Friday 17 May 2019

Candidate Rundown - Vic

Below is a list of all of the Senate Candidates for Victoria; unfortunately, I have not had time to look into the independents this year. I have tried for each to list three policies or positions, though this was not always possible. I’ve done my best to make these the three most important issues to the party, so you can expect there will be little room for compromise if elected. This often involves a lot of guesswork. Where it was particularly speculative, I have explained why I have chosen these three policy areas. Links are provided to the source of the three policy headings, not necessarily the policy detail which may come from multiple sources.

A             Liberal & National            (LIB)

As one of the major parties the Liberals have a very wide-ranging policy platform. To isolate three talking points, I have referred to their "our plan" which after championing several past achievements identified four key areas: tax relief, infrastructure, family services and border security. Of these, family services was omitted from my summary due to its broad and loosely defined scope which includes childcare, education, health and numerous other distinct policy areas that cannot be summarised concisely.

Tax Relief:

Ignoring the large portions of the Liberal policy pages dedicated to establishing Labor as a tax bogeyman, the main points are that the party will reduce personal income tax, reduce the company tax rate from 30% to 27.5% and eventually to 25%, and they will expand the availability and size of the instant asset write-off which allows the full deduction of business assets individually worth under $30,000.

Infrastructure:

The list of infrastructure projects on the Liberal website is too long to effectively summarise, but includes $100 billion in transport and congestion solutions including road upgrade and expansion, rail expansion and electrification, public transport and car parking projects, bridge construction, heavy vehicle accommodation and new airports/airport access.

Border Security:

The essential planks of Liberal border protection policy are: assessing refugee status in offshore centres rather than in Australian borders, granting temporary protection visas to ensure refugees cannot become permanent citizens, turning back boats where it is deemed safe to do so, cancelling visas for criminals and most controversially revoking citizenship of dual nationals involved in terrorism.


B             Republican Party of Australia      (RPA)

The Republican Party hasn't updated its policies since 2014, was deregistered in 2016 for a shortage of members, and its site is in a state of neglect, so I hesitate to present any policies beyond this rather obvious opening to its Wikipedia page: "The Republican Party of Australia is a minor Australian political party dedicated to ending the country's links with the United Kingdom and establishing a republic."



C             Socialist Equality Party   (SEP)

The Socialist Equality Party doesn't have policies, it has a program. This program has six parts, two being largely rhetorical discussions on the plight of the worker. Of the remaining four, three are directly quoted below and the fourth explains how these will be funded: nationalisation and government take-over of banks and major industry.

War

"All Australian military and police personnel and other foreign forces must be immediately withdrawn from Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor, and the countries of the South Pacific, and the necessary resources allocated to construct decent housing and social infrastructure—including schools and hospitals—for the local populations."

Rights

"All workers must have the right to organise and to full legal protection from unfair dismissal. All laws against strikes and pickets must be repealed. All discrimination based on nationality, ethnic background, religion, gender or sexual preference must be outlawed."

Social equality

"Instead of the poverty-level minimum wage, and below poverty-level pension and welfare payments, a decent annual living wage, covering all needs, must be guaranteed to everyone as a basic right. This must be paid not only to all workers, but to all those who, due to disability, old age, illness or care responsibilities, are unable to work."


D             The Small Business Party               (SBP)

The SBP is a single-issue party focussed on supporting small businesses to grow and power the economy. Their policies involve tax reform including raising the threshold for GST and removing payroll tax, valuing energy affordability over climate change concerns, rutting red tape (and specifically fees for registration, compliance and ASIC searches) and transparency in government tendering.



E              Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)      (CDP)

The CDP is a conservative Christian party whose 'advocacy will be based on the 3 forgotten pillars of society" (Family, Church and Community) The policy page contains a wider scattering of policies from gender politics to economics, but the extracts here are taken from the plans page as an overview of their guiding ideals.

Family

"We believe that the institution of the family is the most important pillar of society. We reject any attempt to redefine or the nature of what is a family, and remain firm supporters of the needs of mothers, fathers and children."

Church

"With the legal system beginning to reflect an increasingly secular world, churches have a voice to protect their religious freedoms and their ability to preach openly. Secular political parties cannot make this guarantee, however the Christian Democratic Party can."

