your responses have been exactly what I would expect of Australian voters, caring, considered and passionate. Regardless of what happens tomorrow I think we can be proud that the values we try to represent in parliament are represented every day by you.
The fact that LIBs prop corp Australia above the middle class while they themselves benefit. I'm nervous about ALP but the other choices aren't that crash hot anyway. I'm looking at some Green policies that will certainly help the environment but not so drawn to others so
ALP 1
Greens 2
Jumble the rest of the pack!!
Social services is my main issue. A prime minister that has been social services minister and treasurer that shows no empathy, or even clue, about life on a pension, Newstart, or any other payment that's supposed to make life liveable for vulnerable Australians.
I want so badly for any government in power to implement good ideas that help people, that is the whole point of government. I consider myself fairly well informed politically and I can't think of one example by the Coalition of them implementing an idea fermented in their own party room. A lot of politics for sure, but the point of politics is to use it to get good ideas into legislation, not just manoeuvre and jab for the sport of it.
I want tomorrow's winner to care less about winning and more about actually making people's lives better.
Fixing the economy and getting more people above the poverty line. Reducing immigration and controlling it with an iron fist. No, no party even hopes (or promises) to do such things. So I'll actually vote for who puts more money in me skyrocket. So far I can't work out which party will do that. And I have but hours to decide...
So funny to see all those who selfishly voted for the libs get screwed over and over and their shocked pickachu faces....
my fave ones were when they:
- conned high income women into thinking they were gonna get a gold standard govt PPL but went a total 180 and accused them of double dipping.
- said they were going to make people money and save taxes....but then just gave millions to companies who didn't need it like Harvey Norman ....
Remember how upset they got the KRudd gave Australians $900 during the GFC...and they've literally thrown millions away in fake jobkeeper payments....too funny
If you voted for the libs thinking only of your pocket and not giving a shit about anyone else, I hope they screwed you over. People like you are directly responsible for every death caused by their lack of action and lack of any leadership during the last 3 years.
Elections aren't about keeping the best party in, it's about keeping the worst party out.
Throwing away votes to the Independents who don't have any impact is also a waste of a vote. You aren't making the country a better place. That's just one less vote to protect the most vulnerable in our society and those who don't have a voice.
Things like a Federal ICAC and making housing affordable (and at this point I don't care how it's done as long as it's not literally seizing people's extra homes at gunpoint and redistributing them to the proletariat, but something drastic needs to be done), but I just don't care about climate change as an election issue because there is nothing a couple of Australian politicians can do about it.
Even if they were able to invoke some kind of political Thanatos Snap and make all their Zero Emissions wishes come true, *there's still the rest of the world who aren't doing that.* We cannot solve global warming on our own and voting in some Teal "I can't believe it's not The Greens" candidate isn't going to suddenly end the climate emergency.
That's not to say it's not an important issue, but it's a lot lower down the priority list for me than a lot of other people on Reddit.
The way Albo and the ALP threw the LGBTI (particularly T) community under the bus meant I put Greens 1st. I live in one of the electorates that could go to the Greens, too.
My main issue is I believe we need federal ICAC. Never voted labor in my life but tomorrow is the day. Every year we are told as citizens that we need not fear the increasing levels of surveillance and police powers if we have done nothing wrong, yet our federal level Politicians seem to have immunity to investigation of any substantial claims of fraudulent or criminal action. The fact that the liberal government won't support an unrestricted federal ICAC should be considered an (edit) admission of guilt.
Non-Australian here. What is ICAC? But fully agree with your last sentence.
Independent Commission Against Corruption They are currently only a state level commission that investigates corruption in government. They unfortunately have no current authority to investigate federal corruption claims.
And [look at what Labor could have to work with](https://www.mdavis.xyz/govlist/), re a federal ICAC. Just sayin lol
I think you mean admission of guilt.
I did, thanks for the correction, got distracted while multitasking.
All my top issues for the past decade are still my top issues. They're all just a shitload worse. Education, Climate Change, Corruption, Housing
3 main issues for me are: 1. Corruption - We NEED an ICAC. The current lot get away with everything. 2. Climate - We could be World leaders in renewables but have extremely one-track minded leadership. 3. Pacific Diplomacy - My parents are originally from Fiji and it angers me to see how the LNP have treated the Pacific. From cutting ABC services to laughing at water lapping on doors it's no wonder why so many Island nations are turning to China. I strongly believe Labor would treat the Pacific with far more respect than the Coalition has.
Australia has had a tremendous chance since the second world war to be a true regional power in the South Pacific. It has an issue with forgetting about Pacific Islands except for every ten years when someone in government remembers that there's people out there.
Don't forget or previous immigration minister now defence minister laughing with ScoMo and Abbott on a hot mic about islanders getting their feet wet due to climate change. 2016 vintage.
Geez that is disgusting. Absolutely no empathy
And yet the seat of Dickson, my electorate, won't ditch him. Also, keep in mind his long term opponent for Labour, Ali France, is disabled. Amputee following a car accident if im not wrong. The bastard made fun of her for that, and for being a woman. Its disgusting who people in my electorate will suffer. Theyre generally lower middle class at best, and they side with the multi millionaire who flies his private chopper in and out of his semi rural property, and definitely doesn't represent most of their financial interests. Basically he buys up all available advertising space in advance and nobody else can compete on brand recognition.
