If only we could vote for policies, not politicians and parties

Christian voters, like many other value-driven voter groupings, most likely progressively tear their hair out the longer an election campaign goes on.

With each day of wall-to-wall election coverage comes new policy bombs that blow up the settled belief that you know who to vote for.

The candidate or party whose policy on one issue sounded reasonable yesterday suddenly make statements on another issue today that you could never support.

How can Julian Assange become a Senator while stuck in the UK?

Julian Assange's Senate candidacy for the Wikileaks Party throws up some interesting constitutional and political issues.

The Constitution says that a person convicted and sentenced or awaiting sentence for an offense with a penalty of one year imprisonment or more cannot be a Senator. It doesn't mention whether that conviction or sentence is restricted to Australian law, but that is the presumption.

On the face of it, although Assange faces possible charges in Sweden, and arguably the US, this does not disqualify him because it is not Australia that is pursuing him and in any case he is yet to be charged or tried. And although Australia has said it is investigating whether Assange has broke Australian law, there has been recent movement along that path.

Running for the Australian Senate is clearly a tactical move to ward off  foreign powers, particuarly the US, because it would be less likely to pursue Assange if he was a duly elected representative of the Australian people.

A greater threat to Assange's successful career as Senator, apart from the question of getting enough votes, is the Constitutional clause about absence from the Senate:

'The place of a senator shall become vacant if for two consecutive months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission of the Senate, fails to attend the Senate.' Part II, 20.

If Assange is still holed-up in the Ecuadorian Consulate into next year, he is unlikely to survive attempts to oust him from his Senate position, should he win one.

More likely he intends to make a dash for Australia if he is successful in the election, believing sensitivity to Australian sovereignty will save him in the UK and that the Australian Government will also be unwilling to extradite him to Sweden or the US. But that still seems a long shot, particularly if Australian politicians are making unsympathetic noises here, given the annoyance Assange has been in Europe.

Barring some legal or political solution, Assange's long term Senate prospects seem problematic at best, despite the new 'body politic' he continually proclaims to be creating.

Updated: Restaurant owner's shameful fundraiser menu a symptom of politics of divide

There were a number of attempts at humour on the 'mock menu' prepared by restaurant owner Joe Richards for a Liberal National Party fundraiser but the one at the expense of Prime Minister Julia Gillard was one of the most disgusting insults to find its way into public life.

Having admitted to being the author of the now infamous menu, Richards claims it was not distributed to Mal Brough, Joe Hockey, party members or supporters at the fundraising dinner and would not have seen the light of day, if not tweeted by a chef in the restaurant's kitchen.

'Rudd's a Goose Foie Gras' and 'We were going to serve Swan Foie Gras this evening, though it lost when we put it the vote' are slightly funny and '...The Dill Simon Crean Pollen and Grilled Kilroy Grass-fed Tenderloin' at least a play on words, we think.

And even 'Please ensure you eat all your greens before they take over completely' has some merit, which is all the more reason why the dissolution into personal, hateful and vulgar comments at the expense of the Prime Minister should be condemned.

Now another menu

But wait, there's more, another shameful menu has appeared, this time at the expense of Tony Abbott, Joe Hockey and Malcolm Turnbull. If it is authentic, then again we learn that there is no one left to cast the first menu...

It may well be as a nation we are learning that the willingness to cut to the bone with our language, whether in private or public, is not something that healthy and whole human beings do. Extreme provocation might be a mitigating circumstance, only slightly, but political opposition is not.

As Australia adds a restaurant owner to a 13-year-old girl, a radio announcer, swimming executive and soccer coach (and the list grows, daily) who have all been held to account for their racist, sexist or hateful words in the past few weeks, the message must be clear - live well, think well, speak well.

But there's another side to this shameful episode/s. It is the claim and counter-claim of politicians as to who is the most sexist or discriminatory or inappropriate in their language that prompted the 'chef' to tweet the menu. (And of course, the high and mighty 'chef' has been caught out with is own offensive tweet...)

Such are the politics of divide - in the long run no one wins, everyone is wary and we are all found out.

A wise book advises, 'Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.' Ephesians 5:4


Note: In our picture of the menu, the vulgar comments about Julia Gillard have been deleted.
Some details updated on June 14, 2013.

Voters consider support for new parties: Morgan Poll

New research suggests three new political parties contesting their first federal election may achieve some electoral penetration.

According to a Morgan Poll conducted this week, the Australian electorate is considering voting for at least three of the new fringe parties – with Wikileaks ahead of Katter’s Australian Party and the Palmer United Party.