Community

"Increasingly our local community is coming under pressure from Big Government and Big Business. The Christian Democratic Party is the values-based party that will defend the interests of locals concerning issues such as building over-development, coal seam gas mining and the building of mosques. We believe that political decisions should be made on most local level, so that the interests of the local community affected are properly represented."


F              United Australia Party    (UAP)

Despite Palmer's ubiquitous advertising campaign, particularly online, the policy page is rather sparse. I quote it below:
“Party Officials should not be Lobbyists, thereby taking a strong position on Paid Political Lobbyists, saving tax payers dollars and introducing Fair Policies
Revising the current Australian Government’s Refugee Policy to ensure Australia is protected and refugees are given opportunities for a better future and lifestyle
Creating Mineral Wealth to continuously contribute to the welfare of the Australian community. This will be achieved by utilising mineral resources from Queensland and Western Australia, and incentives from the Commonwealth of Australia to establish downstream processing in the States of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia; and exporting products at a higher dollar value, thereby creating more revenue, jobs, tax and more facilities.
Establishing a System where people create wealth in various parts of the country and for that wealth to flow back to the Community that generates the wealth. For example, if a particular region creates wealth, a significant percentage of that wealth should go back to the region."



G             Shooters, Fishers and Farmers    (SFF)

There are a number of policies I could draw from here regarding foreign affairs, economics, recreation and environment. But it seems to me the three that deserve priority are the three F's linked to the party's very identity: Firearms, Fishing and Farming & Land Management.

Firearms

This party wants to relax gun restrictions including a review of the 1996 gun laws, removing Federal limits on firearm imports, expand self-defence rights, support for gun manufacturers and funding for 'Shooting Australia'

Fishing

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of the fishing policy concerns increasing commercial and recreational fishing opportunities, cutting restrictions and opposing international fishing operations

Farming & Land Management

SFF opposes the current extent of foreign land ownership and wants to make further foreign investment more difficult. They also want "right-to-farm" legislation giving absolute rights to farmers for example to prevent sale of minerals under the owned land, plan to expand live exports, oppose cheap imports and review the Murray Darling Basin Plan to recognise farmers' rights.


H             Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians!       (CIA)

Still branded under their old name, Online Direct Democracy, this party doesn't have policies. If elected, the candidates will vote on any law in accordance to the result of a vote by enrolled Australian voters



I               Derryn Hinch's Justice Party         (DHJ)

This party is primarily, but not entirely, concerned with law reform. I found exactly two other policies on the policy list, and 1+2 makes 3…

Law reform

By far the most extensive part of DHJ's platform, the party wants a public sex offender register including addresses of offenders, longer sentences for violent crimes, tougher parole conditions, harsher penalties for animal cruelty and revocation of the right to bail for serious violent offences.

Equal Rights

The policy, which is more a statement of historical fact, contains two sentences: " Senator Hinch was a co-sponsor of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017. This Act amended the Marriage Act 1961 to redefine marriage as 'the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life'."

Dying with dignity

Though the policy site contains a very emotive story, the policy itself is simple: DHJ supports voluntary euthanasia


J              Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party     (HEMP)

HEMP is a single-issue party supporting the decriminalisation of cannabis for use as food, fuel, fibre, medicine, cosmetic and a recreational drug. It is probably a safe assumption based on previous alliances and the general focus of this party that they will vote in a generally left/progressive direction on other matters, but this is always the risk with single issue parties.



K             Citizens Electoral Council              (CEC)

CEC's header on its 2019 election page lists three policy areas



Stop 'bail-in'

Bail-ins, according to the CEC are situations where banks in debt delete your savings and instead issue you with shares in the bank without permission. How real this threat is I won't comment on, but the CEC is outraged at this secret international conspiracy.

Break up the banks

TO summarise, the CEC wants all banks to be split into commercial banking (loans and deposits) and investment banking (including insurance, stock broking, financial advice, wealth management and superannuation) to separate the public's savings from the volatilities of the investment markets

Rebuild the country

"The CEC advocates a massive public infrastructure development program for Australia of major nation-building projects in water, power, and transportation, which will open up all of Australia to economic development and population. We reject and will scrap public-private partnerships (PPPs), and use a national bank to publicly fund projects to be kept in public ownership. This program will address the infrastructure deficit that has been built up through decades of under-investment, and reindustrialise the economy by stimulating industries, including steel-making and cement manufacture."