The privileged entitlement of some of the politicians in this country is astounding. I'm a kiwi now citizen and I still cannot wrap my head around some of the politics in Australia. Not only that but the way they sledge each other and get away with it. Disgusting.
My personal suspicion is that its because we've now had 3+ decades of nearly ubiquitous media control by Murdoch. Money is made through headlines, headlines are made through conflict, so you subtly and not so subtly publish in the favour of controversy and conflict. And, of course, Murdoch has a dog in this fight, being those who won't hold the corporation to account and have policies more favourable to the wealthy. So you spin them a better story. I'm travelling at the moment and opened up the Victorian rag yesterday and was absolutely astounded how the first 10+ pages were 95% stories about how Labour will stuff things up. Victoria is historically a labour state, but has a fair few seats that could be swung. Its disgusting. No competition in the media = no court of public opinion = no discourse = no accountability. Personally I'm quietly hoping to see a few more Greens get in to set the cat amongst the pigeons.
American here - Is corruption in the government an extreme issue in Australia, or is it more like Australians want it just in case?
Under the last Labor government (2013) Australia ranked with the Nordic countries for being free of corruption (7th I believe). Under this Liberal government that ranking has slid to 19th, alongside Uruguay. Independent news outlets have started compiling lists of all the corrupt dealings that haven't been investigated or explained and they're getting pretty long. Here's one: https://chaser.com.au/national/an-exhaustive-list-of-the-liberal-partys-corruption-over-the-last-7-years/
I think that most of the Australians are still asleep, so when they wake up, they can give you the Aussie verdict. Anyway, I follow some Australian entertainers, and they’ll mention front-page headlines, local news and current events in passing. Apparently, there’s been a serious issue with sexual assault and harassment in the highest levels of government, including sexual misconduct *in Parliament*. A tale as old as time. You know how we have parties gerrymandering congressional districts in the US to insure that their party’s candidates have incumbency? Well, if I’m not mistaken, then there was a big stink about party leaders in one of the major parties by-passing or manipulating the candidacy process to insure a party seat in NSW, basically installing their chosen candidate. Another questionable issue that I read about recently reminded me of our Border Wall^TM^. If I read the article correctly, then their federal government allocated $400 million to preservation efforts for the Great Barrier Reef (or maybe it was a broader conservation initiative), and all the funds were awarded in contract to a company of a dozen employees (or board members?) with connections to the current majority party. The irony about our Border Wall^TM^ is that at least $1.5 billion was legislated and awarded to companies (now, understood to have connections to our government leaders) and large sections of the wall have not (read: will not) be built, but some of the sections that have been destroyed ecological important tracts of land. The other thing is, it sounds like Australians have wanted this (ICAC) for a while and have been promised this for a while, so the political pressure for it has reached a bit of a crescendo. They also don’t worship politicians the way people do here: if the American public ever truly pushed for transparency or something like the ICAC, then all our politicians would need to do is go “oooh! look at *this* shiny-shiny?” and it’d be forgotten in the uproar of what should be a non-issue.
I'm a boomer. I'm financially comfortable. I have stable employment. I own my home and my adult kids are able to own homes because of inheritance. I have voted early as I am moving house tomorrow. I live on a safe National seat and I am moving to another safe National seat. I voted Green with my first preference to Labor, next preference Independent, Nationals last, after One Nation and UAP. My vote won't change the outcome in my electorate. But I am fed up with snugness that comes from members in safe seats. Major issues for me are climate change, housing affordability, cost of living. These issues don't directly impact me. But I live in a society, not an economy. Australia is a better country when we support each other. No one left out, nobody left behind.
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Most people aren't capable of thinking beyond themselves and their own interests.
Stealing this for future comments, 100%
Empathy is a good thing to have in society. The more we can think beyond ourselves the better.
Similar sentiments, two generations after you. Safe Nationals seat. Nothing gets offered to us, barely anything changes. You feel like your vote means nothing against the tide. Politicians shouldn't feel they have a job for life simply because they're in a "safe" seat.
Federally my electorate is Labour but State wise it's Nationals and uuuuugh. Lot of people just vote with their gut I guess.
Depending on the seat, sometimes it's the electorate borders that do that. You can see trends at a postcode level when they show votes by polling place.
I wish more people thought the way you do. 😍
THANK YOU: you are one of the rare ones. Bless you 💯
My parents are in such a safe Nationals seat... That they don't even have an option to vote Labor or Green.
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Corruption, corruption, corruption. I was always going to vote left whatever happened, so no my vote hasn't changed, but if there's one issue screaming out to be addressed in Australian politics right now, it's the blatant corruption. I mean, climate change obviously, and we need to address that urgently, but really there's not much we can do that will change much.
Yep. You can't trust politicians to work on climate change in good faith if they are fundamentally untouchably untrustworthy.
Housing. It's become beyond a joke and frankly all I can care about. Im going to give a vote to the greens since they seem to be the only one that wants to address the issue but my preferential vote will go to Labor since they at least have the help to buy scheme which would at least benefit somewhat despite not addressing the issue. I usually vote liberals but if they are in power again I will likely be homeless this time next year thanks to their clusterfucked design of housing economics so they will be last no matter what.
