Index to the Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews, 2025 federal edition
This Saturday, 3 May 2025, is federal election day in Australia. If you are unsure who all these parties are on your ballot, I’m here for you. I’ve reviewed all parties registered with the Australian Electoral Commission except for the most widely known ones: Labor, Greens, and the Liberal/National coalition parties. I have also reviewed the teal independents, a couple of unregistered parties who are endorsing independent candidacies, and two independent Senate candidates in Western Australia.
What you will find below: an index to all my reviews, a classification of parties by broad categories of recommendation, recommendations of other sites reviewing the parties, and some voting tips and advice. It should be obvious but these are my personal views and should not be construed as reflecting those of my employer or anyone else. I write from a left-wing perspective sympathetic to democratic socialism and green politics, mixed economies and urbanism. If you have even halfway similar political perspectives to me, I hope this might be useful. Please feel free to share with anybody whom you think will also be interested.
Index to all my reviews for 2025
Read the list below as: party name (ideology / where running). For the locations, a plain state abbreviation means the party is running a Senate ticket in this state; check with the AEC here to see if they also have a candidate in your electorate of the House of Representatives. A state abbreviation with an asterisk (*) indicates that in this state, the party is running only for an electorate or electorates in the House of Representatives; again, check the AEC here to see if it is yours. In some instances, though, I have listed the specific seat.
Animal Justice Party (animal rights / all states + ACT)
Australia First, who are unregistered (neo-Nazi scum / Division of Lindsay)
Australian Christians (Christian fundamentalism / NSW, WA)
Australian Citizens Party (conspiracy theorists / all states + NT)
Australian Democrats (centre-left / NSW*, QLD, VIC, WA)
Australia’s Voice (centre-left / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA)
Centre Alliance (centrism / Division of Mayo)
Dai Le and Frank Carbone W.S.C. (centre-right / Division of Fowler)
David Pocock (green social liberalism / ACT)
Family First (Christian fundamentalism / ACT*, NSW, QLD, SA, VIC)
FUSION | Planet Rescue | Whistleblower Protection | Innovation (centre-left-ish hodgepodge / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA)
Gerard Rennick People First (far-right cult of personality / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA)
Good Party, who are unregistered (centre-left / Divisions of Kingsford-Smith and Page)
Great Australian Party (sovereign citizens / QLD, WA)
Health Environment Accountability Rights Transparency (HEART) (antivax far-right woo / ACT, NSW, QLD, VIC)
Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia (Indigenous rights / NSW, NT*, QLD, VIC, WA*)
Jacqui Lambie Network (centre-right cult of personality / NSW, QLD, SA, TAS)
Katter’s Australian Party (right-wing cult of personality / QLD)
Legalise Cannabis Australia (single issue / all states + NT)
Libertarian Party (far-right libertarianism / all states and territories)
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (xenophobic far-right populism / all states + NT)
Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers (anti-environmentalist gun nuts / NSW*, TAS, VIC)
Socialist Alliance (socialism / NSW, QLD, VIC*, WA)
Socialist Equality Party, who are unregistered (antisocial socialism for cantankerous people / NSW as Group B, VIC as Group G, and indies in seats of Calwell, Newcastle, Oxley)
Sustainable Australia–Universal Basic Income (anti-immigration NIMBYs / all states and territories)
Teal independents (centrism / assortment of lower-house seats in all states and territories)
Trumpet of Patriots (lunar right / all states)
Ungrouped independent candidates for the Senate in WA (right-wing or plain odd personalities who should receive a low preference)
Victorian Socialists (socialism / VIC)
Classification of all parties by broad category of recommendation
At the end of each review is a recommendation of how positively or negatively you should preference each party. Let’s see how all the parties have shaken out. Within each category, I am presenting parties alphabetically rather than suggesting an order for your preferences. I have written a separate entry on how I decide the ranking of unpalatable parties.
Good preference: David Pocock, Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia, Socialist Alliance, Victorian Socialists
The parties above have a positive overall platform that has few or no significant flaws for the left-wing voter.
Decent to good preference: Australian Democrats; Australia’s Voice
The parties above have a positive overall platform, but I have minor reservations.
Decent preference: Animal Justice Party, Good Party, teal independents
The parties (or independents) above have a generally positive overall platform, but I have reservations.
Middling preference: Centre Alliance, Legalise Cannabis
The parties above have a balance of positive and negative qualities, or a decent platform undermined by a notably terrible policy or characteristic.
Note on Legalise Cannabis: middling is a generalisation as candidate quality varies. In Victoria, for instance, give Fiona Patten (lead Senate candidate) a decent to good preference; in Queensland, give Belinda Jones (lead Senate candidate) a weak preference.
Weak to middling preference: Dai Le & Frank Carbone W.S.C., Fusion Party, Jacqui Lambie Network, Socialist Equality Party, Sustainable Australia
The parties above are problematic, but better than what comes below.
Weak or no preference: Australia First, Australian Christians, Australian Citizens Party, Family First, Gerard Rennick People First, Great Australian Party, HEART, Katter’s Australian Party, Libertarian Party, One Nation, Shooters, Trumpet of Patriots
The parties above have more negatives than positives (usually many more!). In the House of Representatives, where you must give full preferences, put these parties as low as possible. In the Senate, I recommend you do likewise to maximise the potential power of your vote; but I recognise that some of you prefer not to express preferences between varying gradations of undesirability or prefer not to rank the most odious parties.
Other good reviewers
For further opinions, b_auspol has reviewed parties and independents contesting NSW, Kevin Bonham has summarised those contesting Tasmania, Notionoriety has concise left-wing overviews for QLD, NSW, and VIC, Anthony Zougras has overviews of all registered parties (more concise than me, less than Notionoriety), and Something for Cate is very comprehensive, with a Victorian emphasis, continuing the tradition of much-missed Cate Speaks.
Voting tips and advice
When you go to vote, you will receive two ballots. The smaller green one is for the House of Representatives, the lower house; whichever party/ies command a majority on the floor of the House forms government. You must number EVERY SQUARE on the small green ballot for the House. Many seats have independent candidates; make sure you look into them as they vary substantially in their platforms and competence.
The larger white ballot is for the Senate, the upper house. This is the house of review. We are voting for roughly half the Senate, as state senators serve six-year terms. This means each state elects six senators, requiring 14.3% of the vote to be elected; each territory elects just two (who serve terms aligned with the House), requiring 33.3% of the vote to be elected. On the Senate ballot you can vote above the line for PARTIES or below the line for INDIVIDUALS. Above the line you must give at least six preferences; below the line you must give at least twelve; beyond this point, you can do what you like. You can stop preferencing entirely or you give as many more preferences as you want. I strongly recommend you preference as far as possible because this increases the potential power of your vote.
If you want something more visual (and humorous), Patrick Alexander has two handy cartoon explainers: you can’t waste your vote for the House of Representatives and what’s the go with voting for the Senate?
If you want to vote below the line in the Senate, you can make your own custom how-to-vote card using Cluey Voter. It is the only site of which I am aware that allows you to construct a below-the-line vote (Donkey Votie and Build a Ballot can only make above-the-line cards). Print it off and take it into the booth with you! And do you need to find your nearest democracy sausage or cake stall? This website has you covered.
Happy voting everybody, and a delicious democracy sausage or sweet treat to one and all!