L              Australian Democrats     (DEM)

Once, the Democrats were Australia's third party, much like the Greens are today. Despite their history, however, it is hard to pin down three core points. Political accountability has always been a focus, and this is the third policy on their page, which I can only assume is ordered to represent priorities. Perhaps arbitrarily, then, I discuss below the energy, rural and political accountability positions. The party seems to like dot-points, too, and that works for me.

Energy

“The Australian Democrats will support policies and legislation that:
  • ensures energy initiatives prioritise consideration of climate change mitigation through emissions reductions
  • develops a well-resourced, whole of government approach to the transition to a sustainable energy economy
  • guarantees there is affordable and reliable electricity supply all for Australia’s people and industries
  • uses progressive strategies that lead to national energy self-reliance
  • actively reduces fossil fuel dependence and greenhouse gas emissions from all sources and across all sectors
  • removes market barriers to develop a strong commercially viable and Australian owned renewable energy industry
  • includes the transfer of appropriate technology and other forms of aid to developing countries to enable them to develop sustainable energy economies
  • purposefully protects the energy sector from undue influence and distortion from vested interests and partisan politics
  • proposes innovative and fair use of fiscal instruments to reduce consumption and encourage the transition to a sustainable energy economy
  • increases support for innovation, research and development within the private, public and university sectors
  • supports incorporating principles of eco-design and energy efficiency for future infrastructure developments including transportation, construction and industry
  • extend the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target
  • establishes a Domestic Resource Reserve policy to guarantee domestic supply
  • retains the Clean Energy Finance Corporation”

Rural

“The Australian Democrats will support legislation that:
  • supports farmers to innovate practices that increase profitability and productivity, reduce resource use and maintain ecosystem health
  • recognises the strategic importance of agriculture to Australia, in terms of trade and increasingly in underwriting regional political stability
  • protects agricultural landscapes and water resources for future generations
  • delivers natural resource planning which includes achievable, practical and ecologically sustainable measures for the environment, communities, agriculture and industry
  • fosters sustainable land use and provides incentives for recovery of degraded lands and conservation of biodiversity, empowering farmers to play a greater role in the development of land management policies
  • protects and restores the health of Australian soils and native ecosystems
  • reasonably mitigates production and market risks for agriculture, particularly for extreme weather-related events such as drought, flood and heat
  • builds social and financial resilience in rural and regional communities, in towns and on farms alike
  • supports the ongoing innovation and implementation of best practice to underpin animal welfare in agricultural supply chains.
  • maintains the integrity and objectivity of agricultural regulators to increase consumer confidence in the sustainability and legitimacy of agricultural industries and ultimately protect their social licence.
  • fosters greater understanding and equity between city and country dwellers
  • limits tenure for foreign investment in Australia
  • provides accurate reporting of all foreign investment in Australia
  • regulates operating compliance of foreign investment entities”

 Political Accountability

“The Australian Democrats will support legislation that:
  • establishes an effective federal integrity commission for politicians, parties and public servants with genuine powers of criminal arrest and discovery
  • apply truth in political advertising laws with the same rigour that applies to commercial sector advertising
  • is implemented for the interests of the Australian people not the interests of a political party’s agenda or grab for power
  • better manages taxpayer refunds of election expenses for parties and/or candidates, limited to actual expenses and to a maximum based on the proportion of the vote
  • limits the timeframe of pre-polling to after the commencement of the advertising blackout
  • establishes a charter of government accountability
  • ensures government meets higher corporate citizenship standards
  • removes party control over the flow of preferences in any election, handing power back to the voters to reflect the will of the electorate”

M            Independents for Climate Action Now     (ICAN)

ICAN is, obviously, a single-issue party in favour of action against climate change. Their target is 100% renewable energy by 2030, with support for fossil fuel companies to transition their workforce out of the sector. ICAN admits the risk of voting for a single-issue party: "ICAN is a party of allied independents committed to climate action now. Beyond our binding climate policy platform ICAN candidates and future parliamentarians will pursue other policy areas as independents. Therefore, it will be important that ICAN supporters come to know their candidate’s and representative’s positions on policy areas of importance to them." They also state that the spirit of their party is one of evidence-based policy and that "inappropriate or extreme policy positions" may lead to expulsion from the party where it brings ICAN into disrepute.