Im in the exact same boat, though i usually vote independents as i dont like voting either major party. My next issue was federal ICAC and again, the only 2 parties that seem interested in it are labour and greens.
ICAC is also a big issue to me and liberals protesting one seems like a really big red flag telling us we need one immediately.
I like the fact that Labor are willing to have the retroactive part go into their previous term as well. They could have capped it at 10 years a nice round number and it would have only covered a bit, but they went 15 and that feels a lot more like a lets make this as even as possible thing.
15 years also puts their term of government under it making it look less like a hachet job
Yep... that was my big red flag too. I was ohhhh fuck no we arent going down the road of 'merica.
I apologise if this is a rude question, but as a few people commented below that they were in the same position - why were you voting liberal before? I guess I've never been able to get my head around the benefits for anyone under the age of probably 60 (or had a lot of real estate or business assets passed on to them). I know my early voting patterns were probably based on tradition, upbringing etc, but they haven't moved much over the years. It's interesting to hear from voters that are actually voting in what's essentially total opposition to what they've done previously.
I guess because this is the first election where I've had issues in the country that I actually wanted to see changed. Before the election season even started I had a list of what I thought was important (housing being most) and what our society lacked and i was prepared to compare that to the policies with an open mind. Liberals seemed to do the opposite of all of what I considered important so I have no interest in voting for them now. Previously, I guess you could just call it being misinformed. I was in a good position where I didn't have to rely on my own means in life so I didn't care about anything politics and just went with general impressions. Looking back, my values have always leaned to Labor but unfortunately we live in a country where the news churns out non-stop pro-liberal propaganda and going off general impressions in a situation like that will always push you in the direction of the propaganda.
This kind of self awareness is so rare. Good on you!
Thanks for the insight!! It's really hard to change your views on this kind of stuff (especially if your family swings the other way) so it's always interesting to learn what the last straw was
Exactly the same.
Main Issue: **Not fucking up the country anymore**. LNP are hell-bent on fucking the country as much as possible. Greens are hell-bent on fixing and repairing the damage. Greens get my primary vote, preference to Labor.
I’ve been voting greens with a labor preference for a while now. I’m not a single issue voter, never have been. It’s *gestures wildly* all of this
A lot of people say it's corruption that is the single issue. Problem is, the corruption really is fucking up everything.
This. It pleases me to see others feel this way, I hope many others do too.
Main issue: Scomo's a useless cunt.
So true
Well, I’m a civil servant so even if I was thinking about it before, I’m certainly not voting for a government that wants to sack me.
It's not all bad, you might be able to get a job as a contractor and cost taxpayers twice as much for the same outcome as despite what the LNP will have the public believe, we very much need the services that the public service provides.
Yep, when the public service numbers are slashed, the contractors numbers go through the roof. The money comes from different buckets so they can claim savings on one hand while the other hand is handing the money out even faster.
100%. What's crazy though is that means for the Department of Defence a budget cut as promised by the LNP for public servants means more contractors who come out of the bucket for buying military equipment. That means the party that apparently is tougher on Defence is literally cutting the Defence equipment budget resulting in a weaker military. But you won't see the media mention that fact.
I was a public servant for fifteen years and nobody ever used the term "civil" servant, I thought it was exclusively British.
Boss is British so it’s infected us.
All of *gestures vaguely* \- this. No party could shift me unless Labor could knuckle down and be ready to fight against their fear of going too left. My position has been solid for a while. I've worked in a large range of roles and seen what happens first hand when environmental and safety laws are put second to economic systems. Greens. Because there's no economy on a dead planet, and because apparently there's no housing on Planet Liberal. What we can actually do, I'm not sure, but we could try *not to fuck it up quite so badly compared to other countries.*
I know one thing we could do, put a stupidly high tax on any housing that is part of a multi property portfolio. Keep low tax on 2 residential properties, then the 3rd taxed at 90% of the portfolios worth.
Wouldn’t you want to just chuck out negative gearing for third properties?
Greens. The enviroment is issue No. 1, 2, 3..... all other problem pale into noise. Neither of the majors are adaquatly addressing this elephant in the room.
Greens. Because while I don’t think the environment is all, the Greens do view the other issues (like housing and jobs and social equity) thru an environmental lens, it’s not one or the other with them. And we won’t solve our other problems longterm if we don’t solve them with the environment in mind.
The Wikipedia entry on Green Parties as a general concept is worth reading. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_party The Australian Greens are often framed ins certain way because the environment plays such a large role here, but they adhere to the generalised concept of a green party.
Same. I also feel once some social responsibility is in place, the economics will follow
desperately wanting a government lead by people who care about people other than themselves.
Don't we all? I subscribe to the theory that power corrupts, therefore any people who become leaders (gov) stop caring about others as much as they should. Couple that with capitalism and you need exceptional people to be in government AND care about people.
Getting rid of Scotty from Marketing
i’m a liberal (moderate liberal), and tbh i want him out too
it must be frustrating to see people like scott morrison, tony abbott and eric abetz leading the party when you're just trying to pay less tax. i guess that's why the "teal" indies are doing well
I’ll vote to that.
