We here at Beat care about democracy, so we’ve prepared a primer on the issues we think are of greatest interest to our readership: arts, transport, copyright, housing and the NBN. We’ve focused on the major parties – Liberals, Nationals, the ALP and the Greens – though we’ve done our best to trawl through the minor parties to round out the analysis.
This isn’t intended to be comprehensive, but hopefully it’s useful. There’s a shit-load more major policy issues at play in this election: the gutter-scraping policies of the major parties on border protection, the fiscal complexities of superannuation taxation and the ideological battle ground between economic-based incentives to minimise carbon emissions and ‘direct action’ targeted funding and support activities. And then there’s all the pet policy peccadillos of the myriad of minor parties clambering for attention on the Senate ballot paper.
The important thing is to think hard about the issues that matter to you – not as a selfish exercise, but in terms of the implications of those issues to the community in which you live. Look beyond the big numbers and the grandiose promises, challenge the superficial statements and don’t fall for a series of well-produced graphics and clever slogans.
And remember: vote early, and vote often, but only in accordance with the requirements of the Commonwealth Electoral Act.
Breaking Down the Rhetoric
In Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Hunter S. Thompson portrayed the 1972 presidential race as a glorified sports contest. These days, elections often seem like a poorly attired advertising campaign. Policy issues are typically very complex, and too easily reduced to specious slogans, catchy hashtags, dank memes and enormous numbers that are never really explained, but sound impressive enough to sway voters’ opinions one way or another. ‘Jobs and growth’ has no more analytical depth than ‘fairness and equity’, or ‘let them all stay’.
The Coalition is playing hard on its economic credentials: everything, even arts policy apparently, is about ‘jobs and growth’. There’s a whiff of Chicago school economics about the Coalition’s economic policies: grow the economic base, and everyone benefits. Plenty of economists would dispute the empirical evidence for that proposition, but as Talking Heads once said, “Facts all come with points of view / Facts don’t do what I want them to”.
The ALP says it’s ‘putting people first’, which is great unless it’s at the head of a line to some nasty fate. The ALP typically polls better on health and education, the former strong suit which can be seen in its recent scare campaign on Medicare changes.
The Greens take an even softer and fuzzier line, talking about ‘equality and compassion’. And, of course, the environment. The common charge against the Greens is that they over-promise because they will never be in a position where they have to deliver.
The best of the rest is fascinating, compelling and disturbing, depending on your philosophical position. As a broad-brush observation, many of the minor parties have a libertarian bent. The Australian Sex Party lists its policy interests under the heading “We give a f**k about …”. The Sex Party takes a generally libertarian line, supporting pill testing initiatives, euthanasia and the heavily critiqued Safe Schools program. Family First sees family as the cornerstone of society. The Citizens Electoral Council loves a global conspiracy theory more than Dan Brown. The Australian Liberty Alliance champions “individual liberty, small government, Western values, social fairness and an integrated multi-ethnic society”. The Australian Christian Party has managed to gloss over hundreds of years theological debate to promulgate a ‘Christian’ line; the Australian Secular Party says any theological analysis is irrelevant. The Animal Justice Party and Euthanasia Party are focusing on specific, and important, topics. And the Socialist Alliance Party and the Socialist Equality Party are in continuing the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist-Trotskyist ideological battles to the interest of few, and amusement of many more.
The Stakes: High Roller Edition
This election is a double dissolution, meaning that the stakes are much higher. Both houses of parliament have been dissolved, meaning that all seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate are up for grabs. Usually, only half the Senate is spilt.
The voting rules for the Senate have also changed, mainly to address the potential for micro-parties to do clever preference deals to ensure that a few lucky minnows across the country get to sit on the plush red leather couches. But that doesn’t mean that the fickle hand of democracy won’t produce a motley parliamentary population. Apparently Derryn Hinch is a good chance in Victoria, and Tasmania may yet return Jackie Lambie. Ricky Muir can’t be ruled out in Victoria, though people have probably twigged now that David Leyonhelm isn’t from the Liberal Party.
In the House of Representatives, the Greens are giving a scare to the ALP and the Coalition in various inner-urban seats, ranging from the hipster enclave of Batman, to the tree-lined streets of Higgins. In South Australia, Nick Xenophon’s personal popularity has rattled the Liberals in a couple of seats. Tony Windsor may yet cause Barnaby Joyce to wear the brown corduroy trousers on election night. And Bob Katter will win his seat in North Queensland because there’s no-one like him, whatever you think about him.