N             Liberal Democratic Party               (LDP)

Liberal Democrats are a libertarian party. This means minimal government control on social issues (typically 'left') and economics (typically 'right'). Their policy page divides policies into two streams (liberty and prosperity) and 'our philosophy' identifies four headings of principles, but first notes "The Liberal Democrats stand for greater freedom, smaller government and personal responsibility." These are the three headings used below.

Freedom

Freedom for the LDP includes legalisation of marijuana and other drugs less harmful than tobacco; freedom of speech including defamation, public indecency and intimidation; allowing gun ownership for self-defence, and not requiring registration of long-arms or prohibiting semiautomatics; and allowing assisted suicide and most abortions.

Small government

Policy positions include end-dates on legislation, protection for whistle-blowers, bodies established to review government, privatise immediately the NBN, ABC, SBS, Postal service, Electricity, Public Transport, and eventually TAFEs, Universities, Public schools and hospitals.

Personal responsibility

The LDP would enable business owners to allow smoking in their venues, non-late-term abortion, pornography, sex work, euthanasia, all personal-use drugs and victimless crimes (including not wearing a seatbelt or bike helmet, and BASE jumping).


O             Secular Party of Australia              (SPA)

The Secular Party Website is returning an error message to me, so here's my summary from 2016:

Religion

Obviously a major issue for the SPA. The party objects to oaths (as opposed to affirmations) in public life, such as at the swearing in of elected members and in courts as "anachronistic, ethnocentric and divisive". They also support the removal of the optional words "under God" from citizenship ceremonies, clear labelling of halal products and that all payments for religious certification of a product be limited to covering the costs involved, while opposing legislation against blasphemy in Australia and abroad.

Republic

The SPA objects to the concepts of monarchy and hereditary privilege, and in particular to the current system of monarchs who are also the heads of the Church of England. Citing the ideal of responsible government where the public is sovereign and the ultimate repository of power, the SPA supports the transition of Australia to an independent republic.

Foreign Policy

The SPA supports the International Criminal Court rather than allowing superpowers dictate international law, supports international secularism and objects to human rights abuses particularly from religious groups or for ideological reasons.


P             Democratic Labour Party              (DLP)

The DLP is not to be confused with the Australian Labor Party, or as this party puts it "We are a true Labour Party and base all our policies on three important questions: Is it good for the family? Is it good for the worker? And is it good for the community?"

Family

The DLP family policy is based on the beliefs that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that parents need the right to discipline their children and solidarity with women who find themselves struggling with an unintended pregnancy (though the DLP is anti-abortion), the abused, the dispossessed, and parents separated from their children.

Worker

The party supports a portable leave scheme, so leave entitlements accrue even when changing jobs; more annual and long service leave; and reintroduction of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act to resolve work disputes

Community

In the 2019 policy platform, being a federal election, this is described as "support the Nation" and includes a national bank to fund infrastructure, a national fuel reserve for emergency services, defence and public transport for 12 months, a ban on foreign ownership of agricultural land, clean coal power stations and renewable energy and review the delayed French submarine purchase.


Q             Pauline Hanson's One Nation      (PHON)

One Nation's controversial policies are well known and their recent scandals involving the US NRA are still fresh. I can't find any guidance on which of their policies to prioritise on their site, and the list is alphabetical. I note that in Google, however, special mention is given to Climate Islam and Education. Whether these are topics One Nation considers priorities on not, it's the best I have to go on.

Climate Change

Simply put, One Nation has dedicated an entire "policy" page to climate change scepticism, claiming there is no global warming, increase in extreme weather events or polar ice cap melt. In terms of policy, PHON wants to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord.

Radical Islamic Terrorism

PHON insists the majority of terrorists are acting in the name of Islam (which surely depends entirely on your definition of terrorism) and proposed a 10-point policy including a Trump-style travel ban (their comparison, not mine), penalties for racism of any sort (as a cause of alienation and thus radicalisation), and cutting funding to groups like the Bankstown Poetry Slam which they describe as "a forum for hateful Islamic ranting"

Higher Education

The full policy text is "Support higher education for every Australian, at a reasonable cost. Availability should be given to Australians first, before foreigners. We oppose the privatisation of our universities. Students requiring assistance with fees should be assessed on an individual needs basis and not according to their parents’ income and assets."


