Salient reminder – Australian election rort a national scandal: plutocracy for all the world to see!
A salient reminder of how the system works while Tasmania counts its votes, could we possibly expect a miracle? Reality says that if someone has a rope around your neck you might have to fall in line and accept the inevitable. Miracles only happen at the strangler’s will which raises the question; which side is God really on? But that is another story … Bring in the Sandman.
Right now we are being told the Liberals will win in the State of Tasmania tomorrow … today. “You’ve got to be kidding!” Not if you look at the last federal election results in 2016 and then consider the polls and media ‘presstitution‘.
Elections in Australia are rigged, not just the polls and media coverage. While party politics and electoral issues in States are different, it defies all reason that Liberals/LNP anywhere could actually win an election or bi-election at State or Federal level in a fair and even contest in the current corrupt Liberal-National climate. Anyone today who advocates the importance of understanding the difference between Federal and State is pedalling a well-worn lie. I also believe the electoral boundaries are rigged in Liberal and National favour as well as the electoral process.
Consider the following facts in the 2016 Federal election – House of Representatives:
Liberal-National Party (QLD): 1,153,736 votes – 21 seats
National Party: 624,555 votes – 10 seats
Australian Greens: 1,385,650 votes – 1 seat: How is this possible, worse still, acceptable for a so-called modern democracy?
Now that is scandalous, less than 1/25th of seat allocation according to votes to Australian Greens – one seat in the House, 25-fold in favour of the Nationals per votes cast. That can only be achieved by a highly dysfunctional and fraudulent Australian electoral system, and it is not just a question of boundaries or indeed the absence of proportional representation.
The tragedy is most Australians are not even aware of it and those who are turn a blind eye and stick their heads in the sand of plutocratic ignorance and pragmatism.
No miracles down there unless you believe in the Sandman!
Sources of statistics quoted:
1) Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_federal_election,_2016
2) Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_Australian_federal_election,_2016_(House_of_Representatives)
3) Primary source – Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) – http://results.aec.gov.au/20499/Website/HouseMembersElected-20499.htm
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33 comments
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babyjewels10 -
Joseph Carli -
Freethinker -
Joseph Carli -
Freethinker -
Anomander -
cjward2017 -
Joseph Carli -
diannaart -
Freethinker -
helvityni -
Freethinker -
diannaart -
helvityni -
Joseph Carli -
Freethinker -
Joseph Carli -
Freethinker -
helvityni -
Andreas Bimba -
Diane -
Freethinker -
Andreas Bimba -
Freethinker -
diannaart -
keith vass -
Slapsy -
Jon Chesterson -
Jon Chesterson -
OPPOSE THE MAJOR PARTIES -
OPPOSE THE MAJOR PARTIES -
win jeavons -
Andreas Bimba
Return to home pageWhy aren’t the Greens kicking up an unholy stink? I don’t get it.
My favourite rant about the last and indeed many Federal elections is the ubiquitous “postal vote”…Particularly those from overseas..AND MOST PARTICULARLY, those which make their way through the ballot boxes of “Australia House”…for many years now the “London Address” of one : A. Downer Esq. …former leader and Foreign Minister of that party that seems to benefit most from the English postal votes…and considering THAT single “electorate” is the biggest in the Australian vote, being in the region of over 70,000 votes, I have always wondered how many of those strategic votes (keeping in mind Turnbull only won the 2016 election by ONE seat and THAT SEAT by a relative handful of POSTAL VOTES ) are legitimate or from deceased “grandfathered voters” …has anyone ever checked the legitimacy of those voters, considering that these days there is the capacity to Pre-Poll vote before one goes overseas?
babyjewels 10March 3, 2018 at 8:37 am
Why aren’t the Greens kicking up an unholy stink? I don’t get it.
Unfortunately because the big parties are happy with the system as it is and The Greens are not popular with the electorate, not to mention the ALP supporters.
Also, those many Green voters are thinly scattered, like so much dandruff on the “power shoulders” of an aggressive corporate ladder-climber!
Yes Joe, greed and selfishness spreading like a super bug and not only in Australia.
The Greens do kick-up a stink occasionally. Unfortunately, the MSM is attuned only to hear the voices of the LibLab duopoly or the outrageous rantings of Poorleen or Corgi.
Live in Tasmania and see it being wrecked. The Greens have no answers here only negative carping. They will lose one seat at least. The ALP is no more, just a number of cliques opposing one another. and as for the Libs…que? For a government in a shoe-box Parliament of 25, it should be possible to vote for people who are competent and have a non-party government. But no, big fleas have little fleas and no pest controller. The outcome today could be minority government and that’s possibly the worst result. I asked to be put into stasis for a couple of months but no, I have to suffer with the rest. That worthy candidate FCUK will probably do quite well in some divisions.
cjward2017…What think you the chances of Jacqui Lambie?
Anomander
Agree.