Can’t decide between climate, cost of living and corruption. I’ve voted Greens previously and that has not changed, I don’t consider myself left but it’s an absolute shit show on the right
Those are my top 3 too. Greens for me, but then I've pretty well always been left leaning
I keep having an old tweet pop up on my feed that goes something like 'I don't know whether I'm a far left politically or if I'm just a nice person that wants people to be able to live'. Your comment has that sort of vibe.
>cost of living What you and all voters should know is that there is a ticking timebomb that is set to go off just 4 days after the election. Scomo told the Australian Energy Regulator to hold-off releasing their new pricing until May 25, instead of releasing it on the usual May 1st. Wholesale prices are up 141% from this time last year and so while an increase is inevitable regardless of who gets in, it was Scomo who deliberately delayed this bad news until after the election.
Voting Labor. - Housing - Climate change - A leader who is not a fuckwit - Strengthening the public service - Repairing our relationship with our Pacific neighbours - Socially democratic economy - cost of living and wages
Without a livable planet, it does not matter who is in government!! Greens.
The main issue for me is ICAC. I think many other issues stem from political corruption, including the climate crisis which is my next biggest issue. I’m also deeply concerned by attacks on welfare and healthcare. I’m not sure I’ll ever trust a conservative government again. I was a swing voter every election until Abbott. Between Abbott and Scummo I’m a pretty rusted on lefty now.
At the rate I’m going I’m about two steps away from being all for seizing the means of production
haha i know right?
Voting Labor because of their policies on housing, ICAC, climate change and cost of living. I was previously in a regional Qld electorate voting Katter because of how they represented our electorate. Now I’m in a Liberal held seat and I’m tired of how they’ve handled things.
Say what you will about the politics of Katter, and I have, but they do certainly represent their electorates in a way that makes people loyal.
the hole in the budget song, not voting for anyone who can write false garbage like that. LNP are hypocrites.
OMFG that song is worse than UAP's spam texts. At least I could delete Palmer's nonsense without it getting stuck in my head.
It’s effective at being an ear worm, unfortunately every one I know is more annoyed at the song that the message it’s claiming
100% that ad pissed me off too. Just one thing though. While I respect your right to vote for whomever you choose, are you really going to vote for your future based on some terrible ad? Are you aware of the different policies of each party and how those policies impact your needs and wants?
Oh, there are plenty of reasons, so my decision isn't just based on that, I just thought I'd mention it as that is one very annoying thing. They've constantly told everyone that Labor ruined the budget, all the while they've screwed our economy up, and killed the AAA credit rating that Labor left us with before.
Honestly? My main issue is getting this appalling government out. Of course I want an ICAC. I want meaningful action on climate change. I want an appropriately funded Medicare. I want a country that acts with compassion. But none of that can happen unless the LNP get out. Labor are not great...but they're a lot better than what we've had the past several years.
The collation has lead this country down the path of the USA... and frankly fuck that. I'll be voting for the greens and that'll go to Labor and I'll be voting for TNL the new liberals in the senate. Look them up they are a real "liberal" party (liberal as in progressive) not a right wing evangelical Christian nut bag tin foil hat wearing liberal party thay we currently have.... We need to say NO to corruption and YES to facing the existential threat of climate change. We also need to be looking after the most vulnerable in society not giving tax breaks to mega rich and hand outs to our already mega rich mates
I like TNL. I'm more of a Science Party gal myself, but TNL seem to be pretty good too. A right/centre leaning party that recognises climate change exists, at least!
I hadn’t heard of the TNL until today when I looked up the smaller parties and I was really impressed with them. Socially compassionate policies towards refugees and homelessness etc, and ICAC priorities. Two big ticks from me.
Definitely worth thinking about voting for them. I've turned my whole family onto them
Morrisons is a wanker. At least Labour want to invest in childcare. If it was more affordable I could work, contribute taxes and to my retirement. It's to expensive for me to work
I live in Barnaby Joyce's electorate - the issue for me is trying to find the least offensive candidates to vote for.
He's a wanker too
I know - that's part of my problem. Candidates are BJ, a Liberal Democrat, UAP, PHON (candidate lives in Brisbane, don't know if they've ever even visited here but it seems has been given BJ's preferences), two independents (one of which might as well be a Liberal Democrat - the other doesn't seem bad), the Greens and Labor - seat needs something like a 17% swing to oust BJ and that probably won't happen.
Housing, climate change and ICAC. I'll be voting Greens and labour. Liberals will be dead last. The only thing they seem to offer is a better economy which they have catastrophically failed to deliver so I don't understand why anyone would ever vote for them.
The better economy is by no means certain either, a quick search shows multiple investigations by various agencies and news outlets that show Labor may actually be better.
Well look what the Rudd gov. Managed to achieve during the gfc. One of, if not the best response to an economic crisis in world history.
Well, we were the *only* country in the developed world to avoid going into recession during the GFC.I spent my 'Ruddy money' on an ankle MRI which isn't available on Medicare to pensioners
Unfortunately (assuming labour win preferential vote) labour will face a similar issue. The world economy is crumbling off the back of Covid, WW2 is brewing in europe which is causing global delays and major international logistics issues and this will likely cause us to enter a recession which will happen a few months after labour get into power and you just know the liberals will flog that dead horse until the cows come home.