R             Pirate Party Australia      (PPA)

The Pirate Party has many lists of ideals and policy headings to pick from, but I have chosen this line from the PPA constitution: "The basic tenets of this movement are free culture, civil liberty and intellectual rights reform."

Free Culture

PPA would provide $500 m to support libraries, repeal lockout laws and allow pubs to determine their own hours, expand tax exemptions for cultural organisations, and protect public broadcasters.

Civil Liberty

The party stands for freedom of speech, privacy, bodily autonomy (including euthanasia, abortion and sex work), the repeal of any legal authority over marriage and instituting civil unions as the only legally recognised institution, and net neutrality. The party also wants a Bill of Rights.

Intellectual Rights

The PPA desires a complete overhaul of copyright law, with copyright extending only 15 years from publication, only limiting commercial uses of intellectual property, and allowing copyright to be bought and sold.


S              VOTEFLUX.ORG | Upgrade Democracy!  (VFX)

VOTEFLUX.ORG has no policies. What it does have is an app, and a promise that elected members will vote according to the results of polls on that app.


T              Australian Workers Party              (AWP)

The Australian Workers' Party perhaps say it best: "The AWP has a comprehensive array of policy initiatives and positions. Our core values are fairness and social & economic justice."

Fairness

The WAP vision of fairness includes an end to metadata collection; establishment of an Australian republic; removal of the Union Flag from the Australian Flag and addition of emblems representing Indigenous Australians and multiculturalism; the inclusion of dental, pathology and physiotherapy's inclusion in Medicare; needs-based funding for schools; phased out funding for private schools; merit-based free tertiary education; and abolition of the Indue Cashless Welfare Card.

Social Justice

The party would propose, subject to support from Indigenous Australians, signing of treaties, ending the NT intervention, full implementation of the Closing the Gap recommendations and Indigenous representation in parliament. They also support the right to seek asylum, an end to off-shore processing, greater funding for the NDIS and setting the retirement age at 65.

Economic Justice

An increase to rental assistance; retention of tariffs; ending foreign investment in Australian property or foreign ownership of Australian assets; ending employment discrimination exemptions for religious institutions; removal of full tax rates for second jobs; establishing optional work provided by the government for all unemployed; and good governance of strong unions are all supported by the WAP.


U             Animal Justice Party        (AJP)

Reasonably self-explanatory, and without much for me to add since the party divides its policies into those for humans, animals and the environment. Despite the breadth of policies, it's not inaccurate to describe the AJP as a single-issue party, so their vote on non-animal-related issues is unreliable.

Animals

"The AJP's proposed reforms for legislation relating to animals is quite lengthy, but includes:
  • Establishing an Independent Office of Animal Welfare with prosecution powers and “a definition of personhood to replace the current property status of animals”.
  • Ensuring a “fairer” (presumably lower) burden of proof for prosecuting animal cruelty cases.
  •     Phasing out all animal farming and industries, but starting with factory farming techniques.
  •     Banning live export.
  •     Banning the use of stray animals in research.
  •     Phasing out funding the use of animals in experimentation, “except where there are net benefits to the animals concerned”.
  •     Banning horse jump racing, greyhound racing, recreational hunting, game fishing, rodeos and horse-drawn carriage rides.
  •     Banning the use of animals in circuses and marine theme parks.
  •     Banning zoos or transitioning them to sanctuaries and conservation parks “which exist solely in the service of animals”.
  •     Limiting breeding of animals to licensed breeders.
  •     Phasing out sale of pets except from shelters and rescues.
  •     Subsidising pet desexing.
  •     Making desexing a requirement for the sale of pets.
  •     Making it illegal to prevent pet ownership of tenants.
  •     Ensuring domestic violence shelters have facilities for animals.
  •     Supporting non-lethal population control methods for introduced species and threats to native wildlife."