But despite the apocalyptic warnings of the major parties, a parliamentary system that requires the majority party to negotiate with independents and minor parties will not be the end of the world as we know it. Vote for who you believes represents your interests – preferably, broader interests than merely selfish – not because you’re told the world’s going to end. Because it won’t.
Arts Policy: A Song of Cuts and Promises
In the ranking of major election issues, arts policy generally comes in just above changes to tax arrangements for managed trust funds, but well below commitments to upgrade major sporting venues. The arts community is typically left-leaning; conservative parties tend to wrap their arts policies up in the rhetoric of accountability and popular appeal. The Coalition’s changes to distribution of arts funding (which included re-allocating funding to the Catalyst program, the successor to George Brandis’ excellence in the arts program) sent the arts sector into a tailspin. Amongst the losers were the highly-regarded Sounds Australia, which has undertaken Herculean efforts in arranging touring and promotional opportunities for Australian bands.
Coalition: Hmmm, who really knows? Rumour has it that Mitch Fifield wanted to have a major policy to announce at the Wheeler Centre debate on arts policy, but wasn’t allowed to make one, so was left with trying to shove the square peg of jobs and growth into the floral hole of arts policy. Jobs and growth.
Greens: Restore lost Australia Council Funding. Allow ‘artistic activities that provide community benefit’ to be eligible for Centrelink compensation (‘paint for the dole’). Superannuation breaks for low-income artists. Additional funding to compensate artists whose works are publicly displayed, loaned or otherwise shared with the public.
ALP: Boost music in schools program. Restore funding to Sounds Australia. Increase Regional Arts Fund. Return Catalyst funding to Australia Council. Invest in local drama.
The best of the rest: the Arts Party won’t win any seats, but scored a minor victory when the Greens adopted one of its policies. The Liberal Democrats abhor government subsidisation of just about everything, especially the arts. But who else but a libertarian party is going to genuinely defend freedom of expression, however repulsive that expression is?
Housing Affordability: A Generation of Renters
Let’s face it, most of us only care about the punchline in any discussion about housing affordability: will I be able to buy a house or not? Negative gearing is what the bike shop does to convert your ten-speed bike into a fixie, and demand elasticity is a pointy-headed euphemism for buying ten pints in the last two minutes of happy hour. But even if you haven’t put down a lazy $300K on your first property purchase, housing affordability is pretty damn important: high cost housing translates into higher rents, and the traditional inner-city artist/student enclaves being pushed out to the suburbs.
Coalition: Retain negative gearing. Jobs and growth.
ALP: Retain negative gearing only for new dwellings. No retrospective changes. David Feeney bought a house in the most expensive area of the electorate which he apparently represents, but still doesn’t live there. Sorry, I just had to say that.
Greens: Phase out negative gearing, with budget savings to be directed to building new, affordable low-cost housing. National body to look after renters’ rights (not sure of the constitutionality of this policy, but anyway).
Best of the rest: Family First wants to see the removal of restrictions on urban fringe residential development and more attention paid to price gouging in the housing market. The Citizens Electoral Council wants to freeze “all existing home and family farm mortgages for a period of however many months or years are required to adjust the values to fair prices, and restructure existing mortgages at appropriate interest rates”. Wow.
Transport: Trams, Trains and Tribunals
Tony Abbott said that the Commonwealth doesn’t fund public transport, it funds roads. Like the defenders of America’s second amendment, Tony’s reasoning chose historical happenstance over contemporary reality. But Malcolm Turnbull catches public transport, and even worried his way through a conversation with Dan Watt without pushing the emergency help button. Malcolm at least understands that public transport requires Commonwealth fiscal attention, he’s just more guarded about the economics of it. With their support base concentrated in the public transport-fed inner suburbs, The Greens know that public transport support is an absolute winner.
Coalition: Mainly focused on specific projects: Flinders University rail link project (and shared bike path), Townsville Eastern Access Rail Ring corridor for rail freight, abolish the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal and re-direct funding to the National Heavy Vehicle and Safety Program.
ALP: Beef up role of infrastructure in assessing benefit of national infrastructure projects. Establish a High Speed Rail Authority. $1.25m to support development of National Cycling Strategy.
Greens: Focus on public transport funding: airport rail in Melbourne, light rail in Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Hobart, trams in Adelaide and cross-river rail in Brisbane. National fund for cycle and walking infrastructure. Accelerate development of electric vehicles.