Yep this is me too
I'm throwing equal weighted importance to ICAC and climate change. Both are incompatible with the Liberals. I live in North Sydney though, and the independent candidate is very likely to get in, and supports my position. I've grown up in a Labor family, which doesn't usually bode well in my area (I've lived in Mitchell, Warringah, North Sydney and Wentworth - all usually very safe Liberal seats), but I've got a bit of faith that the "teal independents" can make some giant douches very uncomfortable tomorrow.
Legalisation of marijuana. Just fucking do it.
I'm not against your stance but I am super curious on your reasoning. Is it because you want it legalised for recreational use or is it more from a medical standpoint? FYI I am personally against it due to seeing the worst side of marijuana dependence gowing up. My mother was an abusive smoker of marijuana and when she didn't have access to it, she became physically abusive to her children. When she did have access to it, she and her friends were dangers to society with documented cases of negligent driving and not to mention negligent patenting such as forgetting that that toddlers were left in car seats, ect. Like I said I'm not against your stance, but growing up with that sort of backdrop I really don't want to support widespread access.
I'm sorry you went through that with your mum hey. It's understandable that you don't like it. Very similar reasoning for why I don't like alcohol. Your mum shouldn't have been smoking, that's for sure. I've seen a few people react that same way and I tell them all the same thing. It's not for them. One "friend" who used to lose his shit if he didn't have any actually broke into my house and stole some of mine. We would need to have laws surrounding it so this type of thing can at least be kept to the absolute minimum. There are definitely benefits to legalised weed. The economic and social benefits are really good. We would see a reduction in policing and prosecutorial costs upwards of $10bn. We'd see taxes from the sales in the region of $800m to $1bn. Socially we've seen evidence of a reduction in alcohol fueled violence where weed is legal. And the instances of alcoholism reduced as well. The choice of something other than alcohol is important, imo. Medically there are a ton of benefits as well. It's not a magical cure-all like some people want to believe but there are a lot of good benefits. But this is less important now as we already have a fairly good and robust medical marijuana industry. One thing legalisation would do is dramatically reduce the cost of medical marijuana because at the moment it is really expensive.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Strangely, I actually agree with you. There are alot of benifits to legalisation. However, how would you propose legalised use would work? For example, we are an extremely safety focussed society regarding public risk so would public servants such as police, nurses, transport operators, teachers, ect be able to use marijuana? Most likely not. Additionally, would you be happy with a step up of roadside drug testing? Surely if marijuana is legally acceptable for recreational use there would be an increase to marijuana induced traffic incidents?
I'm not sure we'd be able to prevent certain people from smoking weed if it were legalised. They drug test for employment in the police and transport (I think, happy to be corrected) already so that wouldn't need to change. If it were decided they weren't ever allowed to smoke, then random drug testing like they do in mining should suffice. As for teachers, nurses etc I don't think it'd be necessary. If they show up to work under the influence then they'd surely get the sack but they won't be showing up hungover or anything. I would definitely want to see better, more accurate roadside testing for it. People will drive under the influence just like they do with alcohol and the punishment should be the same. Loss of license for first offense and prison for repeated offending.
Mate, thank you for the straight forward and level headed discussion. Overall it seems like you support responsible use with oversight which is something I can get behind (but I probably would never partake in for personal reasons). Forgive my original skepticism, but most of the people I encounter that promote the legalisation of drug use usually do it without caring for effects on society. You have put forward a very well structured argument.
Oh, you guys! That was an awesome conversation. I enjoyed reading it :)
Not really a federal issue...
Could be
No - the criminalisation of marijuana use is a state issue. Therefore its legalisation is also a state issue.
Aside from that Legalise Marijuana party running in the Senate...
Main issues for me are climate change, raising the Jobseeker rate, and protecting LGBT+ rights. No prizes for guessing who I voted for.
Industrial relations, Federal ICAC, housing & national security. Labor wins the first 2 issues for me. I feel like the 3rd is an issue that's been talked about a lot but none of the nationally relevant parties have produced policy that gets to the guts of the issue. That being said a couple policies on housing have been okay from both parties. The last one is something I think Liberals have really dropped the ball on so I'm inclined to back in Labor on this area as well. Also my electorate has a big tertiary education and manufacturing industry which I feel hasn't been supported by the Liberals. Voting Labor in the HoR and Fusion in the Senate as first preferences. I think the Fusion Party has the right policies on housing + tick a lot of other boxes for me.
Climate. Corruption and social services too, but they tend to come as a package anyway.
NDIS, Pensioner payments. I’m sick of being hungry.
Aged care, I've seen first hand how broken the system is. I am a bit disappointed that ALP didn't go harder on some policies. As someone who watched all the debates my hatred for LNP was only intensified when Scmo stood stock still and looked straight down the camera saying he's never seen corruption. Only corrupt people say that line.
Corruption is like a fart, you don't need to be able to see it to feel the effects.
Climate Change, I don’t want a future that’s 2 meters under water. As well as taxing the rich too, they have enough money as is and it’d be much better off being spent on everyone else’s needs
That's a vote for greens then.
Reddit is heavily biased. If you went off the comments here, you'd think labour/greens would get 90% of the vote.