Environment

The AJP supports transitioning to a vegetarian lifestyle to minimise human impact on animals and free up land for reforestation. They also support the use of recyclable and upcycled materials, protect forests and marine habitats from destruction, and the use of clean energy. The AJP argues that coal seam gas and other sources of natural gas be reduced and phased out within 20 years, that fossil fuel usage not increase, that a carbon tax be placed on coal use and agricultural industries, and that Australia "rapidly transform to a carbon free energy infrastructure"

Humans

Most of the human policies are health policies, and most of the health policies are derived from perceived benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. They would promote this dietary shift through education, cutting subsidies to the red and processed meat industries and a "phase out [of] subsidies to intensive animal industries because they are both cruel and provide a breeding ground for new diseases which pose large public health risks". The AJP also advocates for an end to drug research for "diseases best managed by simple lifestyle choices" and the overuse of antibiotics which increase the rise of drug-resistant diseases. Other policies include opposition to gun ownership (based on the use of firearms in pest control), that domestic violence shelters include shelter for pets, and that work places should allow animals to be present.


V             The Greens        (GRN)

According to their policy page, the Greens "champion big, evidence-driven solutions to the major problems we’re facing now: economic inequality, increasing cost of living, environmental destruction and climate change." I think it's fair to say the party's stance on environmental destruction and climate change are well known, so I have merged them to give a broad environmental policy here.

Economic inequality

The party supports public ownership and opposed privatisation, including reversing past privatisations, creating a non-for-profit bank and not-for-profit renewable energy company, capping power prices and opposing selling the NBN. The Greens' plans also include increased funding for temporary and emergency accommodation to combat sleeping on the streets along with more long-term allocation of money for more rental properties and tenancy advocacy services as well as phasing out tax incentives that favour investors over home buyers. Greens policies for economic equality extend more obliquely to include "closing the gap" with Indigenous people through treaties, ensuring equality for women in the workplace, increasing accessibility for disabled people and fully finding the NDIS

Increasing cost of living

The party's not-for-profit companies and caps on power prices are factors here too, along with rewriting workplace laws and increasing wages, investment in science and research in preparation for future industries and support for more than 2 million small businesses.

Environment

The Greens aren't just known for their environmental policies, they're named for them: opposition to coal seam gas and fracking, deforestation, gas exploration in the Great Australian Bight; legislation to protect marine parks, the Barrier Reef, the Murray-Darling; support for electric vehicles, 100% renewable energy, and coal workers during the phase out of fossil fuels.


W            Rise Up Australia Party   (RUA)

RUA is a far-right minor party famous for leader Danny Nalliah's claims that non-Christian places of worship are "Satan's strongholds", that gay and lesbian individuals can be converted back to heterosexual lifestyles and that bushfires which killed over 170 people were divine punishment for legalising abortion; although the policies outlined below are selected reflect the party's main focusses, it is of course worth remembering that the party also holds to core conservative ideas including opposition to Euthanasia or voluntary assisted dying; scepticism about climate change; and opposition to same-sex marriage (this policy is outdated on their website, citing obsolete legislation and noting that SSM cannot be legalised without an act of parliament (which was passed more than a year ago)). The party is one of very few, however, who have a specific policy condemning Nazism.

Protect Aussie Jobs:

RUA has set itself the ambitious policy to "Introduce full employment; eliminate dole payments as we know them.". It's proposed measures to protect Australian jobs include tariffs to protect manufacture and rural industries; a minimum milk price to be paid to farmers along with tax exemption for dairy products and a ban on milk imports; abolition of payroll tax and unspecified red tape; and a repeal of the Gillard-era carbon tax (which was actually repealed in 2014, but who's keeping track?).

Protect Aussie Ownership:

This party aims to preserve Australian ownership of companies and assets through measures which include the establishment of a government-owned bank giving interest-free loans with generous repayment terms to Farmers, Market Gardeners, small Business and those suffering severe hardship on top of a freeze on mortgage repayments for these people. The party also believes it is important to prohibit foreign acquisition of Australian land and infrastructure.

Protect Aussie Way of Life/Protect Aussie Customs:

RUA has a strong view about what parts of Australian culture need preserving; this is their most famously controversial dimension, with some arguing that the party's policies in this area are contrary to core elements of Australian life including inclusiveness and "mateship", multiculturalism and freedom of speech. RUA believes defacing the Australian flag should be a criminal offence, the Burka should be banned in public, child refugees should not have been brought to Australia from Nauru, immigrants must "respect Australian values" which includes respect for Christmas and Easter regardless of their religious beliefs, and that multiculturalism (the existence of varied cultures which they distinguish from multi-ethnicity, the existence of multiple races) is inherently dangerous. They defend the rights of parents to smack children and support the return of (undefined) "discipline" to schools, sack university staff perceived to be encouraging "left wing socialist policy" and mandate school teaching of how to raise a (also undefined) model family.


