Living Next Door To Alice [Part 2]

The second half:

**Australian Better Families – concerned about men’s rights, especially in separated families, re access, child support etc. Lead candidate is a woman, though, who talks about grandparents separated from grandchildren: http://www.newsofthearea.com.au/port-stephens-jewell-drury-stands-for-senate-for-australian-better-families-48660


**Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoridation) Party – Not quite a single-issue party, since they are against both compulsory vaccination and fluoridation of drinking water supplies.


**United Australia Party – this is the party being run (at huge expense) by the abominable Clive Palmer. Enough said. Oh, all right – to spell it out, this is purely a pro-very-big business party, and especially pro-Clive Palmer. In the end, pro-Liberals.


**Democratic Labour Party – This is sneaky! They are reusing an old name, but they aren’t the same party as the old DLP. However, their policies are not dissimilar – socially conservative, strongly anti-left-wing, anti-ALP. Their lead candidate is a western Sydney lawyer (male.)

*Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians! – Micro-party, whose driving idea is to replace parliament with direct online voting on legislation. They don't actually have particular policies for climate or immigration.

**Animal Justice Party – not quite a single-issue party; they have some human-related policies as well as animal ones. Obviously they're against the live-export trade, but also against such things as government support to animal-related farming, the sale of animals as pets (apart from rescue animals) and advertising of animal-derived products like cheese.


**VOTEFLUX.ORG/Upgrade Democracy! – rather like Climate Action! etc, this party wants to abolish parliament in favour of direct online voting on all issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7MCxADcrwE


**Science Party – they want science and technology to lead the way for social and economic development, especially with funding for research (space, driverless cars) and infrastructure (energy, transport, a whole new city to be called Turing). Fairly strong on climate change. Lead candidate Andrea Leong is a microbiologist.


**Citizens Electoral Council – oh, boy! This crowd! Very right-wing. They link to the wild (deceased) Lynton LaRouche, US citizen. Conspiracy theories a specialty – which means sometimes they might get something right, but other times they have theories like “The World Wildlife Fund is a front for Prince Philip to bring in world government” – but it gets wilder yet…


**Sustainable Australia – by sustainable, they include economically environmentally and demographically – they think of themselves as neither right- nor left-wing. They are against a "big Australia" and want reduce immigration, but keep current refugee levels.


**Australian Democrats – the remnants of Don Chipp’s centrist ("keep the bastards honest") party. Policies are middle of the road, and a bit vague in places - very much on the one hand this, but on the other hand that - e.g."strong opposition to any persecution or prejudice... based on race, religion, sexuality or ability" but "stands against any affirmative action bias on the same basis".


**Small Business Party – Not exactly a single issue party, but policies just for a single group – cutting tax, cutting regulations, as far as this will benefit small business. Also advocates (temporarily?) cutting immigration especially to Sydney, on the grounds that there is currently a lack of infrastructure to cope.

Living Next Door To Alice - Pt1 [auspol]

Notes are not mine but from a friend who wonderfully did the research.

It's monstrous! I bet there'll be a character limit on what can go in messages here - so I'll send it in bits, half-a-dozen parties at a time. Here come the first six:

The NSW Senate parties, in the order they appear on the ballot paper

Rise Up Australia Party – led by Danny Nalliah, of Catch the Fire ministries. Particular stated concerns at this election are multiculturalism “kills Australia”, presented as freedom of speech, freedom of religion; you can interpret that pretty well, I think.
(I do like that their lead NSW candidate is a woman who’s a single mother who has worked in a chicken factory. http://riseupaustraliaparty.com/04-maree-nichols/ I wish her well in life, though not electorally.)

Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party – single issue party, as it says on the box. Their lead candidate is a former (deregistered) doctor, who makes his own cannabis oil and treats patients with it, believing strongly in its medical benefits. https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/not-guilty-on-all-charges-an-interview-with-medicinal-cannabis-crusader-dr-andrew-katelaris/

Health Australia Party – a close-to-single-issue party, standing for “natural” medicine, and strongly questioning the medical establishment, including the big pharmaceutical companies, shading off into doubts about the value of vaccination, fluoride etc, though there is no unified party voice on these. Their lead candidate is a herbal medicine practitioner. https://www.biomedica.com.au/page/670/get-to-know-your-community-molly-knight

The Liberal Party and the National Party are grouped together as Group D on the ballot paper, which I think is a bit dodgy but there you go. Their lead candidate is a woman (which is one good thing) and disability support campaigner. A Morrison supporter, of course, as is Andrew Bragg, number two on the ticket – he probably got that spot as a reward for dropping out of the Wentworth preselection race. He was strongly pro same-sex marriage. Third spot is the Nationals, and I bet they’re furious at not getting second spot, because it means they might lose that Senate seat. The first two are fairly safe, I’d think.

