Incompetence Inc.

As you are most likely not aware, tomorrow, on the 25th of November 2006, a state election will be held to elect the Premier and parliament of the people of Victoria – the state that I live in.

A state of over 4 million people, and home to undoubtedly the best city in the world – Melbourne.

Now, to give you a basic, subjectively biased introduction to Australian politics, and to answer a question posed by a reader of a previous post, Australia is, realistically, a two party system. Meaning that only one of two parties (or one long-standing, tightly bonded coalition of two parties), really has any chance whatsoever of winning. Right now our state government is led by the Labor Party, the “left” (read: right) to the “Liberal” (read: not liberal) right.

One thing, however, we do have, is the truly democratic concept of preferential voting.

No, it does not simply mean that all minor parties give their votes to whoever they choose. In fact, contrary to popular belief, it is you who can decide where your second, third, etc. preferences go.

This system makes it almost impossible for a left or right split to occur, leading the party across the floor to victory, and also one that allows you to vote for whoever you want, without the feeling that your vote has been wasted, or even detrimental to the popular candidate, who would be you second choice. In simple terms, if this system had been implemented in America, then Gore would have been president in 2000. I’m looking at you Nader.

Together with this, new legislation passed in Victoria before this election now allow proportional representation in the upper house of parliament, basically making it easier for minor parties to get seats in Parliament, and meaning that your vote for a minor party will not be wasted.

Now, while this entry may be a little late with the election coming up in just 9 short hours, it is my duty to tell you exactly who to vote for.

No, I will not tell you to vote for the Liberal/National Coalition, or for the Australian Labor Party. I will tell you to vote for the tree hugging hippies, who want to give away free heroin, legalise weed and make giant men out of straw…

The reason? This is exactly it:

Yes, it did screen on state television.
And yes, it’s almost as bad as some of the American smear campaigns, possibly ever worse.

Family First is the newly formed “family values” (read: Christian) party, and as you can see, they have no policies whatsoever… apart from burning synagogues, mosques and lesbians at the stake. They should be avoided like the plague.

The Liberals have offered “free public transport”, which seems to have been popular among some of the younger, and some of the ignorant voters. They have been sucked in. The “free” transport will be handed to you on a silver platter, with gold lining, after your taxes have been sufficiently raised, and the public transport system destroyed due to lack of funds.

Thus it is necessary to vote Greens, or Democrats, or Socialist Alliance.

A minor party has a very big chance of winning the balance of power in the upper house. These minor parties are not corrupted by big business. They will keep the checks and balances of our democracy, keep the other parties in line.

So tomorrow, do not vote for the big parties that will win regardless, vote Greens.

Make your vote count…

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