X             Australian Labor Party    (ALP)

Labor's policy page is obviously comprehensive. So I didn't look at that. I looked at their campaigns page, which allows you to search specifically for two themes: education and health. To this I will add climate change, as that has been a huge focus in the campaign.

Education

Labor will subsidise 700,000 preschool places, "uncap" universities to provide funding for 200,000 more places, and waive fees for 100,000 TAFE places including at least 50,000 female students, 20,000 students of disability and aged care and 10,000 students of early education. They have also set the target of 3% of GDP to be spent on research and development projects. Spending commitments also include $3.2 m to assist rural students into tertiary education, $300 m for a University Future Fund and an extra $14 b for public schools.

Health

One of Labor's earliest major commitments was around cancer treatment: the party will spend $2.3 b on this, including $125 m in research, $600 m to fund cancer scans and $433 m to cover consultation costs. Partially overlapping with this Labor will invest $2.8 b in hospitals, $200 m in headspace plus to combat mental health issues, develop a National Rural Health Strategy and regulate drug and alcohol treatment.

Climate Change

The party's target is 50% renewable energy by 2030 and net zero pollution by 2050. Specific programs include rebates to support 100,000 new solar/battery installations in homes, 10 community power hubs (including wind farms) and $1 b in projects to support hydrogen power.


Y              Sustainable Australia      (SA)

The policy page does my job for me. Which I guess is what a good policy page should do? Priorities are identified as jobs, housing, planning and environment, and the summaries are directly quoted:

Jobs

"Better invest in education and skills training for local workers; Re-allocate our scarce economic capital (back into our factories, farms and small businesses, to re-diversify our economy); A simpler, fairer tax system; Re-invest in the regions; Fair trade with a level playing field; Australian ownership and management of utilities, land and resources; & more."

Housing and Planning

"Tax reform (end [capital gains tax/negative gearing] concessions); Stop foreign purchases; Reduce population growth pressures; Increase investment in public housing; Better bank lending practices; Greater renters’ rights; & more... Give real power to local communities in planning decisions; Increased developer charges for land value (rezoning) gains; Better public transport; Preserve or plant corridors of biodiversity; Prioritise ecological design in housing; Reduce population growth pressures; & more."

Environment

"Transition to renewable energy; Moratorium on all fracking; Better manage our water security; Increase conservation management funding and employment; Enhance biodiversity and native species programs; Protect animal habitats from housing and farming land clearing; End old growth forest logging; Minimise factory farming; Reduce waste production; Reduce population growth pressures (so all of the above isn't undermined); & more."


Z              -              (IND)


AA          Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party         (FACN)

Fraser Anning shot from relative obscurity among elected politicians due to his highly controversial and conservative views. His party's policy page has only one policy link (Veterans' Policy) but also lists 21 numbered items, topmost on that list being (1) that Australia was founded as a "as an English speaking, predominantly European Christian Commonwealth", (2) that immigration needs to prioritise "those best able to integrate and assimilate" (i.e., presumably, English speaking, predominantly European Christians) and (3) opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. So do not assume this party is a single-issue one simply because there is only a single policy to expand upon.

Veterans

The party supports marking the drivers' licenses of veterans or issuing veterans ID cards, military appointments to veterans affairs, military membership on tribunals for all claims on the department of veterans' affairs, re-establishment of a defined benefit superannuation scheme for ADF members, the right of any former serviceperson to demand accommodation at military facilities and a retirement village for veterans in Townsville.

AB          Australian Conservatives              (CON)

The Australian Conservatives are reasonably self-explanatory, but I couldn't find any objective way to pick the three most important policy areas. I can't even take the top three on their policy page, because they are ordered alphabetically and don't necessarily reflect their importance to the party. So, I've done it subjectively instead, and I apologise if my personal bias has influenced me.

Society and Culture

The party recognises Australia's Judeo-Christian heritage; supports freedom of thought, expression, association and equality; has pride in the Australian flag and history; believes "traditional marriage" is the foundation of civil society and champions individual rights and freedoms

Immigration and Citizenship

The Conservatives have vowed to halve immigration, never resettle refugees, withdraw from the UN Refugee Convention, reform all classes of visa, eliminate permanent residency and require ten-year residency (with 7 years of tax payment) to become a citizen

Energy

The Conservatives' website still hosts a video titled "Climate Doomsday Alarmism is a Hoax". It is unsurprising, therefore, that the party describes itself as "technology agnostic", does not support renewable energy targets and plans to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. The party also supports nuclear power.