Pirate Party – small in Australian terms, but linked to international Pirate Parties. Policies are very strongly related to digital society: non-censorship on the internet, privacy protection, net neutrality, loosening copyright restrictions etc. Other policies are generally in the “progressive” camp, including pro-euthanasia, universal basic income especially for artists (“We will support a basic income guarantee which provides universal support to artists. ”) etc. They are a very secular group, to the extent of being anti-religion, but curiously align with Rise Up Australia in calling for freedom of speech, including what is seen as “hate speech”. (“Advocates of censorship make a fundamental error in assuming that hateful speech is a force which only censorship can defeat.”) Lead candidate is a broadcaster with Radio Skidrow, Marrickville.

Affordable Housing Party – single-issue party with directly related policies: remove negative gearing in investment properties, abolish capital gains discount on housing sales, increase Newstart allowance, restrict overseas housing buyers, tax unoccupied properties. Lead candidate is ex-Greens and formerly with the Sydney Star Observer (a newspaper I don’t know, myself.)

The Greens – multi-issue party, with strong emphasis on the environment, obv – also generally in the “progressive” camp. Great to see how they’ve shifted from minor party to real contender, fielding six candidates – of course if they got more than one in, it’d be a remarkable coup, but they’re out there. Lead candidate is Mehreen Faruqi, first female Muslim Senator in Australia. She may be struggling to get back in.

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party - This crowd have done some very adroit renaming – they started as the Shooters and Hunters, then shifted over to being the Shooters and Fishers party (to widen the scope for support, bringing in all those people who like to go fishing on the weekends, and gripe about being limited in their catch sizes) and now are calling themselves Shooters, Fishers and Farmers. It was a clever move, and they have indeed taken votes from the rural sector – votes mostly coming from the National Party base. But what is staying constant? That’s the clue as to what they’re really about - guns.

Australian People’s Party – a bit of a maverick party, on the conservative side with a strong economic-based focus; wants also wants a rise in Newstart and free uni education. Lead candidate stood in the Wentworth by-election, and preferenced Kerryn Phelps way down, vs (for example) Katter’s Australia Party way up.

Labor Party – well, you know this lot already! Lead candidates are Tony Sheldon (speaks about wages, sounding the alarm on the gig economy, ex-Transport Workers Union – right wing of ALP) Tim Ayres (ex-AMWU, left wing of ALP). In third (unlikely to get up) place – Jason Yat-Sen Li, who ran for the Senate about twenty years ago, for the pro-multicultural Unity Party. This group includes Country Labor, who therefore take last place on the ticket and have an even worse chance of getting up.

Socialist Alliance – Left-wing, revolutionary socialist, the group who put out the newspapers Green Left Weekly and Resistance. Their lead candidate is co-editor of the latter. Very quick to jump to the most left position of any debate, and to judge causes quickly.

The Together Party – Only standing in NSW, this is a micro-party – they want protection for the ABC, no privatisation of public services and a national Independent Commission Against Corruption. It’s mostly Mark Swivel, their lead candidate – lawyer, occasional author and performer. He has been involved in legal aid and microfinance for developing countries.


**Australian Conservatives – set up by Cory Bernardi, who left the Liberals because they were too left-wing. Pro free-market, anti-Paris climate change agreement, anti-UN convention on refugees, etc. When I said there were people who would never get my vote…


**Great Australian Party – set up by Rod Cullerton, formerly of One Nation, but left to make his own career not resiling from former positions but now specialising in opposing income tax. Right-wing, goes without saying.


**FRASER ANNING’S CONSERVATIVE NATIONAL PARTY – Oh, boy, all of these in a row! Clever move to register the name all in capitals – it might get them a bit more attention, but in general – this is just one more astonishingly hate-filled party. Neonazi and plainly racist links.


**Christian Democratic Party – Old-school social conservative – do you know Fred Nile? This is his team. Anti-abortion, generally socially conservative.


**Independents for Climate Action Now - newly-founded hopeful party, declaring that climate change is a problem beyond left- or right-wing politics, and can be tackled by various policies. https://i-c-a-n.com.au/
Their lead candidate is an Anglican priest who’s been active against offshore detention policies, but the focus of the party is purely on environment/climate change.


**Liberal Democrats – Rightwing. One of their founders was David Leyjonhelm, who told Sarah Hanson-Young to “stop shagging men” in response to her speech in parliament re: rape. His former chief of staff is now their lead candidate, and is calling for cutting taxes and “ending the nanny state”.

**Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – I think you know this crowd already!


**The Women’s Party – not exactly a single-issue party, because they want action on domestic violence as well as more representation of women in parliament and wage inequality.


**Seniors United Party of Australia – anti-Labor on the franking credits reform, wants more funding for aged care.


**Socialist Equality Party – Far left, Trotskyist, and in Australian terms "Spartacist". Strong on social inequality, re-emergence of fascism. Want abolition of capitalism, and installation of socialist governments. Lead candidate is a longterm activist who has published lots of analysis such as this about Anzac Day - https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/05/04/awar-m04.html


**Australian Workers Party – leftist, unionist, wants essential services in public not private hands. Policies a little undeveloped, but they pledge to decide every issue on whether something will "benefit the working people of this nation".

Part 2