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Polling Day : The Zombies Are Coming!
Jul. 2nd, 2016 02:02 pmI'm actually interested in politics. I just have a low tolerance for idiots and unfortunately the two seem to go together often. So I spent a couple of hours last night preparing my vote, since I don't like to vote a straight party ticket (one tick above the line) and because a lot of minor parties emerge like mushrooms on polling day and I have no idea who or what they are.
In Australia voting is compulsory, so one might as well get good at it. I studied politics in high school, where it was just beginning to be taught as a school subject, and I can still hear the voice of my politics teacher warning that he'd haunt us if we ever donkey-voted. We visited Parliament, discussed international relations, wars and politicians, went to hear them speak and so on. I went on to study it some more as part of my degree; more international and national politics. Some of that knowledge is still useful today in my court transcribing job. I tried for Foreign Affairs but could never quite crack it. :-(
Anyway, all that means I take it seriously. Also that I enjoy destroying the system in a virtual sense by writing apocalypse fiction, but that's a side benefit. This time is special because it's the result of a double dissolution, where we have to elect a whole new House of Reps and Senate. 30 years since we had one of those.
So, off to vote this morning.
House of Reps is easy. Five candidates, bang, done.
The Senate now.....The ballot was big enough to make a display banner out of and thank Gods we don't have to number all of them now, just 12 out of the 79 candidates. That was hard enough, but it was vastly easier because I'd already checked everyone out online and worked out my 12. Ended up being 15, but anyway. Some of the parties I find anathema, some are just....strange. A lot are one issue parties better described as lobby groups. There's the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers. If you're not any of these things, they've got nothing for you. Palmer United Party. If you're not Clive Palmer, they've got nothing....you get it. Australian Antipaedophile Party. Laudable sentiments but again, that's a lobby group. And the Health Australia Party is a deceptively innocuous-looking group which campaigns against people being vaccinated. I should thank them; they've given me an idea for a story involving the kick off for a really impressive plague.
In Australia voting is compulsory, so one might as well get good at it. I studied politics in high school, where it was just beginning to be taught as a school subject, and I can still hear the voice of my politics teacher warning that he'd haunt us if we ever donkey-voted. We visited Parliament, discussed international relations, wars and politicians, went to hear them speak and so on. I went on to study it some more as part of my degree; more international and national politics. Some of that knowledge is still useful today in my court transcribing job. I tried for Foreign Affairs but could never quite crack it. :-(
Anyway, all that means I take it seriously. Also that I enjoy destroying the system in a virtual sense by writing apocalypse fiction, but that's a side benefit. This time is special because it's the result of a double dissolution, where we have to elect a whole new House of Reps and Senate. 30 years since we had one of those.
So, off to vote this morning.
House of Reps is easy. Five candidates, bang, done.
The Senate now.....The ballot was big enough to make a display banner out of and thank Gods we don't have to number all of them now, just 12 out of the 79 candidates. That was hard enough, but it was vastly easier because I'd already checked everyone out online and worked out my 12. Ended up being 15, but anyway. Some of the parties I find anathema, some are just....strange. A lot are one issue parties better described as lobby groups. There's the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers. If you're not any of these things, they've got nothing for you. Palmer United Party. If you're not Clive Palmer, they've got nothing....you get it. Australian Antipaedophile Party. Laudable sentiments but again, that's a lobby group. And the Health Australia Party is a deceptively innocuous-looking group which campaigns against people being vaccinated. I should thank them; they've given me an idea for a story involving the kick off for a really impressive plague.