November 11: Whitlam's Dismissal and the CIA

Maintaining my rage with a reprise of a 2010 post about the Whitlam government's dismissal and the role of United States:

The question in my post WikiWobbles: What is Julia Gillard Thinking? about what US cables might have revealed about the dismissal of the Whitlam government prodded me to troll/trawl the web for documents from the time.

All I’ve found so far are some declassified State Department communications from 1973 -75. They are kept by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). They are mostly bland rehashes of the news of the day. Many are extracts from the Financial Review or The Australian newspapers.

Somewhat unexpectedly Malcolm Fraser’s handling of the Blocking of Supply crisis receives strong criticism from the embassy. Their author did not seem to be a fan of Fraser's, relaying negative comments on his tactics of the time.

The documents include:

Gough Whitlam’s linking of Country Party Leader Doug Anthony with the CIA

From Secretary of State Henry Kissinger:

4 NOV 1975

SUBJECT: WHITLAM ACCUSES ANTHONY OF RECEIVING CIA MONEY

1. YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO APPROACH THE GOA TODAY AT THE HIGHEST AVAILABLE LEVEL, CATEGORICALLY DENYING ON BEHALF OF THE USG THAT THE CIA PAID MONEY TO THE NATIONAL COUNTRY PARTY OR ITS LEADER DOUGLAS ANTHONY. NEITHER THE CIA NOR ANY OTHER US AGENCY HAS GIVEN OR PASSED FUNDS TO ANY AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL PARTY OR CANDIDATE FOR AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL OFFICE.

2. YOU SHOULD ADD THAT, AS A MATTER OF STANDING PRACTICE, THE USG NEITHER CONFIRMS NOR DENIES PUBLICLY ALLEGATIONS OF THE TYPE REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE PRIME MINISTER. THE USG REGRETS, HOWEVER, THAT SUCH A CHARGE AGAINST NCP LEADER ANTHONY, IF CORRECTLY REPORTED, COULD HAVE DAMAGING FALLOUT ON OTHER ASPECTS OF US-AUSTRALIAN RELATIONS.

4 NOV 1975

CALL FOR US REBUTTAL OF WHITLAM'S ACCUSATIONS

EMBASSY CANBERRA HAS BEEN RELIABLY INFORMED THAT THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE SECRETARIES WOULD WELCOME A FORMAL USG STATEMENT DENYING ANY CIA FINANCIAL INVOLVEMENT WITH AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL PARTIES. THE EMBASSY RECOMMENDS A STATEMENT BE ISSUED PROMPTLY, SINCE A DELAY WOULD ENCOURAG PRIME MINISTER WHITLAM TO CONTINUE IMPUGNING THE US THROUGH CHEAP POLITICAL SHOTS AT HIS OPPONENTS.

Comment on the blocking of Supply in the Senate by Fraser’s Coalition opposition

From Percival, US Embassy Canberra:

7 NOV 1975

SUBJECT: AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL CRISIS

6. OPPOSITION LEADER FRASER'S DECISION TO WITHHOLD THE GOVERNMENT'S SUPPLY BILLS IN THE SENATE HAS BACKFIRED BADLY. THE LONGER HE REFUSES TO BUDGE THE MORE LIKELY IT IS THAT HIS PERSONAL POPULARITY AS WELL AS THE POPULARITY OF THE OPPOSITION PARTIES WILL CONTINUE TO FALL. FRASER IS ALSO HAVING INCREASING DIFFICULTY HOLDING OPPOSITION SENATORS TOGETHER. A SENIOR SHADOW MINISTER SAID THAT FRASER WAS RELYING EXCLUSIVELY ON THE ADVICE OF COUNTRY PARTY LEADERS; ANTHONY, NIXON, AND SINCLAIR, ALONG WITH A FEW HARDLINE LIBERALS LIKE SENATOR WITHERS AND DEPUTY LEADER LYNCH AND HARDLY CONFERRING AT ALL WITH OTHER IMPORTANT LIBERAL MEMBERS OF THE SHADOW CABINET. THIS SHADOW MINISTER SAID THAT FRASER WAS QTE ONLY CONSULTING WITH FELLOW GRAZIERS END QTE AND SAID POINTEDLY QTE WHEN SNEDDEN WENT TOO FAR WE HAD TO GET RID OF HIM END QTE HE ALSO STATED FLATLY THAT AT LEAST TWO LIBERAL SENATORS WOULD REFUSE TO REJECT RATHER THAN DEFER THE GOVERNMENT'S SUPPLY BILLS IF THEY WERE ASKED TO DO SO.

