If you're voting in #vicvotes and are wondering who all these minor parties are, then I've got the thread for you. These are my quick summaries, not intended to be dispassionate—I write them for myself to help guide my preferences, shared in case they help/interest others. 1/25
I'm not here to spruik anyone; I've never been a member of any party. But I *am* here to spruik voting below the line. You get two ballots: green for lower house (Legislative Assembly, where govt is formed), white for upper house (Legislative Council, house of review). 2/
In #vicvotes, you choose whether to vote above or below the line on the white ballot for the upper house. If you vote above the line you are allocated preferences chosen by the party; this year they are super dodgy, lots of deals to game the system. So vote below the line! 3/
If you vote below the line, your preferences go only where YOU want them to go. No party controls them. In Victorian state elections you only need to give 5 preferences to cast a valid below-the-line vote. After 1–5 you can keep preferencing as far as you want. 4/ #vicvotes
Let's get into my party reviews. I'm not doing independents. Almost every party is standing in all eight upper house electorates (each electorate has 5 members); the number of parties contesting each of the 88 single-member seats in the lower house varies greatly. 5/ #vicvotes
Animal Justice Party: for when the Greens aren't pure enough. Take vegan evangelism and animal rights; add a few grudges along the way. If you like meat and dairy, or if you recognise medical research involves *some* animal experimentation, send your vote elsewhere. 6/ #vicvotes
Aussie Battler Party: check out this stupid party. Banal right-wing populist rabble-rousing about pollies being out of touch. Lazy enviro policies; anti-immigration; vindictive approach to law-and-order (deporting the *family* of a migrant who commits crimes!). 7/ #vicvotes
One of the upper house candidates for the Aussie Battlers, by the way, is Vern Hughes, a good chance to get in through preference deals in Eastern Vic. He’s a serial candidate for numerous parties. I understand some other people in the party are ex-One Nation types. 8/ #vicvotes
Australian Country Party: no, not the Nats but a "true Nats" party of people annoyed with the modern Nats who've even swiped the old name. They are a Claytons National Party: the Nats you vote for when you're not voting for the Nats. Bog-standard rural conservatism. 9/ #vicvotes
Australian Liberty Alliance: a truly nasty exclusionary, libertarian, Islamophobic party of angry people who like guns and hate gay people and migrants. They're the idiots who'd yell "SPEAK ENGLISH WE'RE IN AUSTRALIA!" at a person using an Aboriginal language. 10/ #vicvotes
Health Australia: formerly the Natural Medicine Party, they present a cheerful veneer about being a "healthy choice". But they run with the anti-vax, anti-fluoride crowd and love a Big Pharma conspiracy theory. Quite loopy. 11/ #vicvotes
Hudson for Northern Victoria (or Hudson 4 NV): cult of personality party for some dude called Josh Hudson; despite "North Vic" name he has candidates everywhere. Utterly bland statements of centre-right local community support pose as Hudson's platform. Forgettable. 12/ #vicvotes
Labour DLP: the Democratic Labour Party have branded themselves "Labour DLP", which looks as silly as their intolerant policies. Forget a labour heritage; the DLP is a deeply conservative Catholic party (and no evangelical rivals like Rise Up to fight this year!). 13/ #vicvotes1
Liberal Democrats: a benign name, but these libertarians would dismantle social safety nets, wittle away gun laws, and privatise everything not nailed down. David Leyonhjelm, the LDP's federal senator, has long since shown the party's nasty side. Avoid. 14/ #vicvotes
Reason Party: the Sex Party rebadged. trying to re-elect Patten in Northern Metro. They usually take positive, permissive social stances but I've never got past my wariness of their origins—to lobby for corporate interests of the adult industry, not regular workers. 15/ #vicvotes
Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers: right-wing anti-environmentalist party that does what it says on the tin. Awful gun policies, of course. Even though they have two Victorian MLCs, they're so NSW-centred that their VIC social media channels appear an afterthought. 16/ #vicvotes
By the way, remember Ricky Muir, the so-called "accidental senator" for the Motoring Enthusiasts Party? Yeah, guess who's now standing for the Shooters. The man sure knows how to join a shit rural party of narrow interests. 17/ #vicvotes
Sustainable Australia: hey look it's a figleaf trying to make "fuck off we're full" respectable, the cry "sustainable population". States don't handle immigration policy so they're barking up the wrong ballot box. NIMBYs. History of opposing useful public projects. 18/ #vicvotes
On the upside, at least Sustainable Australia have dropped the hashtag from the start of their name, which at the 2016 federal election was a pretty daggy "how do you do fellow kids" attempt at looking hip on the ballot. 19/ #vicvotes
Transport Matters: this is not, I repeat NOT, a party for better public transport. It is an anti-Uber party of the taxi lobby, using a misleading name. I'm no friend of Uber but this party's policies are either self-serving garbage or inadequate thought bubbles. 20/ #vicvotes
Misleading party names really shit me and, as an advocate of good public transport, Transport Matters shits me most. A party serious about better transport and infrastructure could be a welcome addition. Transport Matters is not that party. 21/ #vicvotes
Victorian Socialists: holy shit Australia's muddle of socialist parties got their shit together to present a united front for #vicvotes! This is a simple one: they're real deal socialists. Nationalise stuff, large public investment, anti-racism, climate action, it's all here. 22/
Voluntary Euthanasia Party: Victoria's parliament has approved euthanasia, and didn't need the VEP in there to achieve it, so I'm not sure what their point is now. Their website is still focused on Wentworth federal byelection; no #vicvotes in their social media. Hopeless. 23/
Vote 1 Local Jobs: clue is in the name. Protectionists who like decentralisation. A bit too right-wing on social policy. Weirdly, Purcell (current MLC) is trying to wrest a lower house seat off Libs this #vicvotes; in the upper house they're only contesting Northern Metro. 24/
And that's the lot. If people found this useful maybe I'll look at upper house independents. I might also blog some slightly longer comments on the parties, though I have no platform with much readership—if you do and want me to write some summaries, get in touch! 25/25
Oops, a PS: I completely forgot to include a disclaimer near the start that I have omitted the ALP, Greens, and Liberal/National because I figure that anybody interested enough in this thread to read it would already know enough about those parties to have an opinion.
I omitted one party contesting #vicvotes that I meant to cover: Derryn Hinch's Justice Party. I see little reason to elect people riding off the name of another. This party is all about Toughness On Crime, arbitrary outcomes over considered judgement. Other policies=fairly mild.
Well, I've fired up my old election blog to share some slightly extended thoughts on the parties contesting #vicvotes. @catescates will be pleased, even if nobody else notices! axvoter.tumblr.com
My #vicvotes thread seems to be gaining steam; if you've come here from other social media, my Aussie Battler tweet is now a smidgen out-of-date. Even if you support their policies you shouldn't vote for them as they've done a bait-and-switch. More here: axvoter.tumblr.com/post/180233953…
