Federal Election Newsflash
November 22, 2007
Hi all,
In this Newsflash we are giving you a number of different sources of information for Saturday's election.
Firstly, we need to re-assert that our fundamental position is to remain un politically aligned and to deliver information in regard to the issue of Climate Change and the expansion of the fossil fuel industry in this country.
We therefore will not endorse any political party and believe that our role is to facilitate an informed decision from the voters within our community
We would like to clarify that we are not a political party and have no association with the Climate Change Coalition.
A. The House of Representatives:
We have divided this into 3 sections:
A.i Responses from our Sydney Candidates to the CCBR Questionnaire
A.ii Other sites and information
A.iii A note on Preferences
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A.i Responses from our Sydney Candidates to the CCBR Questionnaire...
Here in the seat of Sydney there are 7 candidates:
1. Georgina ANDERSON – Lib
*2. Adrian FORD – Citizens Electoral Council
*3. Jenny LEONG – The Greens
4. John LEE - Christian Democrats (Fred Nile Group)
*5. Jane WARD – Independent
*6. Tanya PLIBERSEK – Labor
7. Mayo MATERAZZO – Democrats
* these candidates responded to our questionnaire.
We sent the following 5 questions to all candidates, followed up by phone.
1. What are your party’s Greenhouse Gas Emission targets?
2. How will the party achieve these targets?
3. Do you know / How do you feel about the subsidies given to the fossil fuel industry?
4. Would you support legislation that prohibits new coal projects and coal fired power stations?
5. Do you have 100% accredited green power?
Four of the seven candidates responsed.
We have compiled the answers given in the attached document for your information.
A.iiOther Sites and Information...
There have been many useful charts and scorecards produced in the last few weeks.
Here are a few that we recommend:
•
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) has produced a scorecard on climate change and our future environment: http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=1439
•
The Climate Institute site at http://www.climateinstitute.org.au:80//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=101&Itemid=46
•
The GetUp organisation has a quick Quiz (not soley climate change) "This is like nothing you've seen before. Take the exclusive, three-minute quiz to get your very own, personalised how-to-vote card - we can even SMS the results to your mobile on Election Day!" http://www.howshouldivote.com.au
• The Vote Climate site athttp://voteclimate.org.au:80/FED07-Policy-rankings
• Handing out leaflets. If you are passionate about your decision, one of the most powerful things you can do is to hand out flyers for the party you support at a polling booth. If you would like to support the Bill McHarg campaign to de-throne Howard contact Bill McHarg on: 0431 683 343 or Jo Spangaro on: 0414 375 149 (Ryde-Gladesville Climate Action Group - Bennelong)
A.iii A note on Preferences...
Are you concerned that if you don't vote for one of the major parties your vote is wasted? It is not.
When voting for the House of Representatives, you can safely put your prefered minor parties before your prefered major party on the ballot paper, without watering down, splitting or in any way wasting your vote. Your chosen major party (ALP or Coalition) will still receive a full vote from you, as long as you put them in front of the other major party.
For more, check out the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website at www.aec.gov.au/Voting/count.htm.
For example, if you are concerned about Climate Change and believe that neither major party have a strong enough policy on this issue, but you definitely don't want the Coalition back in Government, your safest and most influential method of voting would be to put the smaller parties with strong climate change policies, such as the Greens and the Democrats, first and second, then Labor third, followed by all the climate weak parties, with the Coalition last. This amounts to a safe vote for Labor with a strong environment message attached, and it assists the minor party financially, as they are allocated funds from the AEC for every primary vote they win.
It is also a vote for a richer democracy than the two party dominated system. On the other hand, if you put the Greens/Democrats after Labor, your vote for the environment will not be counted.
B. The Senate
If we are serious about dealing with Climate Change, then we need to take great care how we vote in the Senate. We have arranged this section thus
B.i General info
B.ii A "1" above the line
B.iii Numbering below the line
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B.i General info...
In NSW there are 79 candidates for the 6 Senate seats.
Realistically the first 4 seats will go to the Coalition (2) and Labor (2) and similarly in other states.
With all due respect to the other candidates and parties involved, the last 2 seats will most likely be a three way contest between Labor, the Coalition and the Greens.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) review of the environment policies of these 3 parties gave them the following ratings:
Greens 95%........Labor 58% ...........Coalition 22% see: http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=1439
Therefore, if you are concerned about climate change, it will be very important to ensure that your preferences have both The Greens and Labor ahead of the Coalition.
B.ii A "1" above the line...
For the Senate, you can vote either 'above the line' by simply placing a "1" in a box on the ballot paper - as 98% of NSW voters did in the 2004 Federal Election.
If you choose to vote above the line for a minor party, it is important to know where that party's preferences will flow. If your nominated party does not get enough votes, and is eliminated from the count, your vote goes to whoever it has designated in its Group Voting Ticket. In other words, your vote could end up electing someone for whom you had no intention voting for!
In Victoria in the 2004 Federal Election, the Family First senate candidate, Steve Fielding, received less than 2% of the primary vote, but was elected on preferences from several even smaller parties.
The Citizen's Climate Campaign has analysed the preferences of the NSW senate candidates contained in their Group Voting Tickets. These tickets have been lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission. See: http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/elections/2007/gvt/NSW_2007_gvt.pdf
The summary shows each party's first three preferences - this gives an indication of their political leaning ie. where each party has placed the Coalition, Labor and The Greens in its preferences. The following parties give preferences to the Coalition, before both The Greens and Labor.
So voting for these parties is a vote for inaction on climate change:
• Liberal/Nationals (The Coalition)
• Citizens Electoral Council
• Family First
• Pauline (Pauline Hanson's party)
• LDP - Liberty & Democracy Party
• Conservatives for Climate and Environment
• DLP - Democratic Labor Party
• The Fishing Party
• Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group)
• One Nation
• Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting)
• The Aust. Shooters Party / Aust. Fishing & Lifestyle Party
• Group V - no party name - Walter Tinyow is their first candidate
• Socialist Equality Party
B.iii Numbering below the line...
If you vote below the line, you will need to number every box.
However, it is easy to make a mistake when voting below the line, thus making your vote informal. Of the total votes cast in the last election over 3% were informal.
And lastly....
"Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract - sustainable development- and turn it into daily reality for all the world's people.”
Kofi Annan
