Parliament needs to reflect the people it represents.

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Accyexplorer

... to be honest I don't have the answers and don't believe anyone does.

May not be the answer, but pointing in the right direction would be compulsory voting, Bolicticians that promise something then renege face criminal proceedings & jail time (that'd hopefully keep them honest in their claims & possibly truly focused) performance related pay, do well & they earn, screw up & they're punished, just like everyone else. oh & ban career politicians, all applicants must've done a proper job for 10/15 years prior to representing the populace. (How else would they understand the true hardships of life if they've not lived through it themselves)

Mind you, these are just some of my passing thoughts though.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I agree with most of that son.....all except the compulsory voting.
After all the people who govern us can abstain from voting on issues of conscience so it follows that the electorate should be able to abstain.

If voting were made compulsory then surely the vote would not be secret....your vote could be traced or your non vote could be traced.
I continue to go along to the polling station....I peruse the candidates and vote for the person who I feel will do the best for the area. I take no account of which party banner or colours they travel under....just what they promise for our area.
I voted for our current incumbent, thinking....working man, knows the area, knows what we need to make the place better.
Really got that one wrong as he dances to the tune played by the Labour Party masters, with an eye to furthering a political career.

So come the 7th of May I will take myself down to Mercer house, look at the candidates(none of whom have been anywhere near my doorstep) and mull over who can best represent the needs of our town.
If necessary I will spoil my ballot rather than vote for someone who does not fit the bill....because you can be damn sure if they don't fit the bill at the start of their time in office, they sure as damnation won't be made to fit the bill while in office.

[Michael1954]

Compulsory votes would still be secret as to who you voted for.

[dotti34]

I know this has nothing to do with your Parliament but thought it might be of interest. It’s on the subject of protest votes and how you have to be careful what you are aiming to prove. It can turn out worse than before.

This is what has happened here. At the last election for our Senate – which in Australia is the place where policies formed by the government are given the final yea or nay – people were feeling so let down by previous parties that some made their vote a protest one and voted for members of a newly-formed alternative party, probably thinking they would be the only ones voting for them. Made them feel good themselves but wouldn’t do any harm generally, just might send a message to the major parties. The ones they voted for couldn’t possibly get in. Right? WRONG!

We have a voting system which is based on preferential votes – and don’t ask me to explain the way it works as I wouldn’t have a clue. I’ve lived here 57 years and I still don’t fully understand it. We are told it’s the fairest voting system but I have serious doubts about that.

Because of the way this preferential voting works the protest vote backfired somewhat and six members of the new party with only a very small percentage of votes were elected to the Senate. I know, it’s crazy. These included a man who represented the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party, a woman who during a radio interview said her preference in a man is that he is rich and has a package between his legs, then asked a 22-year-old caller if he was well hung (a real class act!) – also warned our Prime Minister that she was after his job, told him he should eat cement and toughen up and called him a psychopath. Four other misfits (to my way of thinking) whose platform only represented a small number of people were also voted in.

What a shambles. If it weren’t so serious it would be hilarious. Five of the six have since left the Party they belonged to but are still in the Senate as Independents, and of course continue to get their huge salaries and all the perks that go with the job.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by Michael1954

Compulsory votes would still be secret as to who you voted for.

So how would they know you had not voted....especially if you went to the polling station and gave your number in?

[Michael1954]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

So how would they know you had not voted....especially if you went to the polling station and gave your number in?

Mmm, I see your point.

[Margaret Pilkington]

[QUOTE=dotti34;1138651]I know this has nothing to do with your Parliament but thought it might be of interest. It’s on the subject of protest votes and how you have to be careful what you are aiming to prove. It can turn out worse than before.

This is what has happened here. At the last election for our Senate – which in Australia is the place where policies formed by the government are given the final yea or nay – people were feeling so let down by previous parties that some made their vote a protest one and voted for members of a newly-formed alternative party, probably thinking they would be the only ones voting for them. Made them feel good themselves but wouldn’t do any harm generally. The ones they voted for couldn’t possibly get in, but it would maybe send a message to the major parties. Right? WRONG!

We have a voting system which is based on preferential votes – and don’t ask me to explain the way it works as I wouldn’t have a clue. I’ve lived here 57 years and I still don’t fully understand it.

I think you have something like proportional representation.
It is a fairer system than the 'first past the post' system.
Over here we can have a government voted in by a minority......what I mean by that is that the party that gets in may only have been voted for by 33% of the electorate.
This is because the more parties there are to vote for, the less of a share of the votes are given to the conventional parties.
So you are right, protest voting doesn't work.....it dilutes the ability of governments to do what they say in their manifesto's because it makes it unlikely that a single party will hold the power.
This means that we may continue to have coalition governments for many years to come.
The really scary prospect is that some party will jump into bed with the SNP party and then the tail will be wagging the dog.

[dotti34]

Talking of governments, I often wonder how a P.M. or a Premier chooses the Ministers that make up the Front Bench, what criteria is used. There was a Minister for Road Safety in the South Australian Government who after 47 days in office was forced to apologise for his unacceptable driving record which listed 58 traffic offences and over $10,000 in fines.

He resigned that portfolio after all this came to light.

He is now the State Treasurer!!!!!

[cashman]

Whilst protest voting may not work. i reckon if enough people vote a certain protest party, it may well scare enough of those who can do summat, into actually doing it? its better to me than letting em in fer same old,same old.

[Margaret Pilkington]

The problem is Cashy they are all the same old same old.
dipping their snouts in the trough with little thought for the electorate.....I know this is a very cynical and jaundiced approach but it is how I see it.

[cmonstanley]

I was just wondering with people going on about Westminster ,protest votes etc. What would the alternative be minority parties forcing more unpopular policies with making deals uncertainty's with policy which would probably cost jobs .

[Margaret Pilkington]

Once the minority parties are in place and linked to government there is little you can do especially with fixed term parliaments.
A lot of damage can be inflicted in five years if policies are badly thought through...or not thought through at all.
The minority parties have little/no experience in governing...goodness knows the two major parties have messed up often enough.

It always seems as though once a party is in opposition they know all the answers to the problems that beset the country, but once in power they fail to do anything at all about the problems they professed they knew how to fix.

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

If voting were made compulsory then surely the vote would not be secret...

Sure it could be, The voting station has a nominal role of all the constituents & an equal amount of voting papers which are numbered & assigned to that district. On presenting yourself, you're checked off on the list & you take or are given a paper at random from the pile so that the only person aware of the papers number is you.

You then wander off to the corner, put your tick/cross in the box for the the relevant candidate or not as the case may be as there would also be an extra box for the disgruntled/disillusioned stating "None of the above planks thank you!" easy!

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by dotti34

We have a voting system which is based on preferential votes

I believe Germany & Ireland have the same sort of practice, a multi choice type of approach which helps to balance things out in the house of the self serving.

[accyman]

there is always a reason why governments break election promises

the reason is its all the previous governments fault

same goes for councils as well

individual let downs by MPs are usually through arse kissing , desiring promotion/ career benefit or blatant disrespect for its constituents.Hell if your lucky you may get an insult thrown in as well depending on security of the particular MPs seat