Index to the Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews, 2019 New South Wales edition
Here we are, two days from polling day in New South Wales. In my teenage years I watched NSW politics with a degree of disbelief and amusement from north of the border; since 2007 I have watched with even greater amounts of the same from south of the Murray. But now I am in New South Wales, about to vote in the state that gives us greater political dysfunction than any other. Say what you will about Queensland under Bjelke-Petersen, or South Australia and the Playmander, or Victoria pre-1955, no state has been more of a mess politically this current century than NSW. It does not matter what side of politics, it is here that you will find the most dysfunctional state branch of any party.
Anyway. On Saturday you will get two ballots. The smaller one is for the Legislative Assembly, where you elect one of 93 local representatives to the lower house of parliament. This is where the government is formed. You will also receive a large ballot for the Legislative Council, which is the house of review. The Legislative Council is elected by the state at large; 21 of its 42 seats come up for election every four years. This has two important implications: whoever you vote for gets eight years on the Legislative Council, and they only need to attain 4.55% of the statewide vote to get there.
To help you out, I have reviewed all the minor parties. I figure that if you are reading this blog you probably already have a decent idea about the Liberals, Nationals, the ALP, and the Greens. I have reviewed every minor party, the grouped independents, and the ungrouped independents, as well as the one independent standing in the lower house Division of Wollongong. If you are in a different lower house electorate and have an independent standing, I encourage you to Google them before casting your vote.
Without further ado, here are the parties I have reviewed. In brackets is an indication of their general ideology.
Advance Australia Party (anti-Berejiklian)
Animal Justice Party (animal rights)
Australian Conservatives (Christian fundamentalists)
Christian Democratic Party (Christian fundamentalists)
Flux NSW (direct e-democracy)
Keep Sydney Open (civil libertarian)
Liberal Democratic Party (right-libertarian)
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (dysfunctional racists)
Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers (gun nuts who, in the wake of Christchurch, can get absolutely and completely fucked)
Socialist Alliance (socialism)
Sustainable Australia (anti-immigration)
The Small Business Party (neo-liberal minimal taxation)
Voluntary Euthanasia Party (single issue / assisted dying)
Group G aka Seniors United Party of Australia (single issue / seniors’ rights)
Group H aka Monaghan and Monaghan (right-leaning grumpy Boomers)
Group L aka Jeremy Buckingham and Friends (Claytons Greens, i.e. the greens you have when you are not having The Greens)
Group S aka James Jansson’s “Team for NSW” (progressive futurists)
There are also eight ungrouped independents contesting the Legislative Council: part one and part two (the latter also reviewing the one independent running for Wollongong in the Legislative Assembly), plus some more general thoughts.
If you are curious about my past reviews, please check out the indexes for the 2013 federal election, 2014 Victorian election, 2016 federal election, and the 2018 Victorian election.
Thanks to those of you who have left feedback. It has been most appreciated. Enjoy your democracy sausages and have fun casting your vote this Saturday!
By the way, if you want to generate your own how-to-vote card, you can create one right here.
