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axvoter · 1 year

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Index to the Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews, 2023 NSW state edition

Saturday 25 March is election day in NSW, and it's going to be a fascinating and most likely close contest. As well as the major parties, there is a veritable constellation of micro-parties, independent groups, and solo independents running in the election.

I’ve written my blog entries to demystify these micro-parties and indies. I'm sorry I did not post these until the final days of the election; life got in the way. I do not review Labor, Liberal/National, Greens, or One Nation, as I assume anyone reading this blog already has views on them. All entries are written from a left-wing perspective sympathetic to democratic socialism and green politics, so calibrate according to your own predilections. I make no pretension to false objectivity—that’s why these are blatantly partisan party reviews.

When you go to vote, you will receive two ballot papers. One will be a very large ballot for the Legislative Council (the upper house). This is elected at large by the entire state: a candidate requires ~4.55% to win a seat. But the Legislative Council is the house of review; government is formed in the Legislative Assembly (the lower house). It contains 93 seats, and the number of candidates—both party-affiliated and independent—varies significantly between electorates.

On the small ballot for the Legislative Assembly, you must vote 1 for your preferred candidate and then distribute as many or as few additional preferences as you want. Your vote will be more powerful if you distribute as many preferences as possible. Do not skip or repeat a number. If your preferred candidate is not elected, your vote transfers at full value to your second preference, and so on. You might receive a how-to-vote card from party campaigners: this is a suggestion only and you can fill out your preferences in any order you like.

On the large ballot for the Legislative Council, you can either vote above the line or below the line. Whichever way you vote, you control your preferences—NSW does not have a dodgy system to harvest voter preferences like in Victoria.

Every grouping that has registered at least 15 candidates receives a square above the line; if the square is unlabelled, it is because the group does not have formal party registration. Groups with 2–14 candidates receive their own column but no square above the line; you can only vote for them below the line. Solo independents appear in the furthest right column and can only be voted for below the line.

For most voters, voting above the line will suffice: after you vote 1 for your preferred group, you can distribute as many or as few preferences as you like. You accept the order of candidates registered within each individual group, but you control the order of the groups. You will be able to express preferences for any party/grouping likely to win a seat; it is well nigh impossible for candidates who can only be voted for below the line to win a seat.

You should vote below the line if the following apply to you: a) you want to reorder candidates within a group and/or mix and match candidates across groups, b) you want to vote for ungrouped independents or a group of independents without enough candidates to receive a square above the line, or c) you are a completist like me who wants to indicate a preference for everyone. You MUST give at least 15 preference. Be warned that if you want to preference all the way, it will take a while—it took me over 20 minutes at the 2019 election.

In both cases, the further you preference, the more powerful your vote will be. Distribute as many preferences as you feel you can distribute in an informed manner.

This entry includes links to my reviews of each micro-party. There are 8 groups of independents or unregistered parties. These are noted below by their group letter on the ballot. The format is "party name (rough ideology / recommended preference)". A good preference is a party with few or no significant flaws for the left-wing voter; a decent preference indicates a generally positive platform or a single-issue party with a good but limited objective; a middling preference is a mix of positive and negative qualities; a weak or no preference is mainly negative and either you should give them a poor preference or let your vote exhaust—as noted above, your vote is most powerful if you preference as far as possible.

Animal Justice Party (animal rights / middling to decent preference)

Australia One / Riccardo Bosi—Group U (conspiracy theorists who are a threat to public safety / lowest possible preference)

Call to Freedom / Milan Maksimovic—Group E (Christian fundamentalism / weak or no preference)

Christians for Community / Milton Caine—Group T (Christian fundamentalism / weak or no preference)

Elizabeth Farrelly Independents (centre-left NIMBY / middling preference)

Family First / Lyle Shelton—Group A (Christian fundamentalism and conspiracism / weak or no preference)

Group P—Danny Lim (anti-racism personality / middling to decent preference)

Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia (Indigenous rights / good preference)

Informed Medical Options Party (uninformed anti-vaxxers / weak or no preference)

Legalise Cannabis Party (single issue / decent preference)

Liberal Democratic Party (far-right libertarian cookers / weak or no preference)

Public Education Party (single issue / decent preference)

Revive Australia Party / Silvana Nile—Group G (Christian fundamentalism / weak or no preference)

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (fans of gun violence / weak or no preference)

Socialist Alliance (socialism / good preference)

Socialist Equality Party / Oscar Grenfell—Group K (socialism but for crackpots / weak or no preference)

Sustainable Australia—Stop Overdevelopment/Corruption (anti-immigration NIMBYs / weak or no preference)

United Australia Party / Craig Kelly—Group B (covid conspiracists in a policy-free space of grievance / weak or no preference)

Ungrouped independents (mix of ideologies and recommendations)

Happy voting and enjoy your democracy sausage!

