VOTING IN AUSTRALIA, PRIVILEDGE OR INCONVENIANCE

Hi guys, now be gentle with me this is my first thread.

So what im curoius about, is what peoples opinions are on the voting system in Australia. Now im not sure if our non-Australian ATS members are aware of how the voting sytem works in Australia, but for those who are unaware, voting is mandatory in Australia, everyone is supposed to register on the Australian electoral roll once they turn 18, and you must update your current address everytime you move house, which is an excellent way for the Authorities to keep track of where you are, which works fine if your a law abiding citizen and register to vote and update your address everytime you move, but doesnt work so great if your probably the type of person the the government does want to keep track of, cause criminals or persons of interest are usually not too keen on alerting the authorities to there whereabouts.

Anyway, so it is not a compulsory law that you must register to vote, however you usually do it when you turn 18 and dont give it much thought, untill your older and every god damn time there is a local election you have to drag yourself off to some local polling centre where you stand in line with a bunch of other unenthusiastic people to vote for people you have probably never heard of, or dont care about or both. It just seems like a massive inconveniance and i dont care for it at all. Its very hard to get yourself removed from the electoral roll, unles you are leaving the country or something then you can have your name struck off the register.

Now the thing is, if you dont vote and you are enrolled on the electoral roll, you recieve a fine for not voting. Thats right, if you dont turn up to vote for your local ''who gives a crap'' local election, you get a monetary penalty. Now a local election fine is not much really, maybe $50 or something, but failing to vote in a federal election is something like a $1900 fine. Now its really not too difficult to get out of paying that fine, they take a wide range of excuses and its up to the discretion of the government employee you speak to to decide if they should wave your fine or not.

People in general really dont care much about politics and such in Australia, we are for the most part to busy getting sunburnt, watching sports and drinking beer, but it just seems futile to me that the government forces people to vote, i didnt enrol to vote untill i was 23, and i chose to enroll because i couldnt stand the Liberal party (known as the coalition, sort of like your republican party in the US) who were leading the country at the time and i figured what right did i have to complain about who won the next election if i didnt take part in it. The Labor party i voted for won, which gave me some sense of satisfaction, but ive never stopped kicking myself since everytime another election comes around.

So i would like peoples thoughts and opinions about the mandatory voting system. Is it a good thing as it enforces participation? or does it impinge of peoples rights forcing them vote if they dont want to?

the population is so low here, that if they dont force ppl to vote, a party woudl be elected on 6 peoples decisions..


i enrolled after years of not participating, when they tried to pass the flawed model of a republic onto us.

i wish i never had...

the system is rigged with preferences and crap, so ultimately only one of two teams is in. and they flaunt it in our faces with the label "two party preferences"

i hate western democracy. i hate our western democracy most of all..
if only rebuilding the system wouldnt require the complete break down of society.

reply to post by okamitengu


the worst part is there is so little difference between the ''two parties'' as they call them, voting for one or the other hardly makes any difference to policy decisions. The differences are so minute they might as well be the same party.

Im leaving the country soon for a few years and i cant wait to get my name taken of the electoral roll

Just got my local council vote slip the other day and I really couldn't give two craps who wins. Even with just that pissy little vote you get fined if you don't send something back. It tells you to mark 1 to 6 of who you would prefer. I just gave everyone a 6 because I really don't think any of them deserve to be in control of the locals $500,000,000. So my vote is void either way...

As for the federal election, I used to just choose the greens but after seeing the people running that party, I think I will just pull another voider.

What does an 18 year old know about politics? Nothing! In fact most Australians rarely get involved to find out exactly who and what they are voting for because they believe everything they read and see through controlled media.

For the first time this year I took it upon myself to learn just who our politicians really are in power and Liebor/Greenies are the dirtiest affair reining over this country we've ever seen.

How many Australians are aware of the JuLIAR's deep involvement of the AWU scandal? How many are fully aware of what's going on behind closed door of the sleazy Slipper scandal and the pervertion of justice committed by JuLIAR Gizzard's hand-maidens to protect this filthy bastard including others? The filth and the dirt thrown at Tony Abbott, our opposition leader? JuLIAR's constant lies to the nation and the Carbon Tax fiasco? Are any of you Australians aware JuLIAR had long affairs with 2 married men?