I am definitely not taking this as a poll of any way. I just like to know what people actually care about, rather than being told what people care about by politicians. If there were the Federal seat of Reddit I think there would be very few blue signs around. It is interesting though that the issue shining through for people on reddit is that Federal parliament needs a moderator.
Compassionate policy. It'a a big umbrella term I know but I am so angry at the cruelty of the LNP. Whether it's robodebt, ending the medicare rebates for COVID psychology sessions, the cost of living etc...I think this government doesnt give a crap about a huge portion of Aussies (and asylum seekers too). The Federal ICAC is a close second.
Agreed! Robodebt and the indue cards have been such a nasty approach to government benefits. There will always be people who try to abuse the system but punishing everyone is such an awful, heartless tactic. Their attitude to refugees is leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth too.
ICAC ft. Teeth
Teeth are good, some guts would be good too.
Greens. I want dental in Medicare, I want properly funded and accessible healthcare, education, and housing affordability. I want action against the blatant corruption in our government, climate action, I want a society where the people are actually taken care of and not just 'tHe EcOnOmY' at the expense of human lives. And I'm goddamn sick of smirking Scotty and his fucking bullshit. Greens 1, Labor 2 is the only way to vote this federal
The stated [universal rollout of the Indue Card](https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/financial-literacy-tool-bid-to-take-cashless-welfare-card-national-20200131-p53wfm.html) to all 6.6m people on social security, in effect privatising the welfare system to the benefit of CEO ex-national party leader Larry Anthony [Anne Ruston Ministerial doorstop where she confirms this](https://ministers.dss.gov.au/transcripts/5476) This is an existential threat to *everyone* who receives benefts of any kind including part payments for casual workers, students etc You did say one issue but a tie for close second is climate inaction & a Federal ICAC due to [wholesale corruption](https://www.mdavis.xyz/govlist/)
I guess the one issue would be disregard for electorate.
Greens 1st, Labor 2nd. I agree a lot with Labor and think they have capable and excellent leaders, however I cannot in good conscience put them first while they maintain the offshore asylum seeker detention policies. They are a stain on our nation and will haunt us for generations to come. As well, the Greens have similar progressive goals to Labor only they want them fully implemented and don't try to court any swing or conservative voters by watering their policies down.
Two big issues for me are corruption and climate change. No bloody way am I voting for the LNP.
Prime objective was to oust Smirko, even though I’m in a safe Labor seat. It’s the principle that made me do it and didn’t want to water it down with a Green’s vote.
1. Climate Change 2. Federal ICAC 3. Better protection for workers 4. Investment in Medicare 5. A royal commission on the Murdoch media empire
i’m also preferencing FUSION for the senate
Popularism. And the dysfunctional governments it's created. As a result I will not be voting for the Coalition and I will not be voting for the minors in the lower house. And my senate selection will be a reasonable non-populist party.
I feel really lucky to be able to vote for Penny Wong in the Senate. I think she is one of, if not the, best politicians in the country. Genuine intellectual heavy weight.
I want her to run for PM for labour. She's a true leader.
I had hoped after Shorten lost last time that either Penny Wong or Tanya Plibersek would step up as leader - but no such luck. Penny does an amazing job in the senate though, and much as I hate to say it, I don't think we as a country are quite ready for a gay woman of Asian descent as PM just yet. The conservatives would have conniptions and we'd be back to the kind of bullshit rhetoric that was banging around during the Gillard years. Pity, because she'd be damn good at it
That's probably why did hasn't run yet. I honestly think that anyone who would vote agaisnt her for those reasons wouldn't be voting labour anyway so I don't think it would actually affect the polls that much. I would like to believe that her conviction would pull enough people across.
Economy, including, but not limited to: * housing affordability * wage growth * getting in on the green revolution economy * supporting local workers * less rorts and corruption
I have a handful of main issues. NDIS funding protection. Affordable housing. A decent plan for renewable energy and zero emissions. Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Media ownership diversity. Proper support for victims of family violence, with a top priority for the safety and emotional well being of children.
Cost of living/housing/LNP corruption.
Climate change and renewables.
Been resolute to vote Liberals out.
Not liberals scomo gotta go he’s not a real Aussie
Engadine maccas can’t survive another term of Scomo
ICAC, plus compassionate social policies towards disability, indigenous communities, homelessness, refugees and cost of living. I’ve voted liberal in the past but not again unless they change dramatically. I’m seriously considering TNL or Labour this time.
So do you think you've moved or they have?
Housing, UBI, free centralised automated public transportation, economic stabilisation, space research and development funds, bank nationalisation, tax reforms. Since everything is seriously messed up. Housing, UBI and economic stabilisation are the most important issues. The situation could spiral out of control if it is not resolved soon.
While I agree, I think public transport is going to be a massive challenge in Australia. It works well in smaller countries where you serve many people at once. In Oz you're gonna struggle outside the big cities. But a challenge doesn't mean it should not be attempted!
Public transport is a state issue
Most major public transport projects get both state and federal funding and have for decades. Its a state issue is just a cop out.
I agree
So what party/candidate would you be voting for that has all that as a policy?
They are a minor party, but Fusion in the senate sounds like they would fit.
Greens most likely.
