The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > The Greens and the balance of power > Comments

The Greens and the balance of power : Comments

By Richard Denniss, published 20/8/2007

The Greens will be working to educate voters about the importance of taking back control of the Senate.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. ...
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. Page 8
  10. All
Chris C, I hope you do "have an opportunity to discuss the likely Senate results based on the figures then available" - not just before the election, but after as well.

Thanks for your analysis guys.
Posted by Q&A, Monday, 3 September 2007 10:52:19 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Well, Chis C, you and I obviously have a different notion of what is democratic and what isn't. Forcing people to vote. Is that democratic? Then skewing the way they vote by making it extremely easy to vote above the line but a pain in the arse to vote below it. Is that democratic? Reading newspapers and listening to the TV or radio will not alert anyone to the myriad deals that drive preference distribution in Senate ballots (each Party gets up to 3 bites at the cherry) and you (no doubt) know it. It is quite simply an appallingly shabby way to treat voters, the ultimate dumbing down of an electorate's one opportunity to express itself. And don't even bother to ask AEC staff at the polling station to actually show you the list of preference deals - unless you enjoy blank stares.
Posted by tebbutt, Thursday, 6 September 2007 9:26:55 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I don't like the Senate ticket either,

It gives more power to the Parties than needs be, they have already subverted our democracy. We should have preferential voting above the line, so we can choose our own preferences. At least the Senate has proportional representation, if we have to vote for a Party, at least give us some choice!

I have always voted below the line, a bit of election day fun about where to put Family First in comparison to HEMP. But I stopped last time, as I didn't want to risk doing an informal. I know this disenfranchises independents, but this goes to my vision of how our system should be. I would prefer our Lower House to be all Independents, really representing their electorates. Then quarantine the Parties to the Upper House. Introduce two-way legislation (both houses can draft bills), as in some of our State parliaments. One House represents the People, the other the entrenched powers. The Government is crafted from a joint sitting, and we could even have non-partisan Ministries by the best people for the job.

Oh well, time to wake up now.
Posted by Earthrise, Thursday, 6 September 2007 10:48:40 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. ...
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. Page 8
  10. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy