NSW State Election 2023

[Jerry_Atrick]

Well, fellas. You could be forgiven if you didn't know it was game-on in NSW. Nary a ward about the election, that is only 6 weeks away. SMH doesn't have much on it. Have not seen a thing on Aunty about it.. Even the Yootoobers are quiet about it. Maybe the attempt on FriendlyJordies' life has something to do with it.

 

Compare that to the reporting in Victoria with only 6 weeks to go.. Wow.. It's like no one wants anything said.. I couldn't even tell you the Labor leader's name. And otherwise, it seems like business as usual.

 

Does anyone have any news - groundbreaking proimies? Has the election actually been confirmed? It's about now things should start getting exciting.

[old man emu]

The electioneering has started, but it is being swamped by the revelations of shonkyness of the Parties' leaders and their families. With the effects of the high interest rates really biting employees, but the banks announcing massive 6-monthly profits, no Party is making pork-barreling promises.

 

I'm doing my bit by putting up a couple of posters supporting the local sitting Independent (who quit the Shooters and Fishers Party due to the immorality of its leader).

[Old Koreelah]

So far two policy differences between the major parties have caught my attention: gambling and protection of koalas.

Labor’s limp-wristed response to the Liberal Premier’s overdue reforms of gambling have not impressed me.

Labor’s promise to create a “koala National Park on the NSW northcoast sound great and should get them lots of votes…

but let’s look a little deeper than the feel-good headline.

 

What impact will this Koala NP have on land management?
 

Bob Carr turned several sustainable-yield State Forests into National Parks. This pleased lots of voters, but caused enormous damage to the timber industry employing many people in isolated rural areas. Rural unemployment skyrocketed, small town decined and people drifted off to the cities.

 

Meanwhile the new National Parks were never properly managed, becoming havens for weeds and feral animals.

A sensible, science-based approach to koala protection would focus on limiting clearing for new urban development rather than attacking the timber industry. (Koalas don’t even live in some of the key timber-producing areas, but they do pretty well in many well-managed farming woodlands.)

[spacesailor]

All those ' new National Parks ' should be the place to put lots of Koalas. 

With Cars required name (  whatever it was ) And locked away from every body 

He envisioned a place only for 'party carrying members " and strickly off limits to the public .

Didn,t he get lost in a NP & was rescuedby ' illegal horse ' rider's .

spacesailor

[Bruce Tuncks]

Good onyer OME. I reckon independents are the best members too.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Are you fellas sure there is a NSW election. Scouring the ABC NSW section yields very little on the election itself. The Sydney page of ABC news has two articles, where one is the NSW Greens hoping to hold the balance of power due to a tight race (what race???) and the other is about some Libs candidate selection wanting permission to campaign for an independent candidate? What about all the mud throwing.. this is a

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Are you fellas sure there is a NSW election.

Yeah, we know about it, but we are trying to ignore it. 

[facthunter]

Voting just encourages them.  Nev

[spacesailor]

Sign your name at the voting station , then throw the blooody ballet paper in the trash .

So many people are over this '' short term politics , why not make it a couple of YEARS longer to give them time to do whatever they lied ( oops promised  ) us ,

Before the opposition tears it all down to do their lies ( oops Promised ) us they will do it better .

What happens when Most of the vote are informal ? .

spacesailor

[red750]

Saw Mark Latham on TV tonight saying they need a One Nation person,especially in the Upper House, to put a bit of a brake on the other two. He is hopeful in the coal minig areas aas the other two are planning to decimate the industry puting thousands out of work.

[Marty_d]

Mark Latham is certifiable. I wouldn't employ him in any profession. 

As for the idea of one nation doing any good for anyone,  that's a complete joke.

I'm sorry for people in mining towns and they need support to exit the industry.  But we don't have whalers, switchboard operators or typing pools any more either, there was no point propping up those jobs when they became obsolete and coal will go the same way.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Marty_d

[Jerry_Atrick]

This is where I like the Greens' policy - no new coal or gas with support to retrain and re-employ people in those industries in the newer industries. They have a transition plan, which is more than the others have. 

[facthunter]

The Greens always fail with their ALL or nothing policies and internal ructions. Labor got members elected in the Hunter Labor Does have alternative plans. When Albo says IF you can provide the figures and they add up you can have coal KNOWIng it won't add up. Electricity produced from NEW coal fired station's cost is through the roof and likely to go higher..   Nev

[facthunter]

Spacey, Many people around the world would be prepared to die if they could be sure their Kids would get the vote. Many  Countries are ruled by dictators. IF you're not happy with HERE where would you like to be?.  Be thankful you CAN vote. We change  government s and NO ONE dies. That's unusual.  Nev

Edited March 13, 2023 by facthunter
more content.

[spacesailor]

I'm just ( like lots more  ), fedup with those Lies (  promises ) we get Every election year.