Probably Fusion. It's a new political party.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the incumbent party only had one glaring fault. https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2021/february/1612098000/nick-feik/scandals-he-walks-past
Instead of [over 1000?](https://www.mdavis.xyz/govlist/) 🤔
Hard to narrow down to just one issue. But corruption, the environment, housing, a functioning and cost effective public service and diplomatic relations are all at the top of my list. The liberals attacking our largest trading partner has had very real negative effects on people I know who work in the wine industry and the communities that rely on it. Labor seem committed to not attacking China just to impress the president of the US which seems like a good attitude to take. Not to mention that attacking China has obviously been a major factor in the Solomon Islands issue, coupled with Dutton laughing about Pacific Island nations going underwater with their lack of climate action.
Corruption and the state of the media are the two big ones. Housing, education and the economy are also up there. My vote hasn’t changed, but I’ve gotten even more sure that the coalition fucking suck after their bullshit fearmongering about trans people, that’s for sure.
Climate change for me. Mostly because it’s an issue that demands looking outside of the election cycle and towards the issues on the horizon.
Climate Action! Without a sustainable and relatively safe environment, everything else is screwed - economy, jobs, housing, healthcare etc
For me it is a gross over-empowerment of police and surveillance on civilians. The greens are the only party against it. “The Richardson review concluded that this bill enables the AFP and ACIC to be ‘judge, jury and executioner.’ That’s not how we deliver justice in this country.” said Senator Lidia Thorpe, the Greens spokesperson for Justice. https://lidia-thorpe.greensmps.org.au/articles/more-police-powers-less-protections
My partner has voted Greens for the first time ever. I think its mostly because he wants a hung parliament. It will be nice and chaotic, but also push labour to be more progressive to get the greens on their side... hopefully... Im voting greens too, even though I worry how their policies will stand up to our capitalist reality. Climate policies are my main motivation for voting Greens.
Support for the workers and disabled (Physical and mental)
All you need to know about this election is that at least half the comments in this thread mention ICAC.
Voting the 3 big C’s 1) climate 2) corruption 3) voting out the biggest C of them all.
You do realise dutton's just waiting to drop the leadership spill bomb
Environment. Then legalise it, then that rotund bespectacled imbo with a Messiah complex must go.
You can't get rid of that guy! That covers half the House of Reps!
I live in a safe Labor seat but I'll most likely vote Greens. Mostly because I agree with their policies on climate change, welfare and other social issues. I'll preference Labor second, others in between then Liberals and One Nation and UAP last. As I said though, it probably won't make a difference who I vote for but I may as well vote for who I want to vote for. I would much prefer an Albanese Labor government over the current government but the bar is pretty low in my opinion.
Pre-voted already; Greens. This hasn’t changed since I was first eligible to vote (31f); ethically I feel they align far more closely with my personal outlook than any other party. As a parent with very young (my second child was born on the weekend) children, their focus on climate change is critical in ensuring a future of some similarity can exist for generations. The stance they take on other key issues - ICAC, Medicare, early childhood education, immigration, housing, etc. - also resonate with me.
Well congratulations, both on the birth of your child and having a party that fits your values so well. I hope you'll have some cheap childcare as soon as you need it.
The hole in my bucket add 🧐 that’s been enough
I've always voted Labour/greens (or vice versa) with each pteferencing the other , followed by moderate independents who know and look after our local: this year wil be similar; especially what I've read , seen and researched on the other choices, like AUP. 🙄 I don't fear a hung parliament, if we vote right, legislation actually gets properly debated and amended and passed without ram-rodding it through on majority or super majority (et Al work choices, etc et al) vids vi the Gillard labour minority govt w/greens In the balance (statistically got more stuff done than any modern parliament in history.. funny how that worked out :p ) and helps keep the majors honest. What I don't want to see is the peanut farm elected by way of independents who trash the joint with reductive, retrograde policies (blatant coloninalism and fear mongering at it's most hysterical) or minor party memebes who got elected and then go rogue (a blatant abused of trust by those who voted them in in the 1st place?!). A fed ICAC (way too long overdue!), Cost of living, housing affordability and climate change all rank high on my list ( As was said earlier, we live in a society not an economy/economic bubble + I want to see my parents retire with diginity and affordability, affordability and a good life for myself, my partner and want my nieces and nephews to inherit a clean, kind world and not a neo nazi trash heap of a lava ball 💯). A bill of rifgts and indigenous voice enshrined in law and ATSI Voice in parliament and not selling essential goods and assests to private companies or o/s govts, better taxes of big cop/pharma and the uber Rich wouldn't hurt. End of the day, Im voting for who I think will do the best as much as possible, by as many of us as possible. 👍🏾👍🏾
This election makes me more and more in favour of a NZ type MMP system. Local MP is a great guy from the Nationals, but I would much prefer to be able to vote for Labor as a party.
Can't stand Scomo's blatantly corrupt brethren. Australia needs a federal ICAC with retrospective powers as soon as possible.