I actually had to go recover my password to post. ( was in lurk mode for ages )

I'll vote when there is actually someone worth voting for.Australia has had no statesmen in Canberra for ages,and I would hardly call those vermin that have three-ringed this parliamentary session,"representatives".

I have never been more ashamed or disgusted by our current crop of scum...i mean pollies.

Glad i held back.

Im considering enrolling soon just to vote for Julian Assange.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

The founder and leader of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, plans to run for a seat in Australia's upper house of parliament, the anti-secrecy group announced on Twitter today. Australian-born Assange, 40, is currently under house arrest in Britain and fighting extradition to Sweden for questioning over alleged sex crimes. ‘We have discovered that it is possible for Julian Assange to run for the Australian Senate while detained. Julian has decided to run,’ WikiLeaks tweeted. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk... Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

He would be one of the rare politicians to actually care about the truth.
Im 35 and waited this long for someone worth voting for.

All eligible people should be required to vote, but can abstain if they meet certain criteria (including people that just don’t care)

I think there should be constant voting for every major (and some minor) decisions that the government makes.

If we truly want an open and transparent government that is controlled by the people – then we should be allowed to vote on everything.

The system needs to change; technology has come a long way. The government needs to be controlled and influenced by the people, not just one vote to elect a candidate and then let them do whatever they dam well please!

I would not mind if I had to spend 10-15mins a day to review and vote on something.

Simplistic view I know, but something new has to be better than what we currently have.

Mickierocksman

We all know Australia is well over due for a civil war, hence why the corrupt took the guns. Voting in Australia is a joke. The Muppet's are looting the public, yet the public keep voting them in, it does not matter which lot are running the show, they have achieved the same result, by the end of the day corruption rules, and our children will pay for our lack of spine.

Originally posted by marsend
We all know Australia is well over due for a civil war, hence why the corrupt took the guns. Voting in Australia is a joke. The Muppet's are looting the public, yet the public keep voting them in, it does not matter which lot are running the show, they have achieved the same result, by the end of the day corruption rules, and our children will pay for our lack of spine.

your kidding yourself if you ever think Aus will have a civil war, no one gives a Shat, everyone is too busy working there arses out for 50-70 hours a week, people just want to knock off work and enjoy their weekend, they will bitch and moan about polliticians till they're blue in the face, but couldnt be bothered doing anything about it, or wouldnt know where to start to do something about it. Where do you start if you wanted to overhaul the country, it just seems so futile with the sytem of government we have

my mother was acard carrying labour party member in teh 70's
she attended a local party event where a speaker from the part was talking.

his statement that she retells constantly was "there is a level of societal change that when reached usually results in revolution, and australia had passed this level 3 times"

and that was the 70's

we are too lazy, and too distracted by football, and nrl, and all the other crap that is shoved down our throats.

*sigh*

i tried here once to get people to help develop a system that eliminates politicians and gets us a direct vote using technological means, but i couldnt actually promote the forum i was using to develop the idea. against the T&C

we dont need people in charge
we need direct access to our lives and a body to provide services overseen by the public.

If one looks at the truly pathetic voter turnout here in the USA, considering a "mandatory" system presents an interesting possibility that the "true" will of the electorate could be determined at the polls. Today, the interested folks keep up with the advertising and rhetoric on TV and cable news and then don't go vote because they've already seen the outcome as predicted on TV.

I think the penalty should be stated as an additional tax levy rather than a fine so it's not "punitive" - it'd be like a reverse poll tax where you only pay if you don't go to the polls, Of course, all the "taxes" collected could go towards improved voting systems to encourage more people to vote....

ganjoa

reply to post by BeReasonable



A great start would be transparency, no more hiding behind privacy. It wouldn't take to long to have most of them charged and placed in one of their jails for the crimes that most of the real Australians are incarcerated for.
How about giving me access to their Bank accounts, their phone calls and every corner of their lives and I will show you a criminal :-)