Although there are 14 new parties seeking or gaining registration towards the next election, the Morgan Poll focused on the three with the highest profile.

Gary Morgan said of the poll's findings:

'This year’s Federal Election sees the launch of three new political parties onto the Australian political landscape. Each political party is targeting clearly different demographic segments and today’s special telephone Morgan Poll shows that all have some chance of securing representation in Australia’s Federal Parliament. The Wikileaks Party founded by Wikileaks creator Julian Assange, is only running candidates for the Senate in three States – Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, but it has the highest potential nationwide support of 21%. Importantly for Wikileaks, Victoria is the State where it has the highest potential support (27%) and is where Assange plans to run for the Senate.'

Interestingly for Christian voters, Victoria is also the state that has had a Senator from a party associated with Christian values. Stephen Fielding won a Senate seat in in 2004 and was replaced by the DLP 's Senator John Madigan after the 2010 election.

Read the full Morgan Poll results
Our story on other new parties 

Pirates, bullet trains, Wikileaks, Carers - just some of the parties registering to contest September election

As an election year experience, Australian Christian Voter has subscribed to the Australian Electoral Commission's political party registration alert.

Whenever a party applies to register, change its name or has its registration approved or otherwise and the pace of alerts is definitely pick up.

Early alerts pertained to The Pirate Party, Carers Alliance and Bank Reform Party - read our earlier story here.

The next party registration alert seemed to coincide with the (very slow) discussion of a very fast train - The Bullet Train for Australia Party. Canberran Timothy Bohm is named as the applicant and the party's website says its goal is create a better Australia for our children and will have no other policies than to push for a high speed train.

An innocent little alert then came through for the Uniting Australia Party, a few days before Clive Palmer's plan to form a political party hit the headlines. Despite the application not being finally approved - objections can be made until May 24 - the UAP is already naming candidates and running advertising. It helps to have deep pockets.

Then this month, a trifecta of interesting new parties hit the AEC in time to beat the May 13 deadline for new registrations - Wikileaks Party, Voluntary Euthanasia Party and Nick Xenophon Group. You can find out more about their registration applications on the AEC website.

Wikileaks Party is a vehicle for would-be Victorian Senate candidate Julian Assange but has an interesting array of Australians on its National Council. The party has been formed by campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke and he is standing for the Senate, possibly in South Australia. Nick Xenophon says he has reluctantly formed the party so his name can be above the line on the ballot paper.

Meanwhile to parties with a symmetry to their names are both seeking changes or abbreviations to their existing registration.

The Democratic Labor Party of Australia wants to drop the 'of Australia' part with a new abbreviation, DLP Democratic Labor. And the Liberal Democratic Party wants to change its abbreviation from Liberal Democrats (LDP) to Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Party is objecting.

Did Crean collude with Gillard to try and fatally discredit Rudd?

Did Simon Crean collude with Julia Gillard in yesterday's phantom leadership spill?

If there is one place conspiracy theories may actually have some credence, it's the Labor Party in 2013.

On a day when we should have been sitting down to headlines of a national apology for those harmed by forced adoptions, we were overtaken by absurd political machinations or, perhaps, absurdist political theatre with B grade actors.

Watching Simon Crean's media conference early afternoon yesterday, in which he explained how he was urging Julia Gillard to call a leadership spill, he articulated two assumptions:

• Having asked the Prime Minister to call the spill, he assumed she wouldn't.
• Having not asked Kevin Rudd to run for leader in the spill, he assumed he would.

As it unfolded, Gillard did call a spill and Rudd didn't stand as a candidate. The only one to find themselves in changed circumstances was Simon Crean - sacked as a Minister.

But even more interesting was the way Crean spoke about Gillard and Rudd.

When explaining his motives, Crean spoke quietly and tenderly about Gillard, saying everyone knew the length and depth of his relationship with Julia and that this was not personal.

When asked about Rudd, he spoke harshly, almost spitting out the words, saying Kevin had to run, that he had to stop playing games on the sideline, that he was sick of the games.

If you forget the words Crean actually spoke, and think of how he said them, then he was clearly a friend to Julia Gillard and an adversary of Kevin Rudd. And this would be in keeping with his previous words about Rudd in which he described him as 'treacherous'.

Which is why it is not crazy-conspiracy to ask, did Crean fall on his sword for Gillard in an attempt to flush out and once-and-for-all fatally discredit Rudd, knowing that he didn't ever have the numbers to win?

Another argument in favour of this theory is that Crean's tactics yesterday match the style of 'policy by ambush' that seems to be gripping Labor leadership in these frantic days. Think media law...