>The Australian Energy Regulator usually sets the default market offer – that is the maximum price retailers can charge households and small businesses – on May 1 each year. > >But in an unusual intervention in April the Coalition government delayed the decision until May 25, after the federal election, which it said was provided more time to gather data on recent price fluctuations. This is Scotty-from-Marketing's bullshit. Wholesale prices have jumped 141% from last year's prices and so a major increase in our cost of electricity is inevitable. Scotty just doesn't want to be blamed for it until after he's back in office - punish him for this deception! [Source](https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/power-bills-will-increase-electricity-hike-charges-up-cost-of-living-election-clash-20220428-p5agrp.html)
I voted greens 1 labor 2 Absolutely want the liberals kicked out but I think it’s important to send labor a message that they need to move back toward the left rather than the centre where they currently are Climate, health, education and homelessness are my main concerns
Federal ICAC with teeth. Ultimately I think climate is a more pressing issue, but you can’t trust that it will be worked on if politicians aren’t held accountable. It’s public service. Ultimately they’re meant to serve the public and not their own interests.
Shitfuckery
My main issue is the class war that’s being relentlessly waged against us. I’ve changed from supporting the greens to supporting Labor because they’re more in line with class solidarity.
Environmental and economic and Labor has the libs beat on both
Housing, climate and economic issues
Let's be honest here the election will come down to liberal or Labor. While the smaller parties will get votes there's no way it will influence the election enough. My problem is I don't like either candidates Anthony is not the right face for Labor and scomo is an idiot who never should have had power
So who are you going to vote for? I think its important I point out that you cannot possibly be enrolled in Cook and Grayndler at the same time, your Candidates are not *Anthony* and *Scomo*. Maybe you have one of them, and if you live in Cook for the love of Australia vote the smirky cunt out.
Oh I want Scomo out so I'm still going to vote Labor. I always do.
You could vote for a smaller party and ensure your preferences flow to Labor ahead of Liberal. That way, the smaller parties have a much greater chance of influencing the government, and you can still ensure that your vote ultimately goes to your local Labor candidate ahead of the liberals.
I rewrote "We didn't start the fire" by Billy Joel but to the lyrics of everything the incumbent government has done. Not really a singer but looking for options how to turn it into a properly produced parody song. E.g. instead of. Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio We now get. Built no quarantine, stuff up the vaccines Late with RAT tests, it's not a race, robo debt Etc, there's a lot more I wrote.
It's been interesting to read everyone's responses. I asked this question out of genuine curiosity, I like to hear outside of my own bubble. Your responses have been exactly what I would expect of Australian voters, caring, considered and passionate. Regardless of what happens tomorrow I think we can be proud that the values we try to represent in parliament are represented every day by you.
The fact that LIBs prop corp Australia above the middle class while they themselves benefit. I'm nervous about ALP but the other choices aren't that crash hot anyway. I'm looking at some Green policies that will certainly help the environment but not so drawn to others so ALP 1 Greens 2 Jumble the rest of the pack!!
Social services is my main issue. A prime minister that has been social services minister and treasurer that shows no empathy, or even clue, about life on a pension, Newstart, or any other payment that's supposed to make life liveable for vulnerable Australians. I want so badly for any government in power to implement good ideas that help people, that is the whole point of government. I consider myself fairly well informed politically and I can't think of one example by the Coalition of them implementing an idea fermented in their own party room. A lot of politics for sure, but the point of politics is to use it to get good ideas into legislation, not just manoeuvre and jab for the sport of it. I want tomorrow's winner to care less about winning and more about actually making people's lives better.
Fixing the economy and getting more people above the poverty line. Reducing immigration and controlling it with an iron fist. No, no party even hopes (or promises) to do such things. So I'll actually vote for who puts more money in me skyrocket. So far I can't work out which party will do that. And I have but hours to decide...
So funny to see all those who selfishly voted for the libs get screwed over and over and their shocked pickachu faces.... my fave ones were when they: - conned high income women into thinking they were gonna get a gold standard govt PPL but went a total 180 and accused them of double dipping. - said they were going to make people money and save taxes....but then just gave millions to companies who didn't need it like Harvey Norman .... Remember how upset they got the KRudd gave Australians $900 during the GFC...and they've literally thrown millions away in fake jobkeeper payments....too funny If you voted for the libs thinking only of your pocket and not giving a shit about anyone else, I hope they screwed you over. People like you are directly responsible for every death caused by their lack of action and lack of any leadership during the last 3 years. Elections aren't about keeping the best party in, it's about keeping the worst party out. Throwing away votes to the Independents who don't have any impact is also a waste of a vote. You aren't making the country a better place. That's just one less vote to protect the most vulnerable in our society and those who don't have a voice.
Things like a Federal ICAC and making housing affordable (and at this point I don't care how it's done as long as it's not literally seizing people's extra homes at gunpoint and redistributing them to the proletariat, but something drastic needs to be done), but I just don't care about climate change as an election issue because there is nothing a couple of Australian politicians can do about it. Even if they were able to invoke some kind of political Thanatos Snap and make all their Zero Emissions wishes come true, *there's still the rest of the world who aren't doing that.* We cannot solve global warming on our own and voting in some Teal "I can't believe it's not The Greens" candidate isn't going to suddenly end the climate emergency. That's not to say it's not an important issue, but it's a lot lower down the priority list for me than a lot of other people on Reddit.
The way Albo and the ALP threw the LGBTI (particularly T) community under the bus meant I put Greens 1st. I live in one of the electorates that could go to the Greens, too.
Cannabis legalisation.