“Elections are decided by those who turn up”
We’re going to the polls on July 2 in what the pundits are predicting will be a close call. Let’s hope that the disappointments of 2013 are not repeated.
After the 2013 election I read somewhere that an extra 30,000 votes for Labor – if those votes were distributed in the right place – would have seen them retain government. I don’t know if that is true or not, but what is true is that an estimated 1.22 million Australians who were eligible to vote, simply didn’t see the need to. Of these, 400,000 were young Australians who hadn’t bothered to enrol.
I find this disappointing, as we rest our hopes on the youth of Australia.
It is the youth of Australia who will face the horrid effects of climate change and a ravaged environment. It is the youth of Australia – more than any other cohort – who are demanding a world class internet. It is the youth of Australia who face an uncertain future because of rising unemployment and ever-increasing house prices. And it is the youth of Australia who may have better luck than we did in closing the offshore detention centres.
If we can encourage the youth to vote, it is fair to say that the people who didn’t vote in the 2013 election might very well determine the result in this year’s election.
This email from Labor (below) was sent to me yesterday. They urge young Australians to enrol and to have their say when it matters most: election day. It is worth sharing and worth spreading.
Elections are decided by those who turn up.
While we may have compulsory voting in Australia, there are over 1.06 million Australians who are aren’t enrolled to vote. This includes nearly half of all eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds.
Last election, marginal seats like Capricornia were decided by just a few hundred votes. If all of these people enrolled, things could have been very different.
Can you make sure you and your family and friends are enrolled to vote today? www.aec.gov.au/enrol
Making sure everyone is enrolled could mean the difference between another three years of these out of touch Liberals or a Shorten Labor Government that puts people first.
That’s why we’re asking every single Labor supporter to make sure they’re enrolled to vote and, if you are, to make sure your friends are enrolled too. The rolls may close as soon as next weekend. Can you enrol to vote and share this link with your friends today? www.aec.gov.au/enrol
Voting is one of the most important things you’ll do this election – and enrolling yourself or enrolling a friend means you get to have your say. This could be the difference whether we elect a Labor Government that invests in our schools, or a Coalition Government that cuts Medicare.
Let’s ensure that everyone has their say on July 2.
Thanks for your support,
Paul Erickson
Director of Target Seats
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11 comments
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Backyard Bob -
John Kelly -
Tracie -
Backyard Bob -
June M Bullivant OAM -
you can't be serious -
Kyran -
Kaye Lee -
cornlegend -
jimhaz -
Gangey1959
Return to home pageI would hope that the Labor Party is listening to some of our peak bodies dealing with issues faced by our youth. Some relevant and targeted policy ideas might help (beyond things like Gonski).
http://www.ayac.org.au/reports/submissions.html
Who dares Wins. If Labor are willing to take risks and be a party of reform, they can win. But how one gets the message out to the eligible but unregistered youth, is another matter. How do you arrest ambivalence?
It is true that the last election was decided on around 30,000 votes. It is also true that several thousand people voted more than once. It is highly likely that those people voted numerous times for LNP. Dirty tricks abound with those people.
This is Canadian but interesting. Warning: contains numerous F-bombs:
Talking to my grandchildren today, for the first time in my life time they know and acknowledge what is happening to the people of Australia, they are not happy, I told them to take a black biro to vote, do not use the pencil. They said that they would. I was gobsmacked.
Hi June M Bullivant. Interested as to why you say your grandkids should take a black biro to mark their vote rather than relying on a pencil?. Thanks
“… we rest our hopes on the youth of Australia.”
Once upon a time, Eden Monaro was regarded as a bellwether seat. With re-distribution, it may not be so conclusive. Or predictive.
Once upon a time, there was a seat called “Indi”. It was held by notional nationals until 2001, when the Mirabella phenomenon happened. I always thought Mirabella was a company providing illumination. My bad. She allegedly represented them, until she lost the seat.
“Ms Mirabella represented the people of Indi in federal Parliament for 12 years, until independent Cathy McGowan snatched the seat by just a handful of votes in 2013.”
Don’t fret, kids, Ms Mirabella got a gig with a company building subs to tide her over.
But now, she wants to come back. Ok, there was an oopsy about that hospital funding thingy. It’s not like she would abuse her credibility.
“I know in a Turnbull Government I can deliver more – both in policy and in real results on the ground here.”
Ms Mirabella is campaigning on her contacts and experience in government.
“I’m a bit of a veteran in public life and a lot of people in positions making decisions are friends of mine,” she said.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-07/indi-contest-sophie-mirabella-attempts-politcal-comeback/7393210
I have endless hope in the youth of Australia, and their engagement with ‘politics’, however self serving.
I also think they know the difference between a fairy tale and their future. And I think they are as angry as I am. Thank you, Mr Taylor. Take care
The electoral rolls will close on May 23, ahead of a July 2 poll.