If there was no collusion, and Crean acted alone, believing he could single-handedly redirect the fortunes of Labor, then it was one of the strangest political miscalculations we will see... until the next one.

Perhaps the only thing stranger about yesterday was Bob Katter wandering the corridors of Parliament when a division was on that nearly led to a no confidence vote in the Prime Minister. Reading from the same script, was he hedging his bets (and his vote) as to whether it was better politically, or not, to be a part of bringing down the government...

The Biblical obligation to pray for those in authority, never seemed more apt and more needed.

Open Australia bridges democratic disconnect and puts you in touch with Parliament

A new website that makes the unfathomable depths of Hansard easily accessible will be a huge asset for serious voters in the 2013 election.

OpenAustralia has a simple goal - to be 'a non-partisan website run by a charity, the OpenAustralia Foundation and volunteers. It aims to make it easy for people to keep tabs on their representatives in Parliament.' <>

Screenshot of an electorate search using a postcode.

OpenAustralia has already been featured by the Global Mail which has used information sourced from the website to produce charts showing how politicians use language to describe issues. Check out its Party Lines interactive feature.

The OpenAustralia website describes its function as a bridge for the 'growing democratic disconnect':

Carers Alliance and Bank Reformers seek registration alongside the Pirate Party

Two new parties have applied for registration towards the September 14, 2013 federal election, joining 33 other parties already contesting the poll.

The Carers Alliance and the Bank Reform Party hope to follow the most recently registered political grouping, The Pirate Party, which had its registration approved by the Australian Electoral Commission on February 13, 2013.

Party registration benefits include having party affiliation printed on ballot papers, not needing the signatures of 50 voters to nominate in an electorate and funding for endorsed candidates who received 4 per cent of the vote.

New political party has high hopes: Australian Christians

'The political landscape is at a crossroads. We believe the time is right for a new party, shaped by Christian values, to step forward as a viable third alternative.'

This is the bold declaration of a new political party known as Australian Christians which was launched in some states early last year.

A news story on the party by Perth Voice reports comments by national director Ray Moran who hopes that three existing political parties with Christian affiliations - Family First, Australian Christian Democrats and the Democratic Labor Party - can be united into one large Christian party.

However at the time, according to Perth Voice, the only progress had been some "official talks" with Family First.

A Victorian State Conference and Campaign Launch is being held on February 3 with the theme defending the essential three strands of faith, family freedom. Ecclesiastes 4:12 is highlighted - 'A cord of three strands is not quickly broken' - perhaps applicable also to the goal of uniting Christian political parties.

One of the speakers is Australian Christians' lead Senate candidate in Victoria, Vickie Janson, author of Ideological Jihad. She has recently completed a trip through regional Victoria meeting church leaders and other Christians. Tasmanian lead Senate candidate is Kevin Swarts.

On its website, Australian Christians describes a hopeful vision, clearly unsullied by political realities that too easily engulf even experienced hands.

'We see a movement that is known for what it promotes, not what it opposes. A party with a voice in the political conversation that can shape policy, promote and protect the values that create a better Australia for all Australians, no matter what their faith and belief. We believe this movement has the potential to unite Australian Christians. And we believe it has the potential to influence the values and culture of our next generation.'

Comment: at first glance, Australian Christians would seem to have unrealistic hopes and little organisation - the twin plagues of most Christian endeavours in the world of politics. A closer look reveals that, in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania at least, there is some degree of organisation and resource and even a few candidates. ACV

Wikipedia contains a small and slightly outdated reference to the party. It claims that Australian Christians will not operate in NSW due to the strength of the CDP in that state.

Caucus saves Julia Gillard but can anything save the Labor Party?

Julia Gillard has won the ALP leadership spill today, 71 votes to 31 over Kevin Rudd and so continues us a remarkably unpopular Prime Minister while Kevin Rudd promises to go quietly to the back bench.

But with 'dysfunctional' being the elephant in the room for the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, nothing is for certain.

Julia Gillard and backers have been emphasising that the next election is at the "end of 2013" which a long way off in politics. They are hopeful she can turn the tide of public opinion in that time.

One thing in her favour is that much of the electorate angst over the ugly betrayal of Kevin Rudd has been overshadowed by absolute electorate exhaustion with the whole boring business of Labor leadership shenanigans.

For Kevin, it may well be that nobody wants to hear one more thing about faceless men and legacies and finishing the job.

For Julia, she is in danger of being the new Kristina Keneally of Labor politics - leading a government so tainted that it won't matter what she does, or what policies and reform are achieved...

