[xasop]

Here in New South Wales, we're facing another state election in three weeks. Personally, I don't have high hopes; I suspect we're going to end up with another Coalition government, although the polls are pretty close so it could be a hung parliament. In an attempt to influence the result in that direction, since I live in a safe Liberal electorate and thus my vote won't count for very much, I donated $250 to the Greens today.

I'm not in full agreement with all of the Greens' policies, but they're the only party with vaguely sensible views that has even the slightest chance of gathering enough votes to get seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house). The best realistic outcome we can hope for is a hung Parliament with the Greens and some Independents making up the crossbench; the most likely government would then be a Labor/Greens coalition.

Election day is in 20 days. Here's hoping.

[Vindictus]

The only thing I disagree with the Greens on is their total opposition to further road infrastructure, namely the Westconnex. The only reason they're opposed to that is because it will impact Newtown, where a big portion of their base is (and they may even take that seat for the first time given the disillusionment with the 2 big boys). NIMBYism is fucking annoying, especially when it's stopping much needed infrastructure. I wish everyone recognized the need for significant infrastructure improvements in both rail and roads, instead of one or the other.

The state LNP don't seem so bad. The power sell off has people divided, and I've seen evidence both for it and against. It seems in the long run it would be more intelligent to retain it, given a ~$1.5 billion profit every year as opposed to a $20 billion profit from leasing it. But, NSW desperately needs infrastructure, and that's not going to be cheap. The LNP are not going to put us into debt to pay for it, regardless of the fact that we could pay it off given our assets.

In any case, at least it's more of a competition than federal politics, which is a complete joke right now.

[Saddam Hussein]

http://greens.org.au/policies/nuclear-uranium

Why do you hate scientific progress?

[Pete Svarrior]

http://greens.org.au/policies/nuclear-uranium

Why do you hate scientific progress?

From my discussion with Parsifal earlier today, it appears that Australia doesn't really have a significant pro-nuclear-power party, so that particular point can be largely ignored.

[Vindictus]

http://greens.org.au/policies/nuclear-uranium

Why do you hate scientific progress?

They are a bit reactionary in both this area and GMO crops, which is disappointing. While it doesn't appear to be impossible to use renewables to sustain society, it would be much easier if we incorporated nuclear power as well. Unfortunately, Australia suffers from the idea that nuclear power ends up going the way of Chernobyl or Fukushima, which just isn't true.

I still prefer them over the major parties, especially the federal Liberal party, which is so beholden to the coal mining sector that they will never move away from coal power generation. Given the huge contribution of coal power to the overall CO2, it's important we start scaling it back as much as possible. The ALP/Greens are our only hope in this regard.

[xasop]

It's not that I support the Greens so much as that I think they're less bad than the alternatives. Given that they have no hope of gaining a majority, any seats they win will simply help to serve as a counterpoint in debate and (in the case of a hung parliament) a deciding vote, keeping the government's decisions in check. And the authoritarian right-wing major parties we have definitely need to be kept in check.

My donation was a strategic move, not a mark of loyalty. My own views are much more closely aligned with the Sex Party and the Pirate Party, but neither is running in this election.

[xasop]

http://www.futureparty.org.au/

These guys actually look fairly sane, and are running a group ticket (Group M) for the Legislative Council. They have few policies, but the ones they do have are all on issues that we desperately need improvement on.

At the moment, I'm thinking of preferencing Future Party first, then Socialist Alliance, then Greens, then various other libertarian-leaning parties (Outdoor Recreation and Democrats, while not closely aligned with my own views, would both be tremendously preferable to the two major parties). Speaking of which, I really like the optional preferential proportional representation voting system we have in NSW; it's much better than the Federal Senate ballot.

As far as my own electorate goes for the Legislative Assembly, we have sucky options as usual. The Greens are the only halfway-sane option, so they'll definitely be getting my first preference, followed by Labor, No Land Tax, Liberal and CDP, probably in that order.

[xasop]

I just made a donation to the Future Party. Nothing left but to hope their campaigning makes a difference and put in my vote on election day.

[xasop]

7 days to go until polling day. There's been a surprising lack of campaigning material around this week; I'm guessing it'll ramp up quickly starting this weekend.

[xasop]

This time tomorrow, we'll know who the new Premier of New South Wales is. Not that it will make much of a difference; they're both filthy liars.

[jroa]

I am sure that everybody here is on the seat of their chairs awaiting the results. 

[Rama Set]

This time tomorrow, we'll know who the new Premier of New South Wales is. Not that it will make much of a difference; they're both filthy liars.

Based on that small snip, Foley seems to be the lesser of two evils in regards to honesty.

[xasop]

This time tomorrow, we'll know who the new Premier of New South Wales is. Not that it will make much of a difference; they're both filthy liars.

Based on that small snip, Foley seems to be the lesser of two evils in regards to honesty.

Labor is usually the lesser of two evils, which is why I'll be preferencing them before Liberal. They're both going to do nothing much for the state, though.

[Vindictus]

This time tomorrow, we'll know who the new Premier of New South Wales is. Not that it will make much of a difference; they're both filthy liars.

Based on that small snip, Foley seems to be the lesser of two evils in regards to honesty.

Labor is usually the lesser of two evils, which is why I'll be preferencing them before Liberal. They're both going to do nothing much for the state, though.

They're gonna build the roads™, buddy.

[xasop]

They're gonna build the roads™, buddy.

Are they going to replace the Spit Bridge yet?

[xasop]

I have now voted. Aside from the boring lower house ballot which isn't going to count for anything, I decided to be badass this year and preference nine (mostly) libertarian-leaning parties in the upper house. In order, I put:

Future Party (Group M; not grouped using the name Future Party)
Outdoor Recreation
Australian Cyclists
Socialist Alliance
Voluntary Euthanasia
Animal Justice
Greens
Democrats
Labor

I predict all of my first six preferences will be quickly eliminated and I'll end up electing a Greens candidate. The only other outcome that seems likely is for Outdoor Recreation to snag my vote.

Now to spend the afternoon watching my vote bounce around and seeing if my predictions come true.

Edit: Also, while it may seem odd having the right-wing Outdoor Recreation, the far-left Socialist Alliance and the centre-left Greens on the same ballot, the thing these three parties have in common is that they all support civil liberties. I agree to some extent, but not entirely, with their economic policies; the Future Party has much better economic policies, in my opinion.

[Vindictus]

I still have to vote.. and most importantly, get a sausage sizzle.

[xasop]

I still have to vote.. and most importantly, get a sausage sizzle.

With the way the media has been going on about this election, they might as well just have privately- and publicly-owned sausage sizzles and count votes as the number of sales for each.

[xasop]

Voting has closed, and counting has begun. I'll be keeping one tab open on the ABC's election blog as the story unfolds.

[xasop]

Vote NSW, the informational website for this election, has now been turned into a report of the count as it progresses.

Count information for my electoral district:
http://votensw.info/la-home.htm#la/pittwater/fp
http://votensw.info/la-home.htm#la/pittwater/tcp
http://votensw.info/lc-home.htm#lc/pittwater/fp
For anyone who wants to stalk me, my vote was cast at Ted Blackwood Community Centre.

And the overall state count for the Legislative Council:
http://votensw.info/lc-home.htm#lc/nsw/fp