8. IN OUR VIEW, WHAT FRASER HAS DONE IS TO RESCUE THE WHITLAM GOVERNMENT FROM AN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE POSITION AND TO GIVE IT A FIGHTING CHANGE TO SURVIVE UNTIL THE END OF ITS ELECTED TERM IN 1977. IN THE PROCESS HE REVEALED POOR JUDGMENT IN WITHHOLDING SUPPLY AND SHOWED THAT HE IS UNABLE TO BEST WHITLAM IN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE. FRASER HAS A NUMBER OF POTENTIAL RIVALS WITHIN THE LIBERAL PARTY WHO MIGHT WELL BE TEMPTED TO TRY TO REPLACE HIM AS LEADER AS A RESULT OF HIS PERFORMANCE TO DATE. GIVEN THE PRESENT SORRY STATE OF THE OPPOSITION, WHITLAM MAY WELL INSIST THAT THE OPPOSITION BACK DOWN COMPLETELY AND PASS THE SUPPLY BILLS IN THE SENATE.

This is not the stuff of deep intrigue, though the reported role of the Secretaries of the Foreign Affairs and Defence departments certainly seems at odds with their own government. If the conspiracy theories about the dismissal are correct and evidence is online, it’s hard to find. I wonder how long materials held by the Intelligence organisations are kept under wraps.

Also came across this reference to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975 and the murder of the Balibo 5. The Timor cable may be of interest to Shirley Shackleton, widow of Greg Shackleton who was one of the Australian murdered journalists, though I’m sure she will have seen it.

Comment on the Missing Balibo 5 in East Timor

From Percival, US Embassy Canberra:

31 OCT 1975

SUBJECT: TIMOR

1. IN A SPEECH TO THE SENATE ON OCTOBER 3, FOREIGN MINISTER WILLESEE REVERSED THE GOA'S POLICY OF NON-INVOLVEMENT IN THE TIMOR CRISIS BY OFFERING TO HELP ARRANGE DECOLONIZATION TALKS IN AUSTRALIA. THE STATEMENT WAS IN REPLY TO LEFTIST ALP SEN. GEITZELDT'S CALL FOR THE GOA TO RECOGNIZE FRETELIN AS THE DE FACTO GOVERNMENT IN EAST TIMOR.

2. SENATOR WILLESEE SAID THAT THE GOA DEPLORED THE FIGHTING IN THE BORDER AREAS AND BELIEVED QTE THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS IN PORTUGUESE TIMOR SHOULD BE SOUGHT THROUGH PEACEFUL MEANS FREE OF INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION. END QTE. THE GOA WAS PREPARED TO PROVIDE THE LOCALE FOR TALKS TO DETERMINE JUST WHAT THE PEOPLE OF EAST TIMOR WANT. IN A CAUTIOUS REBUKE OF INDONESIA, VIEWS IN THIS REGARD AND URGED TO PURSUE HER INTERESTS THROUGH DIPLOMATIC MEANS. END QTE.

3. COMMENT: THE FOREIGN MINISTER'S STATEMENT MARKS A RELUCTANT CHANGE IN THE GOA'S PREVIOUS POLICY OF NON-INTERVENTION IN TIMOR WITH TACIT GOA SUPPORT FOR A GOI TAKE-OVER. AS NOTED IN REFTEL, THE ALP LEFT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY CRITICAL OF THE GOA'S TIMOR POLICY. PRESS REPORTS WIICH INDICATE THE POSSIBILITY THAT FIVE AUSTRALIAN JOURNALISTS WERE FIRST SHOT AND THEN BURNED BY INDONESIAN SUPPORTED FORCES IN TIMOR HAVE HEIGHTENED THIS CRITICISM. THE ALLEGED REFUSAL OF ANTI-FRETELIN FORCES TO PERMIT AN AUSTRALIAN OFFICER INTO THE AREA TO EXAMINE THE BODIES FURTHER AROUSED SUSPICIONS AND PUBLIC REACTION. THE GOA'S ACTION OFFERING AUSTRALIA AS POSSIBLE SITE FOR TALKS ON THE TIMOR PROBLEM WAS PROBABLY THE MINIMUM THE GOVERNMENT COULD TAKE TO PLACATE THE ALP LEFT. PROTESTS AND OPPOSITION WILL BECOME GREATER AS THE EXTENT OF GOI MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN EAST TIMOR BECOMES KNOWN. THIS WILL PRESENT THE WHITLAM GOVERNMENT WITH A MOST UNWELCOME, POTENTIALLY DEVISIVE ISSUE DURING A PERIOD OF DOMESTIC POLITICAL CRISIS.