#auspol #NSWvotes #NSWvotes2023 #NSW #Election 2023 #NSW election #politics #political parties #independent politics #political candidates #election candidates #independent candidates #elections are great #shame most candidates aren't great #weak or no preference #middling preference #decent preference #good preference

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bigvolcano · 1 year

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While I prefer to keep political posts off this channel, I can't stay quiet any longer. This type of state sanctioned behaviour is unacceptable anywhere, let alone in a liberal democracy. We have a state election next month. Time for a big change. "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me." —Martin Niemöller Posted @withregram • @greencate Last Saturday at midnight Cherish Kuehlmann was dragged out of her home and arrested by the NSW Police Force and detained for four hours. Her crime? On Friday, she led a snap rally of 30 or so young people out the front of the Reserve Bank without a permit. The police made a premeditated decision to use their powers to intimidate a young woman at midnight in her own home. If that's not a sign that police are completely out of control in NSW I don't know what is. The last year has seen a deliberate escalation by police action against peaceful protesters. This has been led by the Liberal-National Government who, in lock step with Labor, passed draconian protest laws sending a bipartisan signal to the police to crackdown on peaceful protest. Protest is vital to a healthy democracy. The next generation is crying out as they watch their future being stolen from them yet the message the Government is sending them is 'if you speak up and fight for your future you'll be thrown in jail'. The Greens will always defend your right to peaceful protest. One of our first acts in the new parliament will be to Introduce laws enshrining that right ✊🏼 #nswpol #auspol #nswvotes #righttoprotest #defendourdemocracy #nswgreens #housingcrisis #rentalcrisis https://www.instagram.com/p/Co-1HHxSYZF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#nswpol #auspol #nswvotes #righttoprotest #defendourdemocracy #nswgreens #housingcrisis #rentalcrisis

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official-auspol · 5 years

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Find you closest democracy sausage at:

democracysausage.org

#auspol #nswpol #nswvotes #democracy sausage

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secretdiaryofatimelord · 5 years

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It's election day in NSW....

And I really want to wear my NoFX t-shirt that has a dude throwing a what appears to be a Molotov cocktail and says "Murder the Government".

Or alternatively, my boyfriends "Fuck Trump" t-shirt...

#my mum would flip her shit though #I think it would be hilarious #nswvotes #auspol #nofx

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parramatter-blog · 6 years

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9 months out from the next State election and the campaign is kicking off. Who will get your vote? #Repost @luke_foleynsw ・・・ Meet Liz Scully 🙋‍♀️ Part-time Communications Officer, volunteer with her local playgroup, active member of the North Parramatta Residents Action Group, proud Mum of three & @nswlabor’s candidate for #Parramatta. #nswpol #nswvotes (at Parramatta, New South Wales)

#nswpol #nswvotes #parramatta #repost

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p-terg · 5 years

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#auspol #nswpol #mag #australiavotes #nswvotes #election2019 #murraydarling (at Darling River) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuI9xN4lz3B/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pli3wstjla3g

#auspol #nswpol #mag #australiavotes #nswvotes #election2019 #murraydarling

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bibhutidesigner · 5 years

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#GameofThrones Bran Sansa Arya Daenerys Cersei Jon Snow Dany Jaime GOT8 MondayMotivation ForTheThrone ThatCityFeeling Tiger Woods nswvotes AR

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vote1arjaymartin-blog · 5 years

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Invitation to Tinla 3 - opinion and alleged corruption of a candidate at the NSW State Election delayed release->technical issues - https://youtu.be/32nlHoVpO-0

#NSWPol NSWVotes NSWElection Corruption Bribery Gaol jail news Vote Auspol Aupol Candidate Election

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axvoter · 1 year

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Blatantly Partisan Party Review VI (NSW 2023): Group G (Silvana Nile / Revive Australia Party)

Prior reviews (as the Christian Democratic Party): federal 2013, federal 2016, NSW 2019, federal 2019

What I said before: “The CDP sees no place in society for people who think, behave, or believe differently to them. Unless you worship the strict, narrowly-defined, judgemental, petty god to whom the CDP claims allegiance, this party is not for you.” (federal 2019)

