Australian Politics General...

[Craton]

Interesting to see the votes for the two major parties falling to an all time low.

 

[mullokintyre]

Another piece of electoral trivia that did not seem to get widespread attention.
From Evil Murdoch Press

The election has dropped Australia from fifth to 10th place in the OECD for its proportion of openly LGBT+ MPs in parliament.
With the ouster of Liberals Trent Zimmerman, Tim Wilson, and Trevor Evans, there will be seven openly LGBT+ representatives among 227. This takes the proportion down from 4.4 per cent to 3.1 per cent.

The election leaves Labor representatives Penny Wong, Julian Hill, Nita Green, and Louise Pratt, Greens senator Janet Rice, and Liberal representatives Dean Smith and Angie Bell, according to data from a parliamentary library paper.
At 3.1 per cent, Australia is nestled between Austria at 3.3 per cent and Chile at 2.4 per cent. New Zealand leads the group of 38 nations at 10.8 per cent representation, followed by the UK House of Commons at 9 per cent and The Netherlands at 6.2 per cent, according to a recent Princeton University database. The US sits in 13th place at 2.1 per cent.

The incoming 47th parliament otherwise has greater representation of women, minority ethnicities, and Indigenous Australians than its predecessors.

One group of minorities replaced with another group of minorities.
Mick

 

[SirRumpole]

Another piece of electoral trivia that did not seem to get widespread attention.
From Evil Murdoch Press

One group of minorities replaced with another group of minorities.
Mick

What about Muslims, Greeks, Indians, or Satan worshippers ?

Don't they all deserve a place because of their ethnicity or beliefs ?

 

[Craton]

Another piece of electoral trivia that did not seem to get widespread attention.
From Evil Murdoch Press

One group of minorities replaced with another group of minorities.
Mick

Umm, "This takes the proportion down from 4.4 per cent to 3.1 per cent." so not exactly replaced.
I'd also say that it depends on how many from any particular group want to be a candidate or have the necessary skill sets and/or the emotional armour to cope with life in politics.

 

[wayneL]

Umm, "This takes the proportion down from 4.4 per cent to 3.1 per cent." so not exactly replaced.
I'd also say that it depends on how many from any particular group want to be a candidate or have the necessary skill sets and/or the emotional armour to cope with life in politics.

I have a little bit more of a meritocratic take on this.

In no way does minority status entitle you to any sort of representation by mere membership of such status, even if it is the moral responsibility for everybody else to offer representation to such minorities.

If however, any member of such minorities bring something to the table, bring it on.

 

[mullokintyre]

Nothing like creating an empire.
The Tas premier will introduce a bill to add 10 more seats to the parliament.
From ABC News

Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff says his government will table a bill in State Parliament to restore the state's House of Assembly to 35 seats before the end of this year.

The number of politicians in the chamber was slashed to 25 in the 1990s.

If the legislation passes, the size of the House would increase at the 2025 state election.

Can't wait to read the justification for increasing the number of parasites by 40%.
Can Taswegians expect a 40% increase in service?
Mick

 

[mullokintyre]

Nothing like creating an empire.
The Tas premier will introduce a bill to add 10 more seats to the parliament.
From ABC News

Can't wait to read the justification for increasing the number of parasites by 40%.
Can Taswegians expect a 40% increase in service?
Mick

Further to the proposed changes, from an updated version of the ABc article above puts it all in perspective

Mr Rockliff made the announcement during debate in parliament on a petition tabled by the Greens calling for the numbers to be restored.

"I do believe it is time to outline our intention to take action for once and for all, it is too important an issue," Mr Rockliff said.

"It won't be a popular issue for Tasmanians, Mr Speaker, but it's the right thing to do.
"Ultimately, government and all the work we do in this place is not about popularity. We all recognise the need for this to happen.

"We all say it privately, I know we do, and sometimes you've got to have the courage of your convictions and do what's right."
The House of Assembly voted unanimously in favour of reversing the 1998 decision to slash the number of MPs in the chamber.

Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said Mr Rockliff's announcement was "a mark of great courage" and an indication of a Premier prepared to "do the right thing".

Ms O'Connor said the Greens would propose keeping Tasmania's five electorates, and electing seven representatives from each instead of five.

So why is it important, and why is it the right thing to do??
A cynic might suggest that its a convenient way to lower the number of votes per seat so the greens and monor parties have a greater chance of picking up a seat.
More snouts in the trough.
Mick

 

[SirRumpole]

So why is it important, and why is it the right thing to do??
A cynic might suggest that its a convenient way to lower the number of votes per seat so the greens and monor parties have a greater chance of picking up a seat.
More snouts in the trough.
Mick

The whole country is over governed. We have about half the population of California . State governments should go and be replaced b y expanded local governments and the Feds should take over hospitals and schools.

