#ausvotes19

There are a lot of parties contesting the federal election on Saturday. Besides the ALP, Greens, and the Coalition parties, there are 49 parties that are registered and have fielded candidates at least somewhere in Australia. I’ve reviewed all of those 49.

Now, here is my cheat sheet. I write from a green social democratic perspective, and readers of my blog will have noticed that at the end of each entry I give a loose recommendation of what sort of preference I would give to that party. I will not post my precise preferences—in no small part because I have not finalised them!—but here are all the parties listed in order of preferential category. If you have an even halfway similar political perspective to me, this might be useful.

One quick note before I get started on the list: not all parties are running everywhere. I have indicated in brackets after the party name which states and territories the party in question has fielded Senate candidates. They might also have candidates in some seats for the House of Representatives; check your local electorate. If a party has candidates in a House of Representatives seat but no candidates for that state’s Senate seats, I have named the electorate, with the state in square brackets thereafter.

The list includes links to my reviews of each party if you want to know more about them and why I made the judgement that I did.

Good preference (parties whose platforms are positive, with no or few serious problems):

Australian Progressives (Bean [ACT], Canberra [ACT], Fenner [ACT], Longman [QLD], Sturt [SA])

Australian Workers Party (NSW, QLD, VIC)

Child Protection Party (Sturt [SA])

Independents for Climate Action Now (NSW, QLD, VIC)

Pirate Party (NSW, QLD, VIC, WA)

Socialist Alliance (NSW, WA, Brisbane [QLD], Lilley [QLD])

The Australian Mental Health Party (QLD, WA)

The Together Party (NSW)

Victorian Socialists (Cooper, Calwell, Wills [all VIC])

Decent preference (parties whose platforms are positive, but with some reservations):

Help End Marijuana Prohibition (all states, NT)

Reason Australia (Cooper, Melbourne, Menzies [all VIC])

Science Party (NSW, Mallee [VIC], Perth [WA])

Middling to decent preference (not a bad party but significant flaws in policy):

Secular Party (VIC)

The Women’s Party (NSW)

Middling preference (platform is either a mixture of positives and negatives, or a decent platform undermined with a notably terrible policy or party characteristic):

Animal Justice Party (all states)*

Australian Affordable Housing Party (NSW)

Australian Democrats (NSW, SA, VIC)

Centre Alliance (SA)

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (VIC)

Socialist Equality Party (NSW, VIC, Oxley [QLD])

*If you are vegan or vegetarian, you will likely locate the Animal Justice Party somewhere around decent and good.

Weak to middling preference (problematic, but better than what comes below):

Jacqui Lambie Network (TAS)

Sustainable Australia (all states, ACT)*

*In my review of Sustainable Australia I suggested “weak or no preference” but I am now of the view that “weak to middling” is more appropriate.

Weak or no preference (in the House, you must number every square; put these parties as low as you can. In the Senate, you can cease preferencing if you wish—I would suggest numbering as many as you can, to indicate which you view as the lesser of the many evils, but I also understand if you give no preference at all):

Australia First (Lalor ]VIC], Lindsay [NSW], Longman [QLD], Swan [WA])

Australian Better Families (NSW, QLD, TAS)

Australian Christians (WA)

Australian Conservatives (all states)

Australian People’s Party (NSW)

Christian Democratic Party (ACT, NSW, VIC)

Citizens Electoral Council (all states, NT)

Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians! (NSW, QLD, VIC)

Democratic Labour Party aka Labour DLP (NSW, QLD, VIC)

Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party (all states and territories)

Health Australia (NSW, VIC, WA)

Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party (NSW, QLD, WA)

Katter’s Australian Party (QLD)

Liberal Democratic Party (all six states, Bean [ACT])

Love Australia or Leave (NSW, QLD, TAS)

Non-Custodial Parents Party (Cunningham [NSW])

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (all states)

Republican Party of Australia (VIC)

Rise Up Australia Party (NSW, NT, QLD, VIC, Boothby [SA])

Seniors United (NSW)

Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers (all states)

The Great Australian Party (NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA, Bean [ACT])

The Small Business Party (NSW, VIC)

United Australia Party (all states and territories

Voteflux.org | Upgrade Democracy! (NSW, VIC, WA)

Western Australia Party (WA)

*gigantic sigh*

*insert an articulate description of despair and despondency here*

Prior reviews: federal 2016, VIC 2018

Running where: NSW, VIC, WA.