Shirley was awarded the Best Book Award for The Circle of Silence at the 2010 Walkley Awards on 9 Dec. In her acceptance speech she says that , “our democracy is under threat because of WikiLeaks …”. The video of her speech is below.

There are lots of other documents from those years. But it’s more a job for post-grad Politics or History students than a busy citizen journalist.

Sphere: Related Content

Video: ALP Celebrates in Mentone

On the night of the Victorian State election 2014 local campaigners from the seats of Mordialloc and Sandringham gather in Mentone to celebrate Labor's victory. Candidates Tim Richardson and Christina Zigouras thank their supporters.

Tim Richardson won back the seat for Labor with a two-party-preferred swing of 3.5%.

Christina Zigouras gained the second largest 2PP swing to Labor in the State of 8.2%.

The electorates are next to each other and worked closely during the campaign. An historic night all round!

Sphere: Related Content

Victorian Election: Sandringham Sandbelt Seat Not So Safe Anymore

The people of Sandringham have been enjoying an unusual election season with a highly visible and focused Labor campaign and a strong independent candidate. ALP candidate Christina Zigouras’ energetic and responsive approach has been in stark contrast to Murray Thompson. After 22 years, our Liberal member did not even turn up to local candidate forums. Locals who looked forward to vigorous debate found that he has added no-show to his customary go-slow.

Independent Clarke Martin has been a tireless advocate for a return to a standalone 7-12 high school in Beaumaris, a passion shared by former student Christina.

No doubt Murray Thompson "is a nice bloke" who does a creditable job helping constituents with their problems. However, the role of a State parliamentarian must be much broader. Our member should articulate a strong vision and concrete policies for the electorate and the State and show leadership on both local and statewide issues. He/she should be actively engaged with the community not just a pipeline to the bureaucracy.

Our issues have much in common with other sand-belt electorates: public transport and traffic congestion; funding of education and training; lack of consultation and inequitable outcomes of residential rezoning processes; protection of bayside coastal areas. There has been lots of media analysis of the Frankston train line. However, few journalists have even noticed that two of the worst level crossings earmarked for removal by Labor are in our electorate, namely Cheltenham and Mentone.

We should not be taken for granted just because we live in a so-called safe blue ribbon seat. Our democracy deserves much better. We need a vigorous voice in Sandringham!

Click for more on the 2014 Victorian State election

Sphere: Related Content

Let's Marginalise Our Missing Liberal Member for Sandringham

According to the Herald Sun yesterday:

Four marginal seats on the Frankston railway line that changed hands at the last election will play a crucial role in deciding who will govern Victoria for the next four years.

Well it's time the media take more notice of voters in so-called safe seats. In the seat of Sandringham, an invigorated and resurgent ALP is putting on one of its strongest campaigns.

My online response to the Herald Sun spells out just one of the issues that we are taking up to the Napthine government:

Sandringham is not classified as a marginal seat now but after the election it will be. Christina Zigouras will make it a marginal Labor seat. Two Frankston line level crossings with the worst congestion are in our electorate at Mentone and Cheltenham. Daniel Andrews has committed to their removal.

There has been the usual deafening silence form the local Liberal member. As it gets more desperate, we can expect the Napthine government to copy Labor's program of removing 50 level crossings, just as it is playing catchup on schools.

Incidentally, has anyone seen Murray Thompson lately? He was a no-show at the Bayside candidates forum last Friday and the Bayside education forum on Monday. Our democracy deserves better than a sit-down sitting parliamentarian. It's time for 22 years of inaction to come to a close.