And there are a couple of names I think should be mentioned - Mark Latham and Malcolm Turnbull.

Mark Latham was chosen by Labor for the 2004 election and we all remember his handshake and his subsequent whitewashing from history by the ALP.

Then Kevin came to the rescue but we now learn that his leadership was apparently as dysfunctional as Latham's must have been to earn such neglect from former colleagues.

What does that say about Labor's ability to produce and choose normal, healthy, whole leaders? It's not really my question, it's Labor's - based on their own comments.

And meanwhile the Liberals had a close leadership contest a while ago but we hear no serious or hurtful discussion about Malcolm Turnbull's leadership ambition. Does this indicate a healthier, more balanced approach to resolving this issues? Or is it that, unlike Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott just has the right numbers to keep the dogs at bay...

'Dysfunctional - 1. Not operating properly. 2. Deviating from the norms of social behaviour in a way as regarded as bad.' That kind of sums it up, let's see if our politicians have had their fill of 'dysfunction' and can remember their electorates and the nation...

Stay tuned... and keep praying.

Christian vote contributes powerfully to election result

Regardless of arguments for and against faith playing a role in the political process, one respected electoral analyst reports that the beliefs of both Christians and atheists strongly influenced voting patterns and results in the 2010 Federal Election.

Former Labor Senator John Black now runs Australian Development Strategies which includes a service called Elaborate, used to analyse the latest election results.

Elaborate is the name given to both the database and the analytical techniques developed by Australian Development Strategies principals during 35 years of experience in using demographic analysis, profiling and mapping.

Even in the the first paragraphs of he 45 page report, it becomes clear that the votes of Christians played a significant role in the election.

In describing the methodology for the 2010 election analysis, John Black's report says:

'Where we found more activist Christians, we found more voters swinging against Labor... The regression analysis weeds out the purely descriptive variables and uses only those variables which contribute real explaining power to the model. For example in the current election, the ALP copped an absolute caning in the regression analysis from activist Christian demographics in terms of both the vote and the swing. So the presence of an activist Christian vote in any electorate both described and explained behaviour.'

Australian Christian Voter's own research indicates that in the days after Julia Gillard became Prime Minister, thousands of people, presumably Christians, searched the internet for information about Ms Gillard's religious beliefs.

DLP claims Vic Senate seat as count continues

Possible DLP Senator John Madigan

The sixth and final Senate seat in Victoria is still up in the air with the Democratic Labor Party claiming the seat just ahead of Family First's Steve Fielding and Liberal Julian McGauran.

While the DLP only finished fifth on first preferences, behind Liberal, ALP, Greens and Family First, they do well with preferences from other minor parties, including, crucially, the Christian Democratic Party, who preferenced the DLP ahead of Family First.

However the ABC's Senate calculator is now showing the DLP being eliminated before Family First, with Family First not having enough votes to hold out Senator McGauran.

Despite this the DLP is virtually claiming victory on their website:

'After an extremely successful senate campaign and despite the fact that no one in the electronic or print media gave the DLP so much as a footnote, the people of Victoria have put John Madigan in the position of becoming the first DLP Senator in 35 years. Although the final figures will not be known for up to two weeks John is well placed to take the final Victorian Senate Seat.

'It is a shame that this possible DLP victory will come at the cost of Senators Julian McGauran and Steve Fielding who have given such strong and determined service on behalf of the people of Victoria.'

Mr Madigan is a blacksmith, skills that may well benefit him in the Senate.

Fielding still flexing Senate muscle

With the new Senate not sitting until July 2011, Family First Senator Steven Fielding is planning to influence the shape of government, using his balance of power vote, regardless of whether he is re-elected as the Senate count continues.

Mr Fielding said he believed 'voters are not very happy with Labor' and along with independent Senator Nick Xenophon, can prevent Labor legislation from passing the Senate. Currently there are 37 Liberal Senators, 32 Labor, five Green plus Fielding and Xenophon. When the newly elected Senate sits from July next year, the Greens - with about nine Senators - will hold the balance of power.

Steve Fielding may block Labor rule

CDP summary describes vote as 'encouraging'

The Christian Democrtic Party NSW Senate results are 'very encouraging', according to a summary on the CDP website.

The CDP received 82,560 votes in the 2007 Senate Election and preliminary results indicate that the CDP vote will increase by 3-4000 votes in 2010, still not enough to win a seat.

Read the full NSW CDP summary.

Family First's Fielding loses Senate seat

The ABC's election analyst Antony Green says Victorian Family First Senator Steve Fielding has lost his place in the Upper House.

