Australian Political Parties (2 Viewers)

[james_chappo]

Hahaha man that cracked me up. Yeah apathy is much more appealing than empathy in some respects. I guess the world is just one big paradox.

 

[withoutaface]

Conscience and heart are all well and good, but you can never please everybody.

 

[chubbaraff]

I guess apathy is just too easy, i think what im getting at is our parents fought, but we conditioned by conformism have no such desire... dont be the problem, be part of the solution:

www.socialist-alliance.org

if you believe:
1) That 41% is not a mandate!
2) Power rests with the people
3) Apathy solves nothing
4) Creating a whopper of a surplus by busting infrastructure is good economic management!

 

[chubbaraff]

Note the sarcasm in No 4

 

[chubbaraff]

Well what is proposed that a way to get to small government is to look to a society and economic system where people can be liberated from their governments because we collectively invested to this end, rather then enriching individuals, I totally agree, Australia gets Howard, but they deserve Hitler

 

[james_chappo]

Vote Labor

 

[Bambul]

Yeh, Im in the Socialist Alliance and Resistance, socialist alliance is pretty exciting coz its growing so quick since 1999 when it was formed from 9 different parties mainly the DSP - Democratic Socialist Perspective and the ISO - International Socialist Organisation, aparently our vote is growing at a rate bigger then the greens when they reformed from the NDP.
<snip>

Can I ask where you heard that the SA vote is growing at a faster rate now than the Greens were in the 80s? I tried to find some data on it (it's not easy, believe you me) and here is what I found (sources at the end):

The Greens received 1.02%, 1.93% and 2.08% of the vote in 1987, 1990 and 1993 respectively. This was in NSW in the Senate (it was too much work to do more than that, and it gives a large enough sample size for this). This followed the collapse of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, whose vote went from 1.53% to not running candidates during the same period (it was 9.66% in 1984, before the Greens ran any candidates in the Senate).

I don't think that the NDP votes figure into this, the important thing to note is that the Green vote doubled from 1987 to 1993 (i.e. 2 election later).

In the Australian Senate the Socialist Alliance ran candidates in 1998 and 2004 (as the Democratic Socialist Alliance in the former). It saw it's vote fall in all states but one (Victoria, where it went from 0.08% to 0.15%). In SA and Tasmania it didn't even run candidates in 2004, in all other states it's vote did the following: NSW (0.22% to 0.09%), Qld (0.22% to 0.08%) and WA (0.40% to 0.10%). On average it's vote halved.

A similar thing happened at the state level. In NSW, the Democratic Socialists received 0.25% in 1995, Socialist Alliance received 0.20% in 2003. So its vote fell by a fifth after 2 elections (after it "merged" with other parties/groups).

Conclusion
--------------
In the same period of time the Greens vote doubled whilst the SA vote fell by between 20% and 50%.

Perhaps you mean growth in terms of party members. But that is very hard to determine, much harder than what I've tried to do. This isn't meant to be a critisism, it's partly my curiousity and partly me trying to show off.

http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1984/nsw-1984.txt - 1984 NSW Senate result (NDP - Nuclear Disarmament Party)
http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/index1987.shtml - 1987 NSW Senate result (NDP and Greens)
http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1990/nsw-1990.txt - 1990 NSW Senate result (NDP and Greens)
http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1993/nsw-1993.txt - 1990 NSW Senate result (Greens)

http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/when/past/1998/senate/fp_candidate.htm - 1998 Senate results (DSL - Democratic Socialist League)
http://results.aec.gov.au/SenateStateFirstPreferencesByCandidate-12246-NSW.htm - 2004 Senate Sesults (Socialist Alliance)

http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/states/nsw2003council.txt - 2003 NSW Election (Socialist Alliance)
http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/states/1995-nsw-council.txt - 1995 NSW Election (Democratic Socialists)

 

[nwatts]

Democracy is bullshit.

Why the hell should I be subjected to the will of the stupid majority?

It might be expedient, but it is no basis for liberty.

The best way for government not to stuff up is to limit its size and powers.

Amen to that. (I dearly hope you weren't being sarcastic.)

I'm no neo-Nazi or red flag waving Stalinist, but I know how stupid the public is. I don't advocate democracy, and never will.

 

[LadyBec]

Vote Labor

yes, do.

 

[withoutaface]

I guess apathy is just too easy, i think what im getting at is our parents fought, but we conditioned by conformism have no such desire... dont be the problem, be part of the solution:

www.socialist-alliance.org

if you believe:
1) That 41% is not a mandate!
2) Power rests with the people
3) Apathy solves nothing
4) Creating a whopper of a surplus by busting infrastructure is good economic management!

5) In an ideal that will never be realised.

 

[Meldrum]

Listen to all you shmucks! Too free, too...liberal.

You need to bend over and taste a red-hot spoonful of Communism in your cheeks.

Why not? Communism has the things to make you go mmmmm. Like the McBorscht and the McKremlin - now with 3% more productivity.

 

[withoutaface]

Listen to all you shmucks! Too free, too...liberal.

You need to bend over and taste a red-hot spoonful of Communism in your cheeks.

Why not? Communism has the things to make you go mmmmm. Like the McBorscht and the McKremlin - now with 3% more productivity.

Served with a side of murderous tyrant.

 

[chubbaraff]

This seems to be a bit bizzarre, I read it in an article prior to the 2004 election, I can't and don't want to have the time to validate but nice research anyway. Im not gonna appologise to the forum for adopting a cetain level of idealism in my belief that there are more smart then stupid people out there. Its kinda sad however because in the next few months, IR laws will knock this country back into the 30's with workers rights.

 

[crispytoast]

i dont honestly believe the extreme left has any answers, they are and will always be marginal... what we need to do is have mainstream independents who are intelligent and people-based and who can actually win seats and get in there and change things around. down with major party complacency

 

[Generator]

i dont honestly believe the extreme left has any answers, they are and will always be marginal... what we need to do is have mainstream independents who are intelligent and people-based and who can actually win seats and get in there and change things around. down with major party complacency

The odd independent or two is fine, but a parliament of 'mainstream' independents? Do we really want our parliaments to become hotbeds of nimbyism?

 

[Iron]

What I dont like about independents and minor parties is that they dont have to face any real possibility of forming government. So they can throw up any extreme shit they can think of while making the major parties seem timid/conservative because they actually have to consider/justify the reality of it.
It's an unaccountability which the system never intened to produce

 

[chubbaraff]

They never are posed with the question because main stream australia doesnt understand our electoral system nor are they inspired to build a better world

 

[chubbaraff]

Know it all fuckwit, I wont waste my time any more.... I heard the young libs went off at O-day, apparently there American National anthem and Photos of the Queen were a real hit with the patriots....

 

[chubbaraff]

No it didnt work, you are still the isolated tool who has no allies on the internet and most importantly none in real life politics, where people actually get of their ass and fight for what they believe in. Who are you calling pinko... you don't know my politics as well as i know yours.

 

[chubbaraff]

Im on the ground, dealing with the decisions HIS government makes, he tell people their "stupid little wankers" from behind his tacky internet alias and blog with no appreciation for real process, you only have to look at his blog to see what a pathetic spectator this loser is.