Election Rundown 2013
As requested, here's a quick rundown on the politics of 2013's election. I'll cover the two main parties in the election, the key issues they're debating, and how third parties work in Australia.
The two main parties are Tony Abbott's liberal national party (LNP) and Kevin Rudd's australian labor party (ALP). The Greens are the largest party after that. They're unlikely to win the prime minister's position, but they won enough seats during the last election to hold the balance of power, which meant that anyone who wanted to get something done would need to have the greens' support. I will talk about third parties later on, and why they're important!
Key issues- these might not be the issues that you care most about, but they're the issues the two main parties believe will decide the election: the economy and 'boat people'. I've also summarised each party's position on same sex marriage and the Internet, which are generally important to 20-something's like you and me. Here are the issues:
Economy- LNP election campaigns will usually mention that the ALP spends a lot of money, and that they're bad at managing the economy. The ALP believes that the LNP cuts spending too dramatically when they have the chance.
Both sides believe our economy will change in the next few years, and that the mining boom is coming to an end. Both sides are promising new jobs. The LNP is proposing to repeal the carbon tax. The ALP will keep the carbon tax, and won't make cuts.
(What's the carbon tax? It's a tax based on the idea that people and businesses should pay money to offset the effect they have on the environment. Individual people would be reimbursed for their extra costs and businesses that use cleaner energy wouldn't be charged as heavily for their carbon footprint, so they could compete with companies that polluted heavily).
'Boat people'- both major parties have committed to stronger border protection, offshore processing and mandatory detention for asylum seekers who arrive by boat, which is in violation of the UN refugee convention that we are a part of. It's crucial to note that people who arrive in Australia by boat aren't doing so illegally, and we have one of the smallest refugee intakes in the world given our isolation from everyone else on the planet. Despite this, border protection and turning away 'boat people' has been an election issue for a very long time, and it does attract votes.
The Greens party supports ending offshore processing, but as mentioned earlier, they are a third party so it's unlikely that they'll achieve it. What they are more likely to achieve is better conditions for the refugees who are being detained.
Same-sex marriage: Tony Abbott has said he will not support it, Kevin Rudd has recently said he would support a same-sex marriage bill.
The Internet: Both parties have announced that they have plans to improve our Internet using a national broadband network. Here's a comparison: http://howfastisthenbn.com.au/ . The labor network is more expensive, but it's an order of magnitude faster than the LNP network.
Those are the issues I've been able to research easily. If there's a major issue I've missed, let me know and I'll see if I can find out what the major parties are promising.
Alternatively, I've provided links to the web pages I used to build up this info.
Now to explain third parties: I've mostly covered just the LNP and the ALP in this rundown, but Australia has a number of other smaller parties worth being aware of. The largest are the Greens, but there's also groups like Bob Katter's Australia party, the Palmer party, One Nation, and even the Australian Fishing and Lifestyle Party.
Although its unlikely we'd have any of these smaller groups winning the *whole election*, they can win smaller parts of the election which gives them a voice in government for the next few years.
So, if neither major party supports the things you want supported, vote for a third party that does and you could help them help you.
This cartoon goes into more detail on the process: http://www.chickennation.com/tag/dennis-the-election-koala/
Conclusion: I've tried to summarise the positions of the two main parties and also highlight the importance that third parties play in our political system, without encouraging you to vote for one candidate based on their personal charisma, or pick a party to be 'your team', no matter what.
If there's a particular issue that you care about, it's legitimate to look for a party that agrees with you on that issue, doesn't have other policies that are terrible, and then vote for them.
Further reading:
Truth-o-meter: politifact.com.au is a useful tool that analyses the statements made by political figures and points out any falsehoods.
Major party websites -http://campaign.lnp.org.au/, http://www.alp.org.au/, http://www.greens.org.au/. These websites contain policy statements. They should be taken with a grain of salt.
What is the carbon tax? http://www.carbontax.net.au/what-is-the-carbon-tax/
UN refugee agency condemns Kevin Rudd's PNG solution: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/un-refugee-agency-condemns-kevin-rudds-png-asylum-seeker-plan/story-fn9hm1gu-1226686151213
Green's policy on refugees: http://www.greens.org.au/protecting-refugee-health
The national broadband network: http://howfastisthenbn.com.au/
You can't waste your vote: preferential voting 101. http://www.chickennation.com/tag/dennis-the-election-koala/