 

[wayneL]

The whole country is over governed. We have about half the population of California . State governments should go and be replaced b y expanded local governments and the Feds should take over hospitals and schools.

LibDem policy ?

 

[Knobby22]

So why is it important, and why is it the right thing to do??
A cynic might suggest that its a convenient way to lower the number of votes per seat so the greens and monor parties have a greater chance of picking up a seat.
More snouts in the trough.
Mick

He is a Lib though and they reduced the numbers originally.

 

[PZ99]

The whole country is over governed. We have about half the population of California . State governments should go and be replaced b y expanded local governments and the Feds should take over hospitals and schools.

That would effectively turn the states into territories. All state debt transferred to the feds and becomes something like $2 billion. That's your first hurdle.
The other one is the performance of the states against the feds when it comes to pandemics.
I would argue the most effective containment was the border closures despite the attempts by the feds to keep them open.

How about less seats in each state parliament and an amalgamation of councils instead ?

 

[SirRumpole]

How about less seats in each state parliament and an amalgamation of councils instead ?

That might be more practicable. There have been some council amalgamations in NSW I believe.

 

[macca]

I think if we expanded the role of councils and abolished the state parliaments it could work well.

Each council would need to be of reasonable size, no more boutique councils within Sydney, perhaps a Southern shore, Northern shore and a Western Subs sort of set up.

Each would have an elected board and receive funding from Federal money.

Some of the dumb things done by State Govts in spite of opposition from the local council are amazing.

EG: locally, a centrally located area, on the main road, was set aside for "state services" so they built a fire station, then an ambulance station then a new police station was needed.

The council said we have some free land for you, put it next door to the Ambos and all good.

Nope ! the state govt paid $700k for a house 4klms away in a suburban area, demolished it and built a new police station WTF

 

[Smurf1976]

Always remember that the Australian Government by its own admission can't run a phone company or an airline under either party. That being so, don't for a moment expect them to run a country.

If we're going to reduce government then I'd start with limiting the powers of the feds to matters of national defence and not much else. At least the states and local actually get something done even if imperfectly.

If the new government changes that then I'll change my opinion obviously.

 

[SirRumpole]

Always remember that the Australian Government by its own admission can't run a phone company or an airline under either party. That being so, don't for a moment expect them to run a country.

If we're going to reduce government then I'd start with limiting the powers of the feds to matters of national defence and not much else. At least the states and local actually get something done even if imperfectly.

If the new government changes that then I'll change my opinion obviously.

Things are probably better done at a local level if the resources are there, but there should be some centralised monitoring of results so that best practices can be transmitted to all facilities around the country.

eg if a hospital in Sydney finds a better means of infection control then the central monitor would transmit that to all hospitals in the country and everyone would be better off, rather than lots of units being insular and not talking to anyone else.

 

[mullokintyre]

The greens seem to generate a lot of hate and angst.
This little gem was sent to me by a member of my family.

The lovely comments by Celeste Liddle ranks up there with Hilary Clinton's "deplorables" comment about how to bring people together.
Mick

 

[wayneL]

The greens seem to generate a lot of hate and angst.
This little gem was sent to me by a member of my family.
View attachment 142175

The lovely comments by Celeste Liddle ranks up there with Hilary Clinton's "deplorables" comment about how to bring people together.
Mick

Nutters like Bandt and Thorpe will continue to promulgate hate and division. Plibersek(sp?) got off to a bad start as well. The minions will take their lead.

It's going to be interesting to see if Albo gives this crap a free rein, or not.

I'm not that hopeful.

 

[mullokintyre]

Nutters like Bandt and Thorpe will continue to promulgate hate and division. Plibersek(sp?) got off to a bad start as well. The minions will take their lead.

It's going to be interesting to see if Albo gives this crap a free rein, or not.

I'm not that hopeful.

The lovely Celeste has a nice pice about her on the Greens Web page

I’ve lived in this area for over two decades. Preston market is my local and I’m a big supporter of our live music scene. Our community is diverse and creative, and has one of the highest proportions of Indigenous people in Victoria. We need a representative from a truly progressive party that’s powered by people instead of big corporate donors.

Celeste likes diversity, as long as the diversity agrees with her thinking.
Mick

 

[SirRumpole]

It's going to be interesting to see if Albo gives this crap a free rein, or not.

He hasn't. He 'suggested' to Plibersek that she apologise to Dutton and she has.

 

[PZ99]

Tanya Plibersek should know better which is no wonder Albo told her to zip it.

We just voted out hate and angst from the right. Don't need it coming from the left.