What I said before: “I do not engage with those who peddle anti-vax nonsense and I suggest that the only appropriate engagement with this party, no matter how pleasant and shiny their veneer may be, is to give them a very poor preference.”

What I think this year: Go away anti-vaxxers. This is a party of anti-vaxxers, and they protest too loudly that they are not. Let me put this simply: if you have to protest that you are not anti-vax, odds are you actually hold anti-vax views. Nobody who clearly endorses vaccinations gets confused for a muddleheaded anti-vax conspiracy theorist.

Indeed, I would go as far as saying that opposition to “no jab no play/pay” laws is sufficient to be considered anti-vax. I will explain this in personal context. I could not have a couple of vaccinations as a child for medical reasons (specifically that I was allergic to an ingredient used in their preparation; “no jab” policies do not apply to people with such medical exemptions). Every time a case of the relevant diseases occurred within cooee of my hometown, it caused my mother no small amount of worry. We relied on herd immunity for my protection. I have, fortunately, been able to have these vaccinations now. But there are people with legitimate reasons for not receiving specific vaccinations whose good health is secured with herd immunity. Those who choose not to vaccinate their children without a valid medical reason, and those who encourage people to opt-out for same, are reducing herd immunity and imperilling others. They are anti-vax, simple as that.

More broadly Health Australia peddle conspiracy theories about Big Pharma and research funding while trying to pass themselves off as serious critics. I am well familiar with Australia’s research funding landscape and the idea that there is some sort of academic cabal suppressing life-saving findings is absurd. I’ve already said this, and a fellow party reviewer wrote a scathing takedown of this party for last year’s Victorian state election. Have Western medical researchers overlooked or deprecated medical knowledge from other cultures? Yes. But does our current research environment permit engagement with this knowledge and integration of it into public care if it proves efficacious? Also yes. Health Australia wants to sell you snake oil, or to make the government subsidise their usage of snake oil.

My recommendation: give Health Australia a weak or no preference.

Prior reviews: federal 2013, VIC 2014, federal 2016, VIC 2018, NSW 2019

Running where: all six states.

What I said before: “Australia’s gun laws need to be tighter, not looser. SFF are a threat to public safety—not just long-term from climate change, but also in the short-term. Reject their appeals.”

What I think this year: The Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers Party (SFF) maintain their pro-guns, anti-environmental, pro-coal stances. They believe the federal government possesses almost no power to legislate on firearms and that this is essentially a “states’ rights” matter. I maintain my absolute indignation from my NSW entry in March: in the wake of Christchurch it is inappropriate to give this party of gun nuts anything but an extremely low preference. I put them dead last on my NSW Legislative Council ballot. They will not be last this time—Fraser Anning’s party, to name just one, is even worse—but SFF are repugnant.

I want to draw attention to one argument that has become prominent in SFF’s rhetoric. I am not vegan—my reviews of the Animal Justice Party surely make clear my views on that dietary choice—but the SFF referring to “vegan terrorism” is pretty unhinged. This is one of those parties that might bleat on about freedom of speech, but only when it is their speech. They want to criminalise the behaviour of animal rights activists, which basically reads as “ban my opponents”. If that’s the best rebuttal you have, you are pretty shit advocates for your cause. If the behaviour of these activists is indeed “terrorism” then it would already be punishable under existing laws; legislation specifically targeting animal rights activists and vegans is unnecessary.