An extra couple of years will , go a long way to allow the sitting party to get their promises to fruition. 

And a reprieve from the ' bull shiit ' we have to endure. 

PS

England changed from one type to another political type !, then had their only ' revolution ' .

IF we change to a Republic! . Will we still have the ' right ' to return to our political status quo. 

spacesailor

[facthunter]

The PAPERS make a lot of this up to get you riled, serve a political purpose and sell more papers. Nev

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

The PAPERS make a lot of this up to get you riled, serve a political purpose and sell more papers. Nev

They've coined a term for it - rage farming. Sky's primary business model (among others). Mobs like Sky News and Brisbane's Courier Mail aim for one goal, to make the viewer or reader enraged. Enraged at those dangerous lefties, that is. Add chain emails to the mix, and there's a lot of mind bending going on.

[facthunter]

The Daily HATE and the Daily PANIC .Yeah Blame Lefties Gays and Woke (whatever that is) for all society's ILLS .SKY is FKNUNBLVBLE Rubbish. Mental pollution of the worst order. .   Nev

[onetrack]

You've only got to see the clowns commenting below the news articles, to wonder about the mental stability of half the population - and worry about the fact that these same clowns, also vote!

[old man emu]

5 hours ago, spacesailor said:

An extra couple of years will , go a long way to allow the sitting party to get their promises to fruition. 

How long was the Coalition in power in Federal Government? How many promises we made, but unfulfilled? I doubt if Australian Society made any progress during those years. Labor, the Greens and the Independents have come in like contract cleaners to tidy up the mess left by the Coalition and to set the place up for progress. That seems to have been the role of non-Conservative parties since Federation.

[willedoo]

I interpreted spacey's comment as meaning an extra couple of years on the term in government, ie: five year terms. He might have a point as governments probably only get an effective period of one year without distractions. After an election, there seems to be a bit of BS for a while, and they go into election mode a year out from the polls. They can win elections to be in power for a long time, but a lot of that time is wasted just trying to win the next election. Only problem with long terms, if you get a bad government, you're stuck with them for longer.

[Marty_d]

At least make it a fixed term.  4 years and we vote on the first Saturday in May or whatever.  Put some certainty around it, there's no reason the PM should have the power to choose the election date, it is just used for political gaming not anything good for the country.

[old man emu]

Not that I like mimicking anything from the USA, but their system of having Presidential elections on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November sort of ensures people know when the election will be. Obviously we'd change it to a Saturday.

 

But the Yanks also have mid-term elections because Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution sets the U.S. President's term of office to four years,  and Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 sets a two-year term for congressmembers elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Here, Section 28 of the Australian Constitution states that House of Representatives elections must be held at least every 3 years. The Prime Minister decides the date for an election. This could be at any time during the 3-year term.

[Jerry_Atrick]

The UK passed the Fixed Term Parliament Act in 2011 because governments were calling elections similarly to Australia - and it was seen as counterproductive. Basically, the terms run for a fixed 5 years, but if either 2/3 or 3/4 (can't quite remember) of parliament vote for an alternate date, then it can be shorter (never longer). Even though, but current polling, the UK would like to vote out the current government by a very wide margin, they still have something like 22 months to go, so plenty of time for the Conservatives to fix it, as it is doubtful a large part of a majority of 80 will vote to potentially lose their jobs. 

 

Under the Recall of MPs Act (2015), if an MP is guilty of certain misconduct, the local electorate can petition the member to vacate their seat, and it requires 1/10 of voters in the electorate to sign the petition; the seat will be vacated and a by-election called.  This happened maybe 2 years ago, where a Conservative MP was found guilty of some misconduct and unbelievably, the Conservatives stood himp up for the by-election. No prizes for guessing that he lost it.

 

[old man emu]

13 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

seen as counterproductive

When you look at the election process itself, calling elections more frequently that, in our case, three years is an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer and puts a halt to the processes of government.

 

Elections cost millions of dollars to run. Just think of the costs of setting up a polling booth and staffing it. There's hundreds of dollars in stationery, signage waste collection, and so on. Then there is the costs of preparing and printing electoral rolls. And then there is the cost of tallying the votes and distributing preferences. That's the cost the taxpayers bear. Then there are the bills the candidates run up. A fair share of that money comes from the public purse. Fortunately, money is round to go round, and whatever is spent eventually dribbles back to Treasury via the tax stream.

 

As soon as an election is called, the business of Parliament ceases. That means that the day-to-day work of fixing up existing legislation has to stop. A lot of that work isn't controversial, with all parties agreeing on what has to change. Just look at legislation relating to parliamentary salaries. That goes through like a Japanese Bullet train. But controversial legislation stalls. The controversy is probably the reason the Prime Minister calls an election. That call is purely for political gain and blows the whistle to start the mud-slinging.

 

So, unless a Government displays what would be tantamount to criminal negligence, we should demand that an elected government not call elections willy-nilly.