Surveys and anecdotal evidence suggest most Australians see climate change as an emergency requiring society-wide action, yet many are confused about which political party has a better climate policy. With this post I aim to clear up some of that confusion. This article won’t tell you exactly who to vote for, but I will …
Category: Elections
May 11 2019
Australian climate voting guide
Let’s make this the climate election! Here’s my guide for how to vote for climate action on 18 May (or earlier if you’re a pre-poll voter). Depending on where you live you may have a slightly different set of parties to consider, but the main parties are the same everywhere of course. This guide covers …
Nov 21 2018
Victorian state election 2018
On Saturday 24th November, Victorians will go to the polls. Personally I find it hard to get excited about another election when none of the previous ones have brought real solutions for global warming, but who knows, maybe this one will be different! So I have compiled every political party’s policies on climate change and …
Jul 01 2016
Australian election: say no to the polluting major parties
It’s difficult to muster much enthusiasm for another election. It’s clear that neither of the major parties will act in the public interest. Still, it’s the one time in three years when we get a say about the future of our country, so here’s how I’ll be voting and you should too. The most pressing …
Nov 27 2014
Victorian election climate resources
I had intended to write a comprehensive guide to the Victorian state election on Saturday, but time is running out. So rather than reinvent the wheel, I’ll link to some great existing guides to the parties’ policies on climate and environment: Vote Climate Victorian election 2014 – climate policy summary (includes a guide to …
Nov 12 2014
Report on Bendigo climate election forum
I was involved in running an election candidate forum yesterday. The following report was prepared by Sue Wight. A State Election Forum on Climate was held in Bendigo on Tuesday November 11. Bendigo straddles two electorates, Bendigo East and Bendigo West and falls into the upper house region of Northern Victoria. Candidate attendance was as …
May 24 2014
Bust the budget 5: Lies and outrage
This is the final part of a series arguing against the Abbott government’s first budget. Part 1 summarizes the overall unfairness and debunks the justification offered for this agenda. Part 2 examines how the budget affects climate, environment, fossil fuel subsidies, business, and science. Part 3 examines how it affects the federation, education, and health. …
Apr 06 2014
Protest votes, mandates, and entitlement
Last night I watched the ABC TV coverage of the Western Australian re-election count. It was an interesting result. With 68.7% of the vote counted, the governing Liberal/National Coalition won 36.8% (a swing of -7.5%), Labor 21.8% (-4.8%), Greens 15.9% (+6.4%), Palmer United 12.5% (+7.5%), and others 13.0% (-1.6%). In other words, there were significant …
Apr 04 2014
Why the WA re-election matters
Western Australia will go back to the polls tomorrow for a rerun of last year’s Senate election (due to the count having been bungled in that state). The re-election will be critical in deciding the makeup of the new Senate from July this year, and is a key opportunity for the Greens. To pass legislation …
Mar 14 2014
Tasmania needs a Greens opposition
Tomorrow, Tasmanians and South Australians will go to the polls for their respective state elections. In both cases the Liberals are expected to gain government, but the Tasmanian election may present an unexpected opportunity for the Greens. The Tasmanian situation is reminiscent of last year’s federal election, pitting an unpopular governing coalition of Labor (led …