Such an interesting process. Usually, I vote for issues, but generally those align with parties, here. The older I get, the farther I lean to the left. Since both of the major parties here are moving to the right on all but a few issues, this leaves me feeling more and more disgruntled with politics. Also candidates that wave their hands in the air while spouting incompetent, incoherent, hateful rhetoric that treats anyone badly are not to be tolerated.
All the major parties are left-wing compared with the US! Australia-wide has more variation, but here even most of the small parties are leftish. This means that education, health, the environment, equal marriage... no-one's arguing. The question is ho can deliver good government. Hence my focus on whether individuals are decent human beings (eg don't hate me without good reason) and will be good at their job. I vote quite differently for a Federal election! I still want the people to be good human beings and good at their job, but I also have to agree with their platform, for they're not going to be as adaptable.
It's interesting, isn't it? These local elections I've only been able to speak to one labor candidate. She was lovely - but totally not expecting me to want to talk about anything (my particular bugbear at this point is community engagement and transparency in planning processes, which she seemed both happy and qualified to talk about). The liberals and greens have both left cards on my doorstep, but never at times I'd have thought conducive to doorknocking..
Our Greens are quite different to European Greens, thank goodness. They're not as far left most of the time. That being said, look up Lee Rhiannon and you'll see why I'm worried. My biggest problem with them is that they don't see they have a problem. This, to me, means they've either cocooned themselves and live in safety so can't be bothered listening, or are actual bigots. Either way, they're not safe for me.
If I were voting in the UK, I'd be considering things quite differently. We have the toughness you have in politics, but it's specific to certain aspects of certain parties - and those I avoid like the plague. Look at Tony Abbott's political pedigree (who mentored him and etc) and you'll see what I mean.
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Such an interesting process. Usually, I vote for issues, but generally those align with parties, here. The older I get, the farther I lean to the left. Since both of the major parties here are moving to the right on all but a few issues, this leaves me feeling more and more disgruntled with politics. Also candidates that wave their hands in the air while spouting incompetent, incoherent, hateful rhetoric that treats anyone badly are not to be tolerated.
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