And it was my sad realisation that the vast majority of citizens of this country Vote for either:
- The leader of a particular party
- The party itself (ie voting Liberal for the sake of being a Liberal because you have always voted liberal based on some prior thought process)
- They don't care, they would rather not have to vote, or they are simply misinformed
The leader of a particular party
When asked the question, "who do you vote for", many many people will say "person x".
Not once does a parties Policies come into people's thought process during an election.
Most people will more then likely watch the leaders debate a month or so before the election and base their entire choice on what is said by the leader of the party.
During these debates, each candidate does his/her best to shine a bad light on the candidate, trying to "one up" each other. A typical exchange will go like this:
- Liberal candidate: When labour was in power, we had massive inflation, high interest rates and high unemployment
- Labour candidate: When the Liberals where in power, we had rising crime, corporate fraud etc etc
Very rarely is the parties policies talked about.
The party itself
Alot of older Australians, when asked who do they vote for, will generally trout out the name of the party who they have always voted for, generally it is also the party their parents voted for as well.
My grandmother was asked who does she vote for, and she said Liberal. I probed further, and asked her why does she vote liberal, and she said because of their record. I tried to move the discussion on to the parties polocies, but it was "ears wide shut" on the topic - She would be voting liberal regardless.
They don't care, they would rather not have to vote, or they are simply misinformed
This one urks me the most.
When asked why do they vote, they either answer "I have to vote for someone" or "I dont care, who should I vote for, please tell me" or "I vote for John hoaward" or 'kevin Rudd, because person x said they are the best leader".
It worries me greatly that most people do not care about democracy, and the small chance they get to enact real change in the world.
How and Why do I vote
When choosing who to Vote for, I actively look at a parties policies, and try to sum up which party best fits with what I hold dear:
- Universal Health Care
- Universal Public education
- Universal Pension system
- The Environment
- Public transport
Both of the big two parties (Liberal/labour) support private Health insurance, which only leads to higher costs and less coverage then a Single payer system such as Medicare.
Additionally, both of the big two parties support subsidies for private schools, including but not limited to Religiously based Faith Schools - Why should Australian Tax payers support a Faith based system?
Note: I will cover Universal Health care, and Universal Public/Tertiary education in a future blog posting.
Australian pensioners have not had a pay rise for many many years, neither political parties will give older Australian a fair go, in fact they seem to be almost anti-senior - They would rather give the funds away as a Tax cut, which will only increase inflation.
The Enviroment, so vital to the existence of ours and every other species, is slowly and surely being degraded by the efforts of one Homo-sapiens sapiens - Any political party that I vote for must be a party that supports:
- The tackling of climate change in short and longer terms (the greatest threat to all life on the planet)
- Conversion from a high carbon economy to one of a sustainable, renewable one
- Respect and protection of Australia's forests (best way to sequestor carbon that there is) and wild life, so vital to the music of life on earth
Public Transport
Of all of the ways to move people around a city, public high speed transport is the most cost/Environmentally friendly option available.
But why is this so:
- Public transport, such as trains can be powered by renewable means - Even electricity can be generated by "green" means
- Public transport, such as trains, light rail, and trams can carry more people per square meter then the alternative, mainly Automobiles
- Public Transport, such as trains, require less energy per person then the alternative
- Public transport is safe, relatively speaking
Public transport can and is, the safest most efficient mode available to us.
Motorways and highways are not the solution to congestion, as they only add to the problem - You can never build motorways wide enough to carry the traffic, they cost alot to build and maintain (relative to the amount of traffic they carry v's the alternative, which is public transport)
Goverment's, at least the NSW state goverment, is supportive of PPP's (Public/Private partnerships"
While this allows the motorways to be built quickly, they certainly are not cheap, as the private company who is charged with the constructions will have to make a profit, additionally the company who runs it will need to make a large enough profit years into the future, and of course will be first in line if future expansion is needed, again furthering the financial burden of Australian families.
PPP's are not the solution, an intergrated, high speed mix of heavy rail, light rail, buses and trams are the solution:
- They can carry alot more people
- Safe, highly regulated (you are in the hands of a highly trained driver, as opposed to a driver who sees himself/herself geting to their destination as quickly as possible
- They can be green
As I wrap up, please note I am not anti car.
I just think public transport can get the majority of people to their destination cheaper, safer and more cleaner then private car use.
Once we de-carbonise the public transport grid, we can tackle car uae head on (fuel emmision standards, hydro/electric hybrids etc.
Better yet, let's tackle it all at the same time, and future generations can benefit.
The only political party, who's policies match and line up with my own core beliefs, is the Australian greens (and by extension the NSW greens as I live here) and they are who I will be voting for in the upcoming election, not because they may or may not get in, but because if they can get enough senators in the Australian Senate, they will be the 3rd party insurance that we are all desperately crying out for.