About 15.5 million people are eligible to vote in the upcoming election, but 950,000 people are missing from the electoral roll.
AEC spokesman Phil Diak said the number of young people who were yet to register was a concern.
“In round terms, about one in two 18-year-olds and one in four 19-year-olds are not on the roll, so it’s very important that they take action now, and you can do this by going to the AEC’s website and you can enrol conveniently on a PC, smartphone or tablet,” he said.
Damn, whats the old asying: the more things change, the more they stay the same
“Angry Anderson Will Run For The Senate For The Anti-Islam Australian Liberty Alliance”
I have had some run ins with this political prostitute,
a comment from 3 years ago on IA
cornlegend • 3 years ago
When I get back home, I see I am going to have to fight for truth , justice and democracy in my very own Federal Electorate.
In their wisdom, the Nationals have decided to run a candidate in my electorate of Throsby.
That legend in his own lunchtime Angry Anderson has decided to grace us with his candidacy.
It’s a bit like Angry thought “I can’t get a proper job so I’m gonna be a politishun ”
Now this budding candidate for democracy has firm beliefs.
Not sure what they are though
Anderson has been a member of the Nationals since 2011.
Last year he stated his desire to make a run at politics, saying he would be open to joining the Liberal Party.
He had indicated he would like to run for the seat of Gilmore
then thought of Page
Angry Anderson has decided at the last minute to keep his politics strictly within the domain of music for now, after removing his candidacy in the Liberal party preselection for the western Sydney seat of Greenway, according to The Australian.
{Written by Zoe Kingsley on 28 February 2013 }
“I wouldn’t say I have a foot in both camps, but I understand both sides and both sides understand me as a person who’s in the middle,” says Anderson.
Former rock star Angry Anderson will make a bid to enter Federal Parliament in September after being selected by the Nationals to contest the Wollongong-based seat of Throsby.
Anderson, who lives on Sydney’s northern beaches, was unopposed in the preselection on Friday night.
”I have been an outspoken, passionate campaigner on many issues … I felt that by putting my hand up to try to enter Federal Parliament I could take that to the next level,” he said
ANGRY ANDERSON said he was “absolutely” prepared to swap the leafy northern beaches for western Sydney if the Liberal Party endorses him as its candidate for the federal seat of Greenway
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/nationa…
The previously preselected candidate, Nick Cleary, withdrew in March, citing family reasons. Anderson had previously considered standing for the Liberals in the western Sydney seat of Greenway As a Liberal
Gilmore As a National
Page As a ?
Throsby As a National
Lyne Interested but……..
ANGRY ENDORSES LABOR MP
Anderson let his youth audience know that he was not interested in challenging Labor for the seat of Page, which includes includes God’s own country of Lismore, Ballina, Yamba and Grafton. He told the yoof:
The thing about is, Page was never in contention, and besides, I understand they have a wonderfully functional Labor candidate there doing a great job, so I don’t see the sense, if someone is doing well by their constituency, if they do love their member, I don’t see the sense in fixing something that’s not broken, so having said that, that makes me very politically naïve., too, I have very recently found out.
TRIPLE TROUBLE: Suddenly, Angry Anderson doesn’t seem like such a good idea
http://www.vexnews.com/2011/10…
“I like the Nationals as a party, I like their morals and they have a strong Christian component,”
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/angr…
But then again, he needs a job, he’s running
And I’ll be campaigning my arse off against this racist environmental vandalist, and all round angry guy
That was then, nothing changes, only Angrys job search
Listening to the Races on the weekend, I see that Harvey Norman is doing more or less DIRECT political ads for the Libs, based on sales improvements since Hockey’s small business depreciation lurk budget.
I am extremely uneasy about a business being allowed to do such biased ads. Business should not be allowed such forms of political persuasion. The ads would be tax deductible.
Lol, I would say that when the mining companies did this it backfired – the mining tax could have cost us a fortune.
From 2015
“According to the report, Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey says he is planning to roll out an ad campaign to take advantage of the budget. “I wrote the budget and [Treasurer] Joe Hockey read it,” Harvey quipped.
My daughter is enrolled for this one, so is her boyfriends little sister. (He’s not, but he’s a dick).
The message does get through slowly when it is presented in the right format, which thankfully these days is NOT on one of rupy muckraker’s front pages.
About 18 months ago I sent my eldest a link to her ipad, and an hour later got back “Is this for real? We need to do something about this.”
(I’d been trying to talk to her about how it was going to affect her schooling for months.)
In terms of double dealing on the voting slips, with all of the electronic technology now available via ebay and alibaba, surely we could get in some thumb-print reader technology to idiot proof the whole system, and even do away with all of that imported paper.
Photo id, thumb print scan, electronic vote card, no cheating, and ALL the kids would enroll into the bargain.