What I think this year: This is all just a little bit weird really. Fred Nile was first elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 1981 for the Call to Australia Party, the predecessor of the Christian Democratic Party. He has been in the NSW parliament for over 40 years now; he is 88 years old. He secured the election of his first wife alongside himself for 14 years, the late Elaine Nile, and his second wife Silvana is running this year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fred announced his retirement in 2021, endorsing Lyle Shelton as his successor. But then he rescinded the deal (eat shit Lyle) and has served out his term. The CDP dissolved in 2022 and Nile joined Seniors United, but it too has been dissolved. He again announced his retirement in October 2022, but—you can see where this is going—announced last month that he’d stand again. Weirdly, he’s the second candidate to his wife Silvana, and they are the only two candidates in Group G. They do not get a square above the line (you need 15 candidates for that) and even if they had a square above the live and Silvana won election, there’s no chance they’d get a high enough vote for Fred to win a seat from second place. Why is he going out on a loss rather than retiring with dignity? Strange stuff.

Anyway, don’t vote for the Niles, they’re awful bigots. I would say they’ve leapt on the latest bandwagon of bile against drag queens, but Fred’s been pulling that particular wagon since he came to prominence as an opponent of Mardi Gras in the 1980s. Forty years down the track and he has not become a better person.

Recommendation: Give Group G (Silvana Nile / Revive Australia Party) a weak or no preference.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/fnileindp/

#auspol #NSWvotes #NSWvotes2023 #NSW #Election 2023 #NSW election #Fred Nile #Christian Democratic Party #CDP #Revive Australia Party #Silvana Nile #Revive Australia #fundamentalists #weak or no preference

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bibhutidesigner · 5 years

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Want to design custom T-Shirt

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artsparty · 5 years

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We have released our Report Card, analysing the current positions of the parties standing candidates, based on the issues we are most interested in. You can download a full size version of it here or link to it on our facebook page. Some observations: To qualify for ‘Excellent’ a party had to have representation by 45% or more female candidates. The Arts Party believes our parliaments should ideally reflect our society in sexual demographics. Grey areas mean there is no policy existing (even a negative policy) for that subject. A worryingly large amount of grey is visible. 🙁 Some single issue parties, like the Voluntary Euthanasia Party, obviously scored poorly on our analysis, but that should not be surprising and should not stop you giving support to issues that matter to you. We strongly recommend supporting the small parties you like with your 1st, 2nd and 3rd preferences and follow on with the big parties in your preferred order – there is no point doing it the other way round. We will be standing our own candidates at the next NSW State Elections! #artsparty #nswelection #auspol #artspolitics #arts #politicalarts #nswvotes #votearts #artsmatters #artistichopes #artchangeslivesforthebetter #votescount #nswfestivals #bluesfest #VoteLiberalsLast #MoreArtsFunding #artlife #MusicFestivals #livemusicneedssaving #KeepSydneyOpen #artistsoninstagram #instamusic #windsofchange #love #stopracism #maketherightchoice #wearethefuture https://ift.tt/2JfAPt1

#IFTTT #Instagram

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vote1arjaymartin-blog · 5 years

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Michael Daley https://youtu.be/_DMz9lDN2lU via @YouTube #MichaelDaley #JodieHarrison #NSWElection #NSWVotes #NSWVotes2019 #NSWPol #Auspol #Bullying #Intimidation #InterferenceWithPoliticalLiberty #Labor #WhiteRibbon #violence #metoo #MarkPowell #Election #Charlestown #Newcastle Please share everywhere.

#MichaelDaley JodieHarrison NSWElection NSWVotes NSWVotes2019 NSWPol Auspol Bullying Intimidation InterferenceWithPoliticalLiberty Labor Whit

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axvoter · 1 year

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Blatantly Partisan Party Review XIX (NSW 2023): Ungrouped Independents

Phew! I was worried I had started my reviews too late to cover all the Legislative Council candidates before election day. Life might have got in the way, but here we go: the final review!

At the far right of your large Legislative Council ballot paper, you will find a column of 11 ungrouped independents below the line. These are people running solo campaigns without a running mate, so they do not get a separate column below the line nor a square above the line. The only way to vote for any of these candidates is to vote below the line. This means none of the 11 has a chance of winning a seat, but they’re always interesting to look at anyway.

I covered one of the ungrouped candidates, Colleen Fuller, when reviewing the Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia. She’s second in the list of ungrouped indies. Let’s run through the other 10 in ballot order.