Christina Zigouras with Daniel Andrews at Mentone station

If you're in the electorate and haven't received our pamphlet yet, please contact us:

christina.zigouras@vic.alp.org.au

P O Box 267 Black Rock VIC. 3198

ph: 0408 067 006

Every polling booth, including the pre-polling at Shop 3, 116 Balcombe Road Mentone, will have Labor people with How-to-Vote cards. Please ring us if there are any glitches.

Public transport is only one of many issues that have been ignored by the local Libs. Labor is committed to making Beaumaris a stand-alone 7-12 secondary college. Now that there's the sniff of defeat, the government has discovered areas such school funding and residential rezoning. I can just say to Murray - too late mate!

Christina is online at Facebook, Twitter and her website.

Sphere: Related Content

Townsville Money Trail: Political Donors in Queensland's Deep North

Money to burn

It is easy to guess why cigarette company Phillip Morris gave the Liberal and National parties more than $100,000 before the 2013 Federal election. But why do other companies and business people make political donations of thousands of dollars? Often these gifts are given to individual candidates or group campaigns including those at local government level.

My political donations homework has shifted to our deep north in a desperate but futile attempt to get away from New South Wales corruption scandals. [I’ve been studying ‘Investigative Journalism in the Digital Age’, a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) offered by the Knight Center for Journalism.]

NQ

There are six State electorates in the region: Burdekin, Hinchinbrook, Mundingburra, Thuringowa, Townsville and Whitsunday. The Liberal National Party holds all these seats, as you would expect having won 78 out of 89 at the Queensland 2012 State election. It also holds the Federal seat of Herbert, which covers Townsville. The only real Australian Labor Party outpost is at local government level where Councillor Jenny Hill is mayor of the City of Townsville.

The money trail

David Crisafulli. Photo courtesy Engineers Australia Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Digging started with Mundingburra where the sitting member, David Crisafulli, is also the Minister for Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience in Premier Campbell Newman’s team. He is a former Townsville city councillor and was eyeing the mayor’s position before gaining pre-selection for the State seat.

Crisafulli’s 2012 candidate disclosure form for the Electoral Commission of Queensland looks pretty dull at first glance. You’d expect the odd coal mining company and the like to be on the donor list. However, there is an outlier in the data, as they call it in the IJ game. One of the donors, Humanis, has a Melbourne address and a fair bit of activity on the form. A quick search revealed that it is now known as Bluestone Global Limited (BGL) ‘an international recruitment, professional placement and labour hire specialist’.

Humanis also contributed $5000 to the unsuccessful 2012 Townsville mayoral campaign of Dale Last, a member of the LNP who was part of the Townsville First group.

Persons of interest

So what is the connection? Who stumped up the money and why?

BGL has many interests in Queensland. Rabieh Krayem was a director of Humanis Group at the time, and CEO and Managing Director from April 2011 to May 2013. He has also served as a director of Port of Townsville Ltd from 1 October 2009 to 30 September 2012.

However, he is not the only or most intriguing Humanis person of interest. Their chairman from 2 May 2011 to 6 September 2012 was Craig Anthony Ransley. Craig is the director of ResCo Services Pty Limited, a company he founded that is now part of the BGL group. Incidentally, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, Rabieh Krayem has been Managing Director of ResCo Services Pty Limited since April 2011.

South of the border

Everything seems to be connected these days, especially in the world of business and politics. The connection with Craig Ransley leads us to back to NSW and the investigations of ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption).

Ransley and his associate Andrew Poole were “found corrupt” for their involvement with the Doyles Creek Mine, infamous for the roles of NSW Labor Party ministers Ian Macdonald and Eddie Obeid.

No brownie points for guessing Poole’s business link:

International recruitment specialist Bluestone Global Limited (ASX: BUE) today announced that non-executive director Andrew Poole has requested leave of absence from his duties, following a current public inquiry of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Spot the philanthropist

So it is not clear which individual may have been responsible for initiating the donations to David Crisafulli and Dale Last. But there is another clue hidden in the original document of this money trail. Another Crisafulli donor was Guildford Coal Ltd of Newcastle. One of the transaction dates on Crisafulli’s disclosure form, 16 February 2012, was common to both Humanis and Guildford.

At the time Craig Ransley was a non-executive director of Guildford, having been its founder and chairman. Former Liberal Party Federal MP for Herbert, Peter Lindsay, was the chairman in 2012. Former Labor Federal MP for Maribyrnong, Alan Griffiths, currently holds that position. Just to square the circle, former Labor mayor of Townsville, Tony Mooney, is also a director of Guildford Coal. It should be noted that there have been no allegations of corruption against Guildford at ICAC.

