I've never experienced an election campaign that has so failed to ignite any interest amongst the electorate. None of my work colleagues have spoken about it once, nor is it featuring on social media. It's a terrible situation in the sense that there is nobody rocking the boat at all. The left-liberal vs right-liberal cosy, comfortable orthodoxy is very much alive and well in Australia. Real political interest lies overseas.
So who might a traditionalist vote for in these elections? I'm happy for readers to discuss this in the comments. In my seat, there is no-one at all to vote for in the House of Representatives, so that is a non-issue. In the Senate there is at least some choice. Here in Victoria, I think the best option might be to vote for Georgia Nicholls of the Sustainable Australia Party. They have been running some well produced TV ads, arguing the case for lower immigration. They are by no means a traditionalist party, but at least we can support them in their aim of lowering immigration from 200,000 per year back to 70,000. Here is a video they have produced:
South Australian readers might like to consider voting for Senator Cory Bernardi.
Nice start but it's purely an economic argument, isn't it? The political and managerial classes own the economy and understand it through metrics that can be parsed with a spreadsheet. Cultural is an alien subject. Confining the immigration issue to economics is a weak position but politically acceptable. Still, I can imagine their position being attacked as xenophobic and bigoted (the attacks need not make sense, just scare people)
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right, but they are keeping the issue warm at least. It would be great if they won a Senate seat and were able to keep the issue in the media. It would be a small step forward.
DeleteIndeed. I wish them the best.
DeleteIs your seat Jagajaga? Informal vote lower house, One Nation in the senate.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jagajaga. I'll have a look at the ON site.
DeleteYou are lucky that in Australia at least some politicians are discussing the appropriate level of immigration and urging that it be reduced. In the US, virtually all of the arguments - including from Trump - are about ILLEGAL immigration, which ignores our vastly excessive level of LEGAL immigration.
ReplyDeleteThank a lot
ReplyDelete