Australia Federal Election

[JUL3]

There's still a few Aussies 'round here right? Come on ya drongos, let's talk politics.

Choice topics;

Australia's inhumane treatment of Asylum Seekers.
National Broadband Network.
The Hamster Decides.

Go.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Do they still have those hilarious smear campaigns on T.V.? When I lived there, they had some pretty funny ones.

"If John Howard isn't aware, that's TERRIBLE. If he is, that's WORSE!"

 

[JUL3]

Do they still have those hilarious smear campaigns on T.V.? When I lived there, they had some pretty funny ones.

"If John Howard isn't aware, that's TERRIBLE. If he is, that's WORSE!"

It's even worse now. Tony Abbott is seriously like a child.

When/where did you live in Aus?

 

[Wanted Bob]

Lived in Sydney for a year in 2004. Loved it, though the school system there is all kinds of whack compared to Canada.

 

[JUL3]

Lived in Sydney for a year in 2004. Loved it, though the school system there is all kinds of whack compared to Canada.

How does it compare/contrast?

Australia is currently in the process of reforming its education system, introducing a National Curriculum and such.

 

[Danimal]

Rupert Murdoch has got such a control over people's opinions on this it's scary.

I was just going to spit on the voting form and place it atop the pile like every other election - don't understand what kind of sham-democracy forces it's citizens to vote.

 

[JUL3]

Rupert Murdoch has got such a control over people's opinions on this it's scary.

I was just going to spit on the voting form and place it atop the pile like every other election - don't understand what kind of sham-democracy forces it's citizens to vote.

Hey Danimal! Long time, no forum-posting.

I agree, and they don't even attempt subtlety either, every Herald Sun headline (in Victoria) lately is essentially "Do you really want this ****head in charge!? VOTE TONY ABBOTT". It's quite depressing.

Yeah I've always found that strange, you get fined $20 for NOT voting. Bizarre.

 

[Danimal]

The average reading age of our country is 12 - I don't think they could be subtle even if they wanted to.

p.s. lol hi! <3

 

[Robbo]

Technically they don't force you to vote, only attend.
I'm kinda glad it happens. I imagine the alternative is that you only have people on the fringes voting and politicians will make policies to attract their votes.

 

[Danimal]

Are you implying they don't make political promises purely to curry up favor as it is?

 

[Krynn72]

All forced voting (or attendance, though I doubt everyone realizes all they have to do is attend) does is make people go in to avoid a fine and then just vote at random.

Randomly selected politicians. Sounds like a great idea!

They should provide an "I don't know" option that doesn't get applied to anybody.

 

[ríomhaire]

All forced voting (or attendance, though I doubt everyone realizes all they have to do is attend) does is make people go in to avoid a fine and then just vote at random.

Randomly selected politicians. Sounds like a great idea!

They should provide an "I don't know" option that doesn't get applied to anybody.

1. That's called spoiling your vote and it's a simple as scribbling whatever the hell you want on your ballot (or leaving it blank). It's easy to do, legal and even if it wasn't legal it would be illegal to prosecute anyone for it because it's a private ballot and which one was yours is not supposed to be recorded or known to anyone else.
2. In theory if people are actually voting randomly then over a large group of people the random votes would be evenly distributed and so wouldn't have much of an effect on the election.

 

[Krynn72]

1. That's called spoiling your vote and it's a simple as scribbling whatever the hell you want on your ballot (or leaving it blank). It's easy to do, legal and even if it wasn't legal it would be illegal to prosecute anyone for it because it's a private ballot and which one was yours is not supposed to be recorded or known to anyone else.
2. In theory if people are actually voting randomly then over a large group of people the random votes would be evenly distributed and so wouldn't have much of an effect on the election.

Well, random isn't the word I should have used. People, when they know nothing about the people or have no opinion, tend to vote for the first name on the ballot.

 

[ríomhaire]

Then randomise the ballot order I guess (as in, everyone who picks up a ballot has an equal chance of getting any order, not just randomise it and have that random list for everyone). Then of course people would probably just vote for whoever they're more familiar with so whoever has the most ads will win. There's really no good solution to stopping people acting like twats but I don't think the forced voting idea is necessarily a bad one.

 

[Robbo]

No not at all. But by expanding the number of people the politician has to appeal to you move their views away from the extremes.

Also I don't think that most people, knowing they have to attend the polling station will just randomly vote. I'd say the majority will accept that they have to vote and try to justify their opinion, even if it is just to conform with the people around them. I prefer this to people who are motivated to turn up voting with one side because they are a "democrat".. etc.

 

[JUL3]

This will be my first time voting, and something which I'm keen to do for the first time (even if it is between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwhich). I know so many people my age though who haven't enrolled to vote, and thus can't get fined for it. So there actually is a loophole there.

 

[Robbo]

You can be fined if you don't enroll. Assuming they find you.
www.aec.gov.au/faqs/enrolment.htm

 

[JUL3]

You can be fined if you don't enroll. Assuming they find you.
www.aec.gov.au/faqs/enrolment.htm

I suppose that's the thing, they don't find you.

 

[Danimal]

They don't go too actively into searching for people who are unenrolled and if they do find out you don't actually get fined (Though that might just be if you approach them first) - you only get fined if you are already enrolled and miss the vote. Some people seem to get "auto-enrolled" at times based off of other paperwork they do for other government departments from what I've heard, too.