Federal Election 2007

[Guest niall]

Well the Federal election has finally been called - November 24th 2007. If you are not enrolled to vote you have until Wednesday night 8pm (17th October) to get yourself enrolled.

 

Who are you guys voting for and why?

 

 

To kick it off - I'm voting Green. They have intelligent policies, and they're all available on their website year round to read - the other parties hide their policies, or radically change them with each election cycle. In particular the Greens have a sensible position on illicit drugs. They were forced to temper their position at the last Federal election, so explicit legalisation of cannabis has unfortunately taken a back seat - but the State based Greens parties (WA in particular) fully endorse the legal regulation of illicit drugs such as cannabis:

 

http://greens.org.au/election/policy.php?policy=23

 

The Australian Greens will:

15. establish an Australian Drugs Policy Institute to undertake research trials and evaluation of policy and treatment programs.

24. introduce the regulated use of cannabis for specified medical purposes, such as intractable pain.

27. introduce a system of sanctions for personal use of illicit drugs, when not associated with other crimes, that include measures such as education, counselling and treatment commensurate with specific cases and circumstances.

 

I'll be voting 1 Green and directing my preferences according to the local Greens' how to vote cards - following these directions will ensure my vote is used by the Greens in the best way possible. There's always a bunch of scam parties trying to steal votes from the "radical fringe" like us pot smokers - in the end they simply steal your vote and direct it straight to Liberal or Labor.

 

Australia isn't a 2 party system. IT IS NOT A TWO PARTY SYSTEM! Anyone who thinks that they have no choice but to vote Liberal or Labor, or that their vote won't make any difference so they may as well vote for Liberal or Labor, or that all of their preferences will just go straight to them anyway - YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO! Elections are a dirty business, and the single most damaging thing that we can do is to vote with ignorance or apathy. If you vote for an alternative party you are not simply sending a message to the two big parties, you are actually voting for your preferred party! The ONLY reason why alternatives like the Greens or the Democrats don't get into power is that not enough people vote for them - and the biggest reason that people don't vote for them seems to be the belief that we can't make a difference, so why bother?

 

If we each made an effort to get in contact with all our stoner buddies and told them which party to vote for, and then took it further by talking to everyone we know about their other policies, then we may just save our own arse!

 

So which party should we, as the OzStoners community, endorse this year? Who are you voting for and why?

[Guest niall]

Oh and here's how to enrol if you're not on the roll:

 

http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/Ho...Enrol/index.htm

[jojothepotfiend]

So far I'm voting labor, but that's not to say i won't change my mind.

 

I read through the drug policies of the greens and that all sounds pretty fair, except for the alcohol tax based on alcoholic content, basically i don't want spirits to cost more, also a couple of their policies already seem to be standard practice in australia anyway.

 

But drug policy, for me at least, is a very small part of why I would vote for a party. The way it is now isn't really all that bad and I think there are a lot of more pressing issues to worry about.

 

[AussieBudsRoxs]

Does it realy matter in this day & age who you vote for your going to get Screwed whoever gets in

[DownUnderDoper]

I read through the drug policies of the greens and that all sounds pretty fair, except for the alcohol tax based on alcoholic content, basically i don't want spirits to cost more, also a couple of their policies already seem to be standard practice in australia anyway.

 

The "fairest" policy would be one of tax by units of alcohol rather than alcohol %/price. If you purchase 10 standard drinks you should pay 10 units of alcohol tax, regardless if it's VB or Grolsch, Grange Hermitage or Goon. The person that drinks more alcohol (and is therefore more likely to impose financial cost on the community, which is after all what alcohol tax is supposed to pay for) pays more alcohol tax, that seems a bit hard for some politicians to work out tho.

 

I do agree with niall that we need to vote more for minor parties, the balance of power could well be held by the greens after this election.

[freddie]

I will vote to get rid of Howard. The issues go way beyond pot politics for me. I don't like the attitudes Howard has introduced; his racism, mean spirited, zero tolerence, blind support for america, climate change denial, work choices (haha), lack of support for higher education, etc.

 

I live in a marginal seat and will probably vote labor in the house of reps and green in the senate.

[Al B. Fuct]

I'm voting Green for their drug policies. Labor is still playing the 'War-On-Drugs' game.

 

I'm not as thrilled about some Greens environmental policy, which is still a bit too 'green' for me. However, that Tassie pulp mill should never happen- and Labor are fools for supporting it.

 

Labor is looking too much like 'Howard lite.' In particular, Rudd's reneged on the Beazley promise to fully repeal WorkChoices. Unfair dismissal laws, rights to strike and union representation under Labor will not be fully restored. I'm not a gung-ho unionist, but I think it's only fair for workers to collectively bargain with employers. HoWARd gave away the farm to his fatcat mates in big biz- and biz still only has one vote per CEO. Only when biz is allowed to buy influence do they have any more than Joe & Jane Voter.

 

Of course, the Greens won't win government, but the more seats they have, the more they can drive their policies within Labor's legislation- and Labor may get the idea that Australians by and large don't want Tony Blair's right-wing 'New Labour.'

[Frazz]

The Australian Greens will:

15. establish an Australian Drugs Policy Institute to undertake research trials and evaluation of policy and treatment programs.

24. introduce the regulated use of cannabis for specified medical purposes, such as intractable pain.

27. introduce a system of sanctions for personal use of illicit drugs, when not associated with other crimes, that include measures such as education, counselling and treatment commensurate with specific cases and circumstances.

 

Daydream believer

[Luke Skywalker]

Dreams only stay dreams if you refuse to do anything about them.

[Guest niall]

that all sounds pretty fair, except for the alcohol tax based on alcoholic content, basically i don't want spirits to cost more

 

But is that what will happen? I don't remember the specifics, but there was discussion and possibly some research papers exploring this a few years ago - wine in particular was not taxed at the same rate by % as beer and spirits, and lite beer was taxed at or near the same rate as regular beer. The goal is consistency based on the % and quantity as DownUnderDoper says - 10 standard drinks = 10 units of tax, 1.2 = 1.2 etc. I think spirits are taxed at the high end of tax rates anyway, is anyone actually suggesting to tax them more?

 

Base your vote upon facts - why not talk to your local Greens representative about this and find out?