Guildford Coal also donated $5000 to the conservative Katter Australia Party on 20 March 2012, just four days before the State election. So did Craig Ransley, on the same day in fact. Both of these donations, plus the one to Townsville First for Dale Last, were formally disclosed by the donors. However, Humanis does not appear to have submitted a form for its Crisafulli donation. Townsville First’s group return does not list Humanis as a donor.

On the face of it, there were a number of breaches of the legal requirements for disclosure of political donations.

Townsville tracks

The business of governing is a complex one, as this Guildford’s website report about their Hughenden Project shows:

Guildford signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Port of Townsville Limited (POTL) in December 2010, to conduct a feasibility study on the logistics of exporting coal through Townsville Port via the Eastern Access Rail Corridor and utilising the Townsville State Development Area.

John Anderson of the Townsville Bulletin asked in March this year:

HAS anyone heard of from Mr Craig Ransley lately?

...Mr Ransley lived in Townsville for a time while trying to shore up coal contracts around Hughenden.

Coal boss hard to find

There is another link in these machinations. In May 2013 the Magpie’s Nest blog quoted an article from the Townsville Bulletin by Tony Raggart:

'In another development last year, it was revealed the Obeid Corporation donated to the campaign of Labor federal candidate Tony Mooney. Mr Mooney, a former mayor of Townsville, is Guildford's stakeholder relations general manager. The Electoral Commission of Queensland return specifically named Mr Mooney as a beneficiary of a $5000 donation.

Mr Mooney said he had no idea why the Obeid Corporation would have named him in the return.'

The story is no longer online but the newspaper image on the blog is legible and the ECQ return by Obeid Corporation is still available. The Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland) return for the Second Half 2010 does show a $5000 donation from Obeid Corporation.

Townsville Bulletin 11 May 2013 - Image courtesy Magpie's Nest 

Accountability - not just following the money

It is a pity that the Queensland government has legislated to increase the level at which political donations must be publicly disclosed from $1000 to $12,400. They are just trying to take all the fun out of Investigative Journalism 101. Not to forget the chance of more political accountability that could come with a rigorous donations reporting system.

The upside of this change to political transparency is that Queenslanders might get real enforcement of the disclosure laws in future. Under the Electoral Act 1992, as it applied in 2012, penalties started at approximately $2200. However, no evidence of such penalties actually being applied was unearthed along the trail. I received this response to my enquiry from the ECQ Funding & Disclosure Unit:

In relation to the 2012 Queensland State general election, the Commission currently has not engaged in court proceedings to enforce compliance with funding and disclosure provision.

As this compliance regime remains in progress, the Commission cannot comment further on individual matters ongoing or under review.

Unless we have real transparency, accountability and enforcement, the money might as well be given in plain packages like the bad of days of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's brown paper bags.

This post is part of a series about political donations in Australia:

Foundation 51's Cosy Links with the Country Liberal Party

Dare We Call it Whitehousegate

In search of slush funds and off-books moneys in the NSW Liberal Party

Townsville Money Trail: Political Donors in Queensland's Deep North

Nathan Tinkler & Co: Political Donors Anonymous

[NB: No inference of wrongdoing should be drawn from any of this information. It has been double-checked and cross-checked where feasible. If there are any errors please leave a comment or contact the author.]

Sphere: Related Content

Video: Bill Shorten on Board for Labor Party Reform

"It is clear to me that there is a widespread, genuine passion for rebuilding the Labor party.

...Today I announce the start of a major campaign to rebuild the Australian Labor Party and renew our sense of purpose.

...Making Labor more democratic and more representative is also about reaching out to union members – not just those in leadership positions – to join our party and participate in our decision-making.

Unions will always have a vital role to play in Australian society – and I want union members to continue to play a role in our party, as members."

For the full transcript of Bill Shorten's Per Capita speech 'Towards a modern Labor Party' please click the link.

There was a Q&A session. This video Bill Shorten on Board for Labor Party Reform Q&A has extensive excerpts:

Bill has made significant challenges to National Executive, National Conference and State Conferences to come to the reform table and take up the cause. The leaders of affiliated unions and their members have to make some brave decisions. There will be opposition from some with vested interests in maintaining the status quo. It's up to Labor party members and supporters to help in the transition to a truly modern Labor party in whatever forums they can, and as importantly at a personal level.