A very successful campaign from the Libs, Labor and a complicit MSM have combined to create a popularised and false image of the Greens’ – we even see it here at AIM, where mere mention of the Greens brings out the naysayers like cockroaches from under the fridge.
Whereas, actual verifiable data reveals the Greens are (in spite of the Lib/Labs) more popular than the Nats – which shouldn’t be too difficult, but remains off the public’s radar.
We desperately need investigation into our voting system – one would think that Labor should be concerned about systematic vilification given the mudslinging they receive from the LNP – but no, like many abused they go on to abuse the Greens.
Am out of answers.
diannaart, I also live in Tasmania and if the ALP losing the election will be for their own fault to continuously having disputes within the party to electing their representatives.
The “number crunches” in the ALP are a big problem not only at state level but also federal.
Also I agree that both parties are in war against the Greens and that suit the Liberals very well.
I believe Tasmanian people found out last minute that the Liberals are planning to ease the gun control, indicating that it is what the farmers want,…nothing to with farmers, the experts say…
Yes, helvityni, that is correct.
Also it is a shame that the problems with the hospitals are no used effectively by the ALP, I guess because not enough money or wrong strategy.
Helvityni
I do believe the Libs may have shot themselves in the foot (no apologies for pun) with their push to weaken gun control laws… will watch results with interest.
oops, nothing with the farmers; hardly clever politics, right now we are witnessing the misery the freely available guns can create…
Personally, I hope Lambie does well in the elections…she may be a bit erratic, but at least she’s got her class in the right place!
At least I hope she outpolls the Greens…but…fat chance!
This is in the local news Joe, quote: former Labor MP and Property Council executive director Brian Wightman agreed the groups advocated a vote for Labor or Liberals rather than for minor parties such as the Greens and the JLN.
“We believe that voting for one of the majors is the best chance of delivering majority government in Tasmania — it’s the only chance,”
What chance we can have for a future Socialist party with “lefties” like Wightman in charge of powerful private groups?
Yes, Freethinker…where once in Australia, ethics and ideals were held above economic rewards, now it is the opposite..The teaching of economics as the preferred business strategy has infiltrated into politics and the Neo-liberalism ideal has infected the governance of the nation….Australia needs it’s own Fidel Castro.
That Joe, only will happen when there is not enough bread at the table to feed the family.
I don’t understand why the Greens are so disliked in Oz; for me Labor and the Greens they are the obvious bed-fellows…
What bull that we need Fidel, equality through poverty for all?
A return to the social democratic mixed economy model with full employment that the postwar Labor governments put in place and that Menzies was forced to also follow looks like a much more sensible option given the current values of Australians.
The duopoly let the corporate oligarchy and ‘global capital’ seize effective political and economic control over the last forty years and most of us keep voting for them. Let’s face it Labor has lost their vision, courage and most of their values under the relentless assault from those that control the money.
Genuine multiparty democracy is probably now our best bet or possibly at some point Labor may re-adopt a more social democratic path like Jeremy Corbyn in the UK or Bernie Sanders in the US and re-energise their grass roots.
For multiparty democracy to take hold we need a proportional representation voting system like Tasmania’s or the ACT’s Hare-Clark voting system or New Zealand’s or Germany’s Mixed Member Proportional voting system. For the Hare-Clark system, electoral divisions or seats have about five times the number of voters and five local members are elected per seat. This allows voters to choose from a number of candidates for each party and voters preferences are more fairly allocated. This animation shows how the winning local candidates are determined.
In a true multiparty system, parties will rise and fall in popularity and will generally focus on a more narrow range of issues. Coalition negotiations after elections will determine who governs. Such governments may be more unstable but they will better represent the aspirations of the electorate.
Here in SA where we have an election in two weeks time, ALL the media (and bear in mind we only have one daily paper – owned by Murdoch, and the ABC are increasingly biased towards the right as well) are reporting on just three parties – the Libs, Labor, and SA Best (Xenophon’s newest stunt party). I’ve had several phone survey robo-calls and those are the only parties mentioned in that, grouping the Greens I guess with the loony parties like Cory Bernardi’s under ‘Other’. This morning I got in my news feed an analysis by ABC Adelaide of the policies of Labor vs Liberals and SA Best. Absolutely zero mention of the Greens (or anyone else), although I am sure they have candidates.
Andreas Bimba March 3, 2018 at 3:39 pm
What bull that we need Fidel, equality through poverty for all?
Without hijacking the thread Fidel, or for that matter the Cuban revolution did not brought poverty for all, poverty, slavery, health and education for few was before the revolution, under the dictatorship that have the support of USA and all their crawlers.
Poverty under Fidel was because the trade embargo imposed by USA and also followed by all their crawler governments including the Australians.
Australia has more resources than Cuba to survive an embargo which will never be in place.
I agree Freethinker that poverty was already endemic in Cuba before the revolution. Living standards did improve under Fidel but I would think they could have risen further if Fidel allowed a social democratic mixed public and private sector economy even with the application of a foreign trade embargo.