He says the Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate, with new senators elected in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.

The Greens had been widely tipped to increase their Senate numbers to take the balance of power.

Senator Fielding was elected to the Senate with the help of Labor preferences in 2004 but is almost certain to be replaced by Greens candidate Richard Di Natale.

Read the full Seven News report.

While we're hanging around, what's up in the Senate.

With the news focus firmly on the probability that Australia will have a hung parliament, what is happening for minor parties such as Family First and Christian Democratic Party in the Senate.

According to the latest figures from the Australian Electoral Commission, South Australian Family First candidate Bob Day is still in with the slimmest of chances of winning the sixth Senate seat.

Family First SA has 32,323 votes or .285 of a quota. However the Greens have .93 of a quota, Liberals 2.57 quotas and Labor  2.72 quotas. Which means only four of six seats are definitely decided and the final two will depend on the completion of counting and, possibly, the flow of preferences.

Family First can expect to rise on the preferences of some other minor parties but it is a slim chance indeed that they would get ahead of either Liberal, Labor or Green for the sixth senate seat. But it's not impossible and it certainly a night for the unlikely.

In WA's Seante race, the CDP polled 10,973 votes but were behind the Australian Sex Party with more than 13,000 votes. Most of the sex party preferences will flow to the Greens and there is not enough votes among other minor parties preferencing CDP to see them reach a quota.

In NSW the CDP polled about 60,000 votes, putting them ahead of the Australian Sex Party but behind the Shooters and Fishers Party. family First polled 27,706 in their first serious Senate attempt in NSW.

It will be interesting to see if the preferencing decisions of CDP and Family First affect their success in the election. Both preferenced Liberal before each other.

Family First answers environment questions

Family First's lead Senate candidate in NSW Greg Swane has responded today to questions about his party's environment policy.

Mr Swane said Family First is committed to tackling issues such as climate change, deforestation and marine sanctuaries as well working to achieving a fair and equable approach to the 'carbon tax issue'.

He said his major concern and focus was how the implementation and size of any carbon tax would affect the Australian family’s ability to survive financially.

'I want to comment on the alarmist focus of The Greens that implies that the environment is collapsing,' Mr Swane said in a statement sent to churches and supporters.

ACL welcomes move to fight sexualisation of children

The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed moves by ACT Greens Party Convener, Meredith Hunter, to introduce a voluntary code of conduct for retailers to help combat the sexualisation of children.

The ACT Greens have also proposed educating students on the dangers of sexualised images on young minds.

The ACL’s ACT Director Nick Jensen said he supported moves for the ACT to become a leader in the fight against the sexualisation of children and welcomed Ms Hunter’s motion calling on the ACT Government to take action on the issue.

'While Ms Hunter’s motion is welcome, it would be great to see her concern extend to Federal Green policies, where there is a push for X-rated material to be sold throughout Australia, support for girls to sell their bodies for sex in prostitution legislation, and opposition to ISP filtering measures to stop child pornography on the internet.'

Abbott & Gillard Christian talks on pay TV tonight

Pay television subscribers will have the chance to view Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott’s messages to the Christian constituency tonight at 6:30pm.

The Australian Christian Channel will screen a 90 minute pre-election special featuring the ACL’s Make it Count event with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace’s recent interview with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

For those without pay television, you can watch Julia Gillard's interview at Australian Christian Voter and Tony Abbott's June 21 address at Australian Christian Lobby.

How to cast the perfect vote... and not cast the first stone

Final election comment
By Peter Hallett
Australian Christian Voter

Many voters will be hoping to cast the perfect vote on Saturday - one that represents the best policies, the best candidates and the best future for themselves and the nation.

Christians, and many other thoughtful people, are trained to be intentional and purposeful in all that they do, conscious of rights and wrongs and doing what is best in the eyes of God or their own conscience. This brings a kind of moral pressure to bear as we sift through the competing arguments from candidates and commentators alike.

Sometimes casting a vote almost becomes a battle to see who will cast the first stone - is there any among us worthy to pass judgement on the poor, political sinners scrambling exposed in the dust.

The hard, but relieving, truth is that the perfect vote does not exist, and never has because none of the parties or candidates are perfect. So if perfection is your goal, your are looking in the wrong place. I can think of Someone perfect, but He doesn't need your vote. He would appreciate a chat though...

So take the pressure off, sit back and read my summary of the various options based on years of journalism and a relentless reviewing of parties, policies and posting more than 110 articles on the election in the past two months.

Oh, and one thing I won't be doing is telling you how to vote... That's your decision.