As Bill said,

"So today is a day for facing up to some hard truths. 

Friends, Tony Abbott did not put Labor in Opposition – the Australian people put us here.

And unless we change, it is where we will stay."

There is no turning back now. It's time for everyone to come on board or get out of the way.

I have been elected as a delegate from the Goldstein electorate to the Victorian State Conference on 17-18 May and look forward to engaging in constructive discussions about revitalising and democratising the party.

Sphere: Related Content

ALP Party Reform: a long time waiting

ALP members have waited a long time for party reform. We have watched the Federal party waste the promise of the 2007 elections, tearing itself apart with personality politics, factional feuds, and backroom deals and bullying.

The party administration and campaigning, at both Federal and State levels, have been woeful to say the least. We must breakdown the wall between the insiders and the membership if this is to improve.

Clearly we face a crisis within the ALP that requires some major changes. The dead hand of the factions requires members to take a strong stand to ensure democratic decision-making throughout the organisation, not just at local level. As I wrote in an earlier post, "It is a joke to be promoting community campaigning with local candidates and at the same time reverting to the worst of factional politics that goes in the opposite direction."

I have nominated for election as a delegate from Goldstein electorate for the Victorian State Conference and will be supporting others who are prepared to work for rules changes and a changed culture. The time has come for those who have been tied up at conference and the Public Office Selection Committee by faction loyalty or favours to move aside or embrace a new path. We must not have any more preselection debacles. We must have real policy debates where we can be proud of the outcomes whichever point of view prevails.

We need to thrash out the kinds of changes that Local Labor and Open Labor have been proposing. Many of Labor's warlords are more interested in dividing the spoils of opposition than winning office with progressive policies.

We will not get a broad base unless we are prepared to stop whispering in the corridors and walking past the totally unacceptable.

I hope other members will join in nominating as candidates to help revitalise our party. [As an ALP life member of 42 years standing, I won't be tempted to sell out for career ambitions.]

Sphere: Related Content

Griffith Big Bash By-election is Just Not Cricket

There is a cricket team of candidates for the Griffith By-election on 8 February 2014. Nine of the eleven candidates represent registered political parties, but will electors really have any idea about who or what they are voting for in Kevin Rudd’s old House of Representatives seat?

The 2013 Senate results exposed some of the bizarre idiosyncrasies resulting from our compulsory electoral system: we have to vote and we have to allocate preferences to all candidates. 

The party names will be written on the Griffith ballot paper so that should help, shouldn’t it?

Policy Bazaar

If you choose the Bullet Train Party, you'll know what comedian Anthony Ackroyd will be fighting for if he wins. He may have to give up his impersonations of Kevin Rudd. However, it won’t be hard to take the mickey out of himself since he will be required to abstain from voting on any matters except the train. Now that’s taking a lot of taxpayers’ money for very little jam.

At least Family First’s candidate Christopher Williams could follow the example of former senator Steve Fielding who often made up policy on the run. In the absence of a hung parliament, he’ll have to rely on FF’s South Australian senator-elect Bob Day who doubtless will continue the traditional of backroom deals.

The Secular Party has lots of the policies you might expect: no religion in schools, support for an Aussie Republic. It stands for a carbon tax but against emissions trading schemes. Some voters may be surprised to know that they are pro-abortion and strongly favour Australia participating “in all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle, including power generation and waste disposal”. Presumably, these will not be located in Griffith’s backyard.

In order for ‘…new Australian citizens understand that their primary loyalty must be to Australia and its values, not their religion…’ the SPA’s citizenship pledge will be:

I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights, liberties and values I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.

The list of shared values will be found in an expanded Australian Values Statement. The secularists want “Evidence of compliance with the Australian Values Statement, such as witness statements, …before permanent residence visas and citizenship are granted.’ If you’ve forgotten or never heard about the Statement, you’d better rush to read it before you vote next. It involves ‘a shared identity, a common bond’ that all Aussies accept implicitly, don’t we.

Timothy Lawrence may be regretting the shaky status of his party’s name, which will soon change from the one on the ballot paper to the Sustainable Population Party. The thesaurus doesn’t have them as synonyms. The current name could easily be associated with right-wing anti-immigration parties while ‘sustainable’ has definite green connotations.

