Jodie Minton, Mullumbimby
I’ve been talking to a lot of people in the lead-up to this election and it seems most of them don’t want to see Abbott as our PM come September 8. So I’m asking you what readers are doing to stop this happening.
My tack is to promote the work of The Greens, but you don’t have to join a political party to effect change. As I’ve stepped up my involvement in the election campaign I have been struck by a few things:
1. talking politics is socially ‘taboo’
2. many people don’t understand the preferential voting system
3. most people are unaware of the $5 donation they make (via the AEC) to the party they direct their first preference to
4. many people are disengaged in the voting process.
Voting is our democratic right, and it’s one I take seriously. I want to have a say in the future of this country. We need to talk more, not less, about politics (and policies).
We need to understand that voting for a minor party is not a ‘wasted’ vote. We need to be educated on the preferential voting system and understand that in the case of your first-preference candidate not winning, your vote flows on at full value according to how you preference the other candidates.
You should also be aware that voting above the line in the senate in NSW for micro-parties such as HEMP, Stop CSG and WikiLeaks means your vote will land with a right-wing candidate ahead of The Greens.
And finally, remember that on election day every first preference vote greater than four per cent, in both houses of parliament, directs $2.49 on your behalf to that party.
Your vote counts. Get talking. Get active. Get educated.
I don’t want to wake up on September 8 to Tony Abbott as our PM. I don’t want Kevin Rudd either, but hey, that’s another story.