Besides standing candidates in the Senate, SFF are contesting just one NSW lower house electorate, Calare, but two in Victoria and five in WA. This surprises me. They have done very well contesting and even winning rural seats at state level in NSW, so I figured they would be a force this election throughout that state’s electorates. Not so. It seems they are putting in a decent amount of effort to winning Calare, though.

My recommendation: give the Shooters, Farmers, and Fishers Party a weak or no preference.

Tomorrow, Saturday 18 May, is federal election day. Pour out one for Hawkey and get to your polling booth. And if you’re a little befuddled by all the weird parties seeking election, I’ve got you covered. It’s not too late to look through my party reviews.

You will get two ballots. The smaller one is for the House of Representatives, the lower house; whichever party/ies command a majority on the floor of the House forms government. You must number EVERY SQUARE on the small ballot for the House. Ignore the “no preference” in the recommendations below; that applies only to the Senate. Many seats have independents running for election—if your seat does, look them up because you might be surprised. Some of them are really good candidates. Some are hilariously awful.

The second, larger, ballot is for the Senate, the upper house. This is the house of review. We are voting for half the Senate (as senators serve six-year terms). Each state elects six senators, requiring 14.3% of the vote to be elected. On the Senate ballot you can vote above the line for PARTIES or below the line for INDIVIDUALS. Above the line you must give at least six preferences; below the line you must give at least twelve; beyond this point, you can do what you like. You can stop preferencing entirely or you give as many more preferences as you want.

I posted a cheat sheet with my recommended preference categories yesterday. If you want to make your own custom below-the-line How to Vote card for the Senate, I recommend using this site. Print it off and take it into the booth with you! Need to find your local democracy sausage? This website has you covered.

Now, who the hell are these parties anyway? Note that I do not review the ALP, the Greens, or the members that comprise the Liberal/National coalition. You probably have an opinion on them. Here you can dig into the rest:

(Key: ideology / where running)

#Sustainable Australia (anti-immigration environmentalism / all states, ACT)

Animal Justice Party (single issue / all states)

Australia First (neo-Nazi scum / four lower house seats)

Australian Affordable Housing Party (single issue / NSW)

Australian Better Families (men’s rights activists / NSW, QLD, TAS)

Australian Christians (Christian fundamentalism / WA)

Australian Conservatives (Christian right-wing reactionaries / all states)

Australian Democrats (centrism / NSW, SA, VIC)

Australian People’s Party (right-wing nativism / NSW)

Australian Progressives (centre-left progressivism / Bean [ACT], Canberra [ACT], Fenner [ACT], Longman [QLD], Sturt [SA])

Australian Workers Party (labourism and workers’ rights / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Centre Alliance (centrism / SA)

Child Protection Party (single issue / Sturt [SA])

Christian Democratic Party (Christian fundamentalism / ACT, NSW, VIC)

Citizens Electoral Council (conspiracy theorists / all states, NT)

Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians! (no policy / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Democratic Labour Party aka Labour DLP (Catholic conservative / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (cult of personality / VIC)

Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party (white nationalism / all states and territories)

Health Australia (single issue paranoiacs / NSW, VIC, WA)

Help End Marijuana Prohibition (single issue / all states, NT)

Independents for Climate Action Now (single issue / NSW, QLD, VIC)

Involuntary Medication Objectors (Vaccination/Fluoride) Party (single issue mega-paranoiacs / NSW, QLD, WA)

Jacqui Lambie Network (cult of personality / TAS)

Katter’s Australian Party (cult of personality / QLD)

Liberal Democratic Party (right-libertarian / all six states, Bean [ACT])

Love Australia or Leave (xenophobia / NSW, QLD, TAS)

Non-Custodial Parents Party (single issue / Cunningham [NSW])

Pirate Party (civil and digital libertarian / NSW, QLD, VIC, WA)

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (xenophobia / all states)