Ray Sawyer is wearing the hat for Bob Katter’s Australian Party, having gained only 1.92% as candidate for the seat of Fairfax in 2013. They directed their second preferences to Clive Palmer and his eponymous party, who won that by a nose, but PUP has squibbed this contest.

According to independent Karel Boele, “He supports needs-based education funding and an effective solution to climate instability, for example an ETS. He supports improved discussions and trade with neighbouring countries, and a no offshore processing by Australia policy for refugees.” He is independent. Or is he?  He runs the People Decide platform and will vote on Bills in Parliament directly through the Internet. Now that’s a real pig in a poke. He will vote on each Bill in accordance with the majority of votes. It’s a bit murky as to how he will vote on amendments.

Dealing preferences

The Pirate Party proudly claims to be “the first and only political party in Australia to decide all its candidates and Senate preferences by a party-wide vote”. However, the process in 2013 involved making deals with other parties for preference swaps that were then put to the members for ratification. How many of the party officialdom or membership were aware of the possible ramifications in the Senate is unclear. They responded to a tweet about whether they helped to elect the motoring or sports mob or Palmer's miners to the Senate in 2013:

@Kevin_Rennie if we did, it was unintentional. Motoring at 29, Sports at 25, Palmer at 43. Not exactly high up. :)
— Pirate Party AU (@piratepartyau) January 15, 2014

The Liberal National Party has put its faith in the reverse donkey vote in its preference allocation. Their preferences go from Bill Glasson, bottom to top.

At least one well-known Queensland Lib thinks independent Travis Windsor is worth a look. Could we stand another independent T. Windsor? Could make for some messy googling. He’s splitting his preferences but in each case The Greens are ahead of Labor or the Coalition.

The Greens have Labor ahead of the Coalition but behind five small parties. Anthony Ackroyd is their first choice. That was an easy call, as his party has no other policies to sift through. The Stable Population Party is second. Its policies line up with many of The Greens’ own goals but some commentators have argued that its motives are suspect. Malcolm King is one of them. Last August he argued:

The Stable Population Party (SPP) is using environmental and community groups to 'green wash' its anti-immigration message and split the Greens vote at the Federal election.

Next comes the Pirate Party of Australia, which shares lots of policies with The Greens and their other fancied micro-parties. Nothing illegal of course, PPA’s core business is not piracy, but freeing up copyright. However, they could be labeled copycats on many other issues, as could many of the others. It’s good to see so much agreement with marriage equality, climate change trading schemes, and humane treatment of asylum seekers.

Their other two Greens’ preference choices fit that bill. However, The Greens can’t be jumping for joy over the Secular Party’s nuclear stance. Karel Boele is a policy loose cannon for a different reason, as he’s going to follow direction from voters online. Nevertheless, they’re happy to put him ahead of Labor.

The ALP’s Terri Butler has The Greens second on her how-to-vote card, and then just numbers down the ballot paper. Less informal votes that way. There is no potential controversy as could arise if we had One Nation progeny in this field.

Now if you fancy any of the other candidates, please see what you can discover online. If you don’t know to whom Katter’s mob or any of the others are giving the nod, good luck finding out. Their preferences may well decide the result!  

The policies of the two main contenders are not canvassed here, as the residents of Griffith are no doubt sick of leaflets, phone calls, SMS, and knocks on their doors. There have been suggestions of unethical and perhaps illegal push-polling and anonymous automated calls.

Train travellers are also well serviced by political candidates, if not necessarily by governments. The Bullet Train Party, which is not directing preferences presumably because Thomas the Tank Engine isn’t running, at least has a trainspotting video.

Given the disillusionment with the major parties (including The Greens) and the complexity of the voting system, it’s no wonder that nearly 6% of ballots cast for the House of Representatives in 2013 were informal. In addition, nearly 7% of enrolled voters did not turnout. The Australian Electoral Commission also estimated that more than one million eligible Australians are 'missing' from the electoral roll, approximately 7%. So nearly two in ten did not exercise their right to vote.

So much for compulsion! People are dying around the world for democracy. Some Australians are just lying low.

Presumably, aspiring Members of the House have been visible at the Gabba lately supporting the Brisbane Heat. However, many electors doubtless believe that compulsory, preferential voting is just not cricket.