Stefan Prasad (Facebook profile)

Recommendation: weak or no preference

Prasad has done a politics degree but he does not seem to have learnt much about how to campaign effectively. He has a limited web presence and an even more spare policy platform. A Facebook post urges people that “if you don't know who to for Vote for, Vote for me!!” This is not a very compelling pitch. In response to a reply asking for his policies, he says that “since the needs of the NSW constituents are ever changing, I didnt think it was necessary to provide a set of fixed policies, policies need to change in accordance to the needs of the people”. Yep, this is a policy-free space from a guy who does not seem to stand for anything.

Warren Grzic (Facebook)

Recommendation: decent preference

Grzic is a bit of a serial candidate—he has stood in state and federal elections before, both as an independent and for Sustainable Australia. I haven’t reviewed him previously but here’s last year’s b_auspol review. He’s a big fan of greater investment in railways—to quote from a page he made for the 2022 federal election, “Expand railway networks across Australia to fight traffic and pollution and climate change”. This is pretty much the quickest way to get me onside and he pushes railways and public transport more than anything else. Indeed, he’s not just focused on one aspect of the system but makes comments on urban commuter networks, freight rail, and long-needed regional upgrades alike.

But let’s consider his other priorities. He supports striking nurses and better investment in staffing throughout the healthcare sector. He wants better management of water infrastructure. I’m a little unsure about his attitude on development and housing—his prior SusAus involvement makes me wonder if there’s a bit of NIMBYism, but if there is, it’s not prominent. I’m also not clear exactly what he wants when he calls for the tax system to be simplified: is this an inane demand for flat taxes, or untangling arcane parts of the tax code? All in all I’m favourably disposed towards him but with some queries.

Van Huynh (website)

Recommendation: middling to decent preference

Van George Huynh—his website is votegeorge dot org but the name on the ballot will be Van Huynh—offers an ambitious and eccentric plan for NSW. The first thing you see when opening his website is that “we will win this war on inflation” but oh boy his ambitions go well beyond beating inflation. He wants to “Convert Chatswood into the new world financial capital”, create a new Silicon Valley stretching from the North Shore to the Central Coast, establish major new business centres in Sydney suburbs and the Illawarra, build more universities, found a “cinema of Australia” in Newcastle and “one of the world largest entertainment centre in the state's outback near Griffith”, and much more. He would add two new public holidays: Multicultural Day in February and “Christ Day” on 31 July (mate you are aware of Christmas, right?).

Some of his ideas are good, some are complete pie-in-the-sky, some are best left unrealised. I suggest a middling to decent preference if you’re voting below the line because he is far better than a lot of the racists and cookers clogging the ballot.

Archie Lea

Recommendation: weak or no preference

Lea stood at the 2021 Upper Hunter by-election as an independent and came last in a crowded field of 13. He had previously run for Fred Nile’s now defunct Christian Democratic Party in 2016 and 2019, a big red flag. In his entry in the NSWEC’s register of candidates, he describes himself as an “Independent Christian conservative for member of Legislative Council. Independent Candidate.” It’s hard to find much more on him. At the 2021 by-election his HTV was openly pro-coal and pro-mining. Naturally I think poorly of a conservative anti-environmental candidate.

Michelle Martin (how-to-vote card)

Recommendation: weak or no preference

Martin has not made much information available online. She was listed fourth on the UAP’s Senate ticket for NSW at last year’s federal election, so that’s a bad sign. Her HTV is in milder language than many cookers, but “ensure your health choices are YOURS” leans very much towards anti-vaxxer and anti-fluoride suspicion of effective public health measures. Her open rejection of digital IDs and “cashless society” refers to two tropes currently prevalent in Australia’s conspiracist circles. She is best avoided.

Lee Howe (website)

Recommendation: decent to good preference

Howe is running on a platform of “vote 1 homes first”. She wants a fairer and more equitable society achieved through “access to safe, suitable and affordable housing”. She highlights that only 9% of rentals in NSW are affordable for those with very low incomes and that rental stress is widespread. Expanding public housing stock is a major priority for her, alongside repairing existing public housing to modern standards. She wants new developments to contain at least 15% social and affordable housing, with specific targets for houses for elderly and Indigenous people. She would abolish “no grounds” evictions, place caps on annual rent increases, and otherwise pursue positive reforms to protect tenants’ rights. Her approach is neither urbanist nor NIMBY, but focused on addressing poverty, homelessness, and insecure housing. She’s a little bit of a single-issue candidate, which always makes me hesitant, but in this case her core issue speaks to a range of policy areas.