AC          The Great Australian Party           (GAP)

The GAP believes, among other things, that the government is acting ultra vires, and specifically in violation of the constitution. This is a very serious claim, but I couldn't find any details of what they consider this violation to be (and perhaps one shouldn't take the politico-legal analysis to seriously from a party that thinks Australia has a former PM called "Julie Gillard"). Their other policies are numerous and hard to whittle down to something concise. Fortunately, they've done this for me.




AD          Health Australia Party    (HAP)

HAP essentially has five core pillars found repeated across their website: Healthy People, Healthy Economy, Healthy Environment, Healthy Democracy and Healthy Society. The most extensively discussed in their policy document are People, Environment and Society, so those are the three I have focussed on below. The party also provides a handy reference guide comparing some positions to the Liberal, Labor and Greens' stances here.

Healthy People:

HAP is pro-vaccine, pro-natural remedies, pro-euthanasia, pro-homebirth and pro-(Australian grown, non-GMO, pesticide-free, organic) medicinal cannabis, including the legalisation of growing up to 6 plants at home. They are also against fluoridation of the water supply. Primarily the party is concerned to shift the Australian Healthcare System from "disease management" to "health creation" and will fund research and programs to place pharmaceutical and natural medicine on an equal footing.

Healthy Environment:

Wood chipping and pulping of old growth forests, import of illegally forested timber, nuclear power, fire-based land clearing and perpetuation of fossil fuel energy are all opposed by this party, which supports green energy, government funded damming for water security, investigation into claimed harmful impacts of radio waves, stringent environmental protections for mining approval and a national agricultural policy which limits urban expansion and encourages urban farming.

Healthy Society:

HAP believes a national curriculum must be tempered by personalised approaches, subject to greater teacher autonomy and a shift from instruction to play and enquiry. HAP also supports home-schooling and argues that industry-funded grants for tertiary research must be phased out in favour of independent/government funding. The party also supports the rights of refugees to seek asylum; a strong, state-of-the-art defence force; active participation in peacekeeping and diplomacy; optional "Swiss-style" national service; an end to live export; rejection of the death penalty; and prayer and meditation as part of a holistic approach to health.


AE           Yellow Vest Australia      (YVA)

The only thing this party has changed since 2016 is its name (formerly the Australian Liberty Alliance). For this reason, I have also not updated this summary

Citizenship and Integration

The ALA dedicates most of this platform to its aims to "Stop the Islamisation of Australia", which is focused on preventing Sharia law being "imposed" upon Australians, banning immigration of Muslims from the countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, prohibiting face coverings in public spaces, and mandatory labelling of products and services from companies that have taken out halal certification. They also oppose dual citizenship, and consider Australian citizenship a privilege rather than a right - which may include revoking the citizenship of current Australians.

Health

In the party's health policy are aims to end universal healthcare for "those who can afford to contribute more and foreign nationals", support the NDIS, but after a gradual introduction and on a sound financial basis, and requirements for children’s' health checks and immunisation before parents receive child benefits. This policy also includes tentative opposition for abortions after the first trimester (excluding exceptional circumstances) a somewhat firmer stance against assisted suicide and euthanasia. Oddly, the "health" policy also includes opposing stereotyping and disadvantages for homosexual couples, but reject also a rejection of same sex marriage and same-sex adoption.

Foreign Affairs

The ALA considers the UN Charter on Refugees to be outdated, and remove Australia from the charter. They promote resettlement only in countries from a similar region and culture to the one they have fled, insist aid be restricted to nations "subscribed to the UN Charter on Human Rights and who guarantee gender equality and protection of religious minorities" and would limit foreign investment in Australian real estate to nations with a reciprocal agreement with Australia. They also fully support the rights of Israel in the Middle East, in particular to have undivided control of Jerusalem.

UG1       BETTS Kenneth Gordon (IND)

 

UG2       DICKS Max           (IND)

 

UG3       McINNIS Murray               (IND)

 

UG4       MORRIS Karl F    (IND)

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