Bimba, in the mid 80’s Fidel free a bit the market allowing street markets and unfortunately was too soon, greed and corruption nearly took over.
After that the solution was community organic gardens and that is going very strong since then.
Unfortunately low moral behavior does not have frontiers in humanity and will happen in any country.
Obama have done a lot of good but unfortunately Trump is sabotaging all the good will by the American and Cuban people.
Diane
SA is the most progressive state in many ways – particularly with regard to renewables, and, yes, thank you, Premier Jay Weatherill.
The Greens influence on progressive policy so blatantly ignored by Murdoch et al, is a continuation of sabotage that will only end when the natural order of life finally claims Murdoch and long may he R.I.P. He has caused global damage on a scale Putin or Trump can only dream about. Hoping his sons aren’t quite so into being global dictators.
I don’t see any victory for the LNP in SA, which hardly matters if the ebullient and self-promoting Xenophon prevails. We know with whom he stands when decisions are made.
So, was it Rigged or are all Taswegians stark staring MAD?
Until they wake up the Greens seat count will always be low. Instead of targeting inner city Labor seats,why not get out in the rural areas,where the real environmentalists live. Get on side with the farming communities,and they may be able to win some seats.
I think it’s clear from the informative conversation/s here there are numerous influential factors that have permitted the continuance of the status quo in Tasmania and tragically this fuels the federal Lib-Nat bushfire.
Did anyone see this report of the strangle hold from the gambling lobby in the Sydney Morning Herald last month? – Sydney NSW wealthy family, the Farrells have a massive monopolistic gambling control over Tasmania, no doubt bankrolling the Liberals to stay in power, massive conflict of interest! Doesn’t matter where you look, Liberals, dirty money, power and exploitation all in bed together, Sate or Federal level. The Guardian also reports these seats are being bought.
‘No risk: The family who own Tasmania’s gambling industry – Sydney Morning Herald, 2 February 2018 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-risk-the-family-who-owns-tasmanias-gambling-industry-20180202-h0slct.html
Tasmania of course also has the Hare-Clark electoral system, but it wasn’t enough to tackle the corruption and it looks like the Australian Greens have had bad press in Tassie further weakening their presence, doesn’t help when they get shot down on both sides of politics and yes I think Labor are as much to blame for this.
It is also troublesome to see South Australia under threat, as I think this is the State with the most sensible and progressive government policies. Nick Xenophon is an anathema, perhaps he can weaken the Liberal vote, but the ABC, our once faithful public broadcaster too have had their strings cut, short back and sides to the Federal Liberal mission – Not just what they say is bias, it is the silence on issues and voices that should be heard that distorts the field of play, this being a critical problem and threat to civil society and challenge to government and corporate misinformation.
Labor should be forming an equally potent coalition in our States and nationally, sharing power with the Australian Greens to fight those Liberal National partisans. Shorten’s rule and Labor’s traditional conservatism is preventing the birth of progressive politics and government in this country. The Australian Greens with 1, 385, 650 votes at the last Federal election and the progressive global-human thinking hold the keys to the Parliament of the future. It’s time to embrace that future, and not shy of 1.5 million Australians know it. This is also why Turnbull wants to shut down Charity, NGO and community advocacy groups like GetUp, Greenpeace, Change and Amnesty International.
Once the tiger is out of the bag, I see a long and possible stable period of Australian Government when the Liberals and the Nationals will be banished from power. The potential is there.
This happens because of the counting system implemented by the Electoral Act. Once the two most successful candidates are ascertained from the first round count of first preference votes after an election, the remaining candidates are eliminated and their preferences distributed among the remaining two. In that way, the preferences votes cast for the eliminated candidates from any other candidates after the first round elimination, are never counted as votes for the eliminated candidate and the vote passes through via lower preferences to the two remaining candidates. Hence, even if a minor party or independent gets 25% of the first preference vote and two candidates above it get 26% and 27% each, the minor party or independent will be eliminated and other second, third and fourth preferences votes cast in its favor will not be counted as a vote for the eliminated party or independent. This means that even if the eliminated party gets more second preference votes from all the other candidates than two non eliminated parties, the preferences cast for it don’t count because it is eliminated. Only preferences votes for the first and second ranked candidates after the first round elimination are counted. That is how the two party system is maintained. It means a party only needs to finish second by a small margin to avoid elimination and attract preferences from eliminated parties.The system was rigged like this by the Hawk Labor Gov and is one of the reasons why you should OPPOSE THE MAJOR PARTIES.
Freethinker. “Australia has more resources than Cuba to survive an embargo which will never be in place’.The USA would never need a trade embargo against Australia. It would just invade
Why should Rupert rest in peace, he has destroyed it for so many others, here, Manus, Nauru, Middle East…
Why would the US invade when all government policies in Australia are already in accordance with the dictates of international capital? If the current puppets where any more servile the electorate might start looking for others to vote for. Unfortunately a sufficient number of the electorate are also puppets. Oh dear!