Reason Australia (civil libertarian / Cooper, Melbourne, Menzies [all VIC])

Republican Party of Australia (single issue / VIC)

Rise Up Australia Party (Christian fundamentalism / NSW, NT, QLD, VIC, Boothby [SA])

Science Party (technophile futurism / NSW, Mallee [VIC], Perth [WA])

Secular Party (secular humanism / VIC)

Seniors United (right-wing seniors’ rights / NSW)

Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers (anti-environmentalist / all states)

Socialist Alliance (socialism / NSW, WA, Brisbane [QLD], Lilley [QLD])

Socialist Equality Party (niche socialism / NSW, VIC, Oxley [QLD])

The Australian Mental Health Party (single issue / QLD, WA)

The Great Australian Party (white nationalist conspiracy theorists / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA, Bean [ACT])

The Small Business Party (single issue / NSW, VIC)

The Together Party (social democracy / NSW)

The Women’s Party (women’s rights / NSW)

United Australia Party (cult of personality / all states and territories

Victorian Socialists (socialism / Cooper, Calwell, Wills [all VIC])

Voteflux.org | Upgrade Democracy! (no policy / NSW, VIC, WA)

Western Australia Party (right-wing parochialism / WA)

Yellow Vest Australia (xenophobia / VIC, WA)

Ungrouped independents in NSW: part one, part two, and No Tax Free Electricity.Com

I had said I might review the ungrouped independents in VIC and SA but I ran out of time. I had a quick glance at the three SA candidates and they are all weak or middling. Cate of Cate Speaks has covered the VIC independents as part of her own (somewhat less snarky) reviews of the parties. Kevin Bonham has taken a TAS slant here.

Prior reviews: none, this is a new party.

Running where: NSW.

Look, I was briefly suspicious when I first visited the Together Party website and the first words were “let’s rebuild our common wealth”. Ranting about “common wealth” and rebuilding/restoring the country to some idealised past state is stuff that often appears from really fringe far-right figures. But this is nothing of the sort!

The Together Party is loosely social democratic, with an emphasis on “human rights above all”. This slogan is supported by a series of bullet points also expressed as slogans: “homes before houses”, “people before profit”, “outcomes not just opportunity”, “education before defence”, “living with not against the planet”, and “communities before the economy”. These appear to encapsulate policy, and would be good titles if so, but instead just lead to forum discussion pages. That might be a way of being “together” (albeit a crude one that often gets hijacked online) but it does not really give a detailed idea of principles.

Fortunately, the Together Party has other pages that articulate policy with more clarity. They have quite a selection of policies with regards to government taxation and expenditure, including support for a Universal Basic Income and a corporate turnover tax to redress multinational tax avoidance. They want to move half the defence budget into education for the purposes of rebuilding TAFE and providing free undergraduate university study. They would also bolster funding to the arts, and double funding to the ABC and SBS, with a statutory requirement for further increases over the next decade.

In terms of the environment and economy, the Together Party envisages Australia as a “renewables superpower”. To them the health of the Great Barrier Reef is the barometer of the success of environmental policies. The party emphasises the need for a “climate economy” in which coal is phased out, carbon is priced, and investment directed to renewables. They are hostile to the continued privatisation of public services and want to re-nationalise some of what has already been hocked off, such as employment services and vocational training. Indeed, they propose a royal commission into the effects of privatisation on Australian society and economy—ahh, the long Australian political tradition of calling for royal commissions!

As the party name suggests, the Together Party is all about social inclusion. They want Aboriginal peoples to be able to negotiate treaties at state and federal levels. They emphasise the need to listen to women and fund necessary measures to stop gendered violence and protect reproductive rights. Workers’ rights will be protected, with union powers and the right to strike bolstered. The Together Party opposes punitive detention of asylum seekers. The current spending on this would, under their proposals, be redirected to the criminal justice system for the purposes of rehabilitation and victim compensation.

My recommendation: give the Together Party a good preference.