Sphere: Related Content

Ita Buttrose's Australia: Telling It the Way It Should Be

Ita Buttrose delivers the 2014 Australia Day Address
Photo: Australia Day Facebook page

If Ita Buttrose had been a candidate for the leadership of the Australian Labor Party against Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, her 2014 Australia Day Address would have been a winner. The 2013 Australian of the Year wasn't afraid to argue for progressive directions nor to use a range of words that we won't hear from the Coalition or some Laborites in the near future.

The Australian spirit is also about lending a hand, helping those who need it the most and ensuring that we all get a fair go.

As you'd expect from the President of Alzheimer's Australia, Ita began by focusing on issues related to ageing:

...to believe that in time all Australians will adopt more positive attitudes to ageing, be more inclusive of people with dementia and disabilities and adopt social policies that ensure our country targets the precious resources we have to those who most need them.

But it was not long before she engaged in the cultures wars:

We find time to celebrate nation building through our military exploits – younger generations learning about the past through Gallipoli and the western front (all of which is a good thing) – but let’s not forget or whitewash the frontier wars with Australia’s first people in the process.

In fact, she quotes historian Manning Clark twice. As she mentions later, Ita's not into political correctness, whether it's from the left or right.

Nor does she shy away from social justice issues:

We need to keep reminding ourselves that social reform and economic responsibility can go hand in hand. It’s not a matter of either/or.

I warm to the thought that in the past – in the 1890s and the first part of the last century, and again in the post world war two years – Australia was able to achieve nation building with social reform, and we did it in our distinctly pragmatic way.

There is no place for discrimination against people with dementia – indeed against age – in the Australian psyche.

Ita sees science and education as key priorities:

I’d like to see the setting up of a national register of scientific achievements so that we could consistently celebrate the phenomenal brainpower that exists in our country.

...achieving greater equality within education and creating a system where education provides opportunities for disadvantaged students must be a fundamental focus if we are to aspire to the Australian dream of a fair go.

Ita favours a quota system for women on company boards similar to the one in Norway.

One area of inequality, close to my own heart, is opportunities for women. I am struck both by how much we’ve achieved in the last 50 years and how far we still need to go.

...Political correctness is stifling debate in Australia….Captains of industry, people in leadership roles; politicians are hesitant to say what they think about issues because of a possible media frenzy…

Her speech came before the announcement that indigenous footballer Adam Goodes is 2014 Australian of the Year but it's a choice that she is bound to strongly support.

In no two areas of policy has this been more challenging in our history than indigenous affairs and immigration.
We have made progress since federation but we all know that there is more to do.

...we have the capacity to share our country with many more refugees than we currently welcome and I believe we have a moral imperative to do so.

The e-word 'egalitarian' received much attention as did the f-word 'freedom':

For a long time we’ve defined ourselves as an egalitarian society where everyone has a “fair go” in life, regardless of whether they were born rich or poor.

Our aim should be to create a society in which we would want to live if we didn’t know in advance whether we would be rich or poor; healthy or ill; whether we might have a disability or not…a society that marries compassion with a can-do attitude.

I think that perhaps for this reason, there is a groundswell of grassroots support for major social reform such as the national disability insurance scheme, aged care and education, all of which strive to bring Australia closer to this ideal.

For a long time we’ve defined ourselves as an egalitarian society where everyone has a “fair go” in life, regardless of whether they were born rich or poor.
Our aim should be to create a society in which we would want to live if we didn’t know in advance whether we would be rich or poor; healthy or ill; whether we might have a disability or not…a society that marries compassion with a can-do attitude.

I think that perhaps for this reason, there is a groundswell of grassroots support for major social reform such as the national disability insurance scheme, aged care and education, all of which strive to bring Australia closer to this ideal.

The freedom that Australia offers is precious and must be preserved.

We have the freedom to make our own choices; to exercise our right to speak out, to hold a point of view about anything and everything; to disagree; to be an individual; to travel wherever we want in our own land; to aim for the top

Her optimism shines throughout:

I finish my 12 months as Australian of the year feeling optimistic about the future and confident that in spite of the challenging times which confront us, we possess the impetus and inherited seed of hope, which I maintain we inherit not just in our genes but from the soul of this great land of ours, to stay true to the egalitarian spirit of our nation.

The full transcript is available here or better still listen to the audio.

Sphere: Related Content