Mick Allen (website)

Recommendation: middling to decent preference

Well this fella is entertaining. His campaign page is “Mad Mick for a Better World”. It has links to some specific policy pages… and then just a bunch of photos of his sustainable garden and the wildlife in it. It’s wonderfully eccentric. What do his policies cover? He is concerned with climate change and wants to act on UN IPCC reports—or at least “tak[e] their recommendations into consideration”. It’s no more specific than that. He’s justly angry that women still earn on average less than men: “it is bloody stupid they haven’t got it [equal pay] yet”. He suggests “We should be learning more about Aboriginal culture”, without specifying how this might occur other than that Indigenous knowledge should inform more environmental planning. He wants to stop public housing being demolished or sold, and he has very nebulous concerns about redevelopment in Blacktown that has some possible NIMBY vibes. Finally, he wants to limit vaping to reduce how many children vape—by making it subscription-only! These are all pretty simple thought bubbles, but on the other hand there’s more here than some parties and much of it trends in the right direction. Seems harmless enough.

R Cheetham

Recommendation: weak or no preference

I can find virtually no information about the candidate R Cheetham, whose registration details with the NSWEC indicate this is short for Ruth Cheetham. I cannot find a social media profile or website for a Ruth Cheetham that is definitively this candidate. She is, however, aligned with Lee Howe: one of Howe’s HTVs is authorised for both her and Cheetham, with Howe 1 and Cheetham 2. It’s strange that Howe and Cheetham didn’t run as grouped independents to get their own column on the ballot. This alliance implies Cheetham is also concerned with the social and affordable housing issues that underpin Howe’s campaign, but it's certainly not a given. The joint Howe and Cheetham HTV indicates that they feel they both have the most in common with Labor, Greens, Animal Justice, and the Public Education Party. That’s promising but again tells the prospective voter nothing about Cheetham. In the absence of any substantive information, if you’re voting below the line and preferencing fully, I’d suggest Cheetham get a weak preference but one above the cookers, fundies, and similar crackpots. If she wanted better preferences, she should have campaigned more effectively.

Guitang Lu (website)

Recommendation: weak to middling preference

Guitang Lu, a migration lawyer who in some documents also goes by the name Luke, is running on a platform of anti-racism and anti-bullying. It is based on his own experiences, which he describes here. It is the most detailed part of his site. His policies on anti-racism focus largely on remedies relevant to his complaints, but they are beneficial more broadly and extend to gender discrimination as well as racial discrimination. A bit of a single-issue candidate, but an important issue and my initial impressions were positive.

I was, however, concerned by his how-to-vote card and his instructions to potential voters. He tells voters to “Just give me ONE – 1”, or to vote below the line 1–15. The crucial word here is “or”. There is no square above the line to just vote 1 for Lu. Any voter who interprets his advice in such a way they only vote 1 for him will not cast a valid vote, as you can only vote for him below the line, in which case you must distribute 15 preferences. Worse, his HTV’s suggestion for preferences is bizarre: he suggests preferencing the top 7 candidates from the Public Education Party, which is fine, then… the top 7 candidates from the anti-vax lunatics at Informed Medical Options. This gives me serious cause for pause. I was going to suggest a decent preference for Lu but this advice to voters is misleading and implies sympathy with cookers.

George Potkonyak (website)

Recommendation: weak or no preference

Potkonyak is standing as an independent on behalf of Capellia Children Inc. It’s hard not to view him as a bit paranoid when you read “the NSW Liberal government has sold your children into the hands of the so called ‘charities’ (private subcontractors)”, as in child protection agencies. It gets worse: he has been struck off as a lawyer on the basis of professional misconduct. He is described as misinterpreting relevant legislation, behaving offensively in court, misleading the court, and “consistently engaged” in conduct “falling short of the standard of competence and diligence expected of a reasonably competent legal practitioner”. Oooof.

I think we can safely ignore anything this guy has to say. He also has a quixotic account on academia dot edu, a for-profit site which obtained its dot edu domain before this address was restricted to educational institutions. I can’t say I’m in a hurry to read his piece about whether Jesus was born of a virgin. (h/t to the author of the aforementioned b_auspol blog, who hasn’t had time to do reviews this election but confirmed my bad vibes here)

#auspol #NSWvotes #NSWvotes2023 #NSW election #NSW #Election 2023 #independent politics #independent candidates #below the line #ungrouped independents #good preference #decent preference #middling preference #weak or no preference

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