Best of the rest: The Cyclists Party – which has fused with the Science Party – is pushing for major investment in cycling infrastructure. The Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party want to improve driver education, better roads and accommodation of off-road motoring activities.
Copyright: Ownership in the Meme Age
Have you ever watched a pirated copy of Game of Thrones, scored a bootleg download of the new Radiohead album (a crime of taste in itself) or photocopied more than ten percent of the text book for your second year media studies class? If so, you’re part of a crime wave that’s costing the creative industry and the economy billions of dollars a year and you’ll go to both jail and hell very soon. Copyright – originally, the right granted by the Crown in mediaeval times to a person to allow the person to print a book – remains an unsteady legal crutch upon which the creative industry continues to lean. The Productivity Commission wants to introduce a fair use exception to copyright protection and parallel importation for books; book publishers and content owners are describing with typical eloquence the apocalyptic scenario that such changes will herald.
Coalition: Cautious reaction to Productivity Commission report. Still pushing for content industry and telecommunications providers to come up with joint approach to dealing with online copyright infringement.
ALP: “Consider any proposals or recommendations to adjust the current territorial copyright regime with caution.” Also support transition of community radio sector to digital radio transmission.
Greens: Cautious reaction to Productivity Commission report. Attitude to copyright reform largely in context of arts policy.
Best of the rest: The Pirate Party sees copyright law as a significant impediment to creativity. The Liberal Democratic Party would reduce copyright and patent protection to 15 years, increase exceptions such as fair use and prevent the Australian government asserting copyright, subject to privacy concerns.
NBN: More Than Just Fast Netflix
Remember the NBN? It was all those bolts of light firing around the neighbourhood, connecting people across the country, streaming video all through your house and allowing you to check your gratuitous self-diagnosis of some horrible disease with your doctor at the click of a mouse. Now it’s a mixture of different technologies, none of which are really understood by the average punter, who just wants to be able to stream copious amounts of interactive multimedia content while ordering designer clothes direct from the factory. The ALP says the NBN doesn’t need Malcolm’s copper magic; the Greens want fibre everywhere.
Coalition: Retain the current multi-technology mix. Roll-out scheduled for completion in 2022.
ALP: Replace copper-based technologies with fibre. Roll-out scheduled for completion in 2022.
Greens: Return to all-fibre NBN roll-out, supplemented by wireless in remote areas.
Best of the rest: The Pirate Party supports an all-fibre network. The other minor parties seem to have tired of the issue.
Education: Is Gonski Gone for Good?
Malcolm Turnbull’s suggestion that the Commonwealth might no longer fund state schools was withdrawn almost immediately: there’s no votes in that one, even in the leafy streets of Vaucluse or Toorak. The Abbott government ditched the Gonksi model for distribution of education funding; the ALP and the Greens want to restore it.
Coalition: No return to Gonski. Focus on STEM subjects in school, including increase in funding for Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) style pilot sites. Increase in funding for Sport in Schools Program.
ALP: Restore Gonski funding model. By 2020 all students to study maths or science in year 12. Primary and high school students to study coding.
Greens: Restore Gonski funding model. Increase STEM incentives. Introduce sustainable schools fund based on Tasmanian program. Focus learning needs of disadvantaged groups and communities.
Best of the rest: Rise Up Australia wants to revive the School Chaplaincy program, but doesn’t believe children need to learn a second language. The Australian Sex Party supports the retention of the Safe Schools program. The Pirate Party “believes that the flow of taxpayer funding towards religious and private schools should be checked” and supports the development of a national Science Plan. The Jackie Lambie Network wants to establish a National Apprentice, Trade and Traineeship system incorporating both the Australian Defence Force and TAFE.
Marriage Equality: Plebiscites, Pledges and Parliament
Image: City of Melbourne
Like so many social issues of yore, marriage equality tends to inflame the hearts, minds and passions of many more people than are directly affected by it. It’s a talisman of social belief system: it’s about equality and compassion, or it’s a direct assault on the fundamental structures of our civilised society. Opinion polls have suggested most Australians support marriage equality, but the shrill voices of opponents can still be heard.
Coalition: Malcolm Turnbull supports marriage equality, but had to affirm a party room decision to hold a national plebiscite on marriage equality.
ALP: Introduce legislation to recognise marriage equality within 100 days of taking office.
Greens: Support Parliamentary vote on changes to the Marriage Vote to recognise marriage equality.
Best of the rest: Sex Party supports marriage equality, Australian Christian Party and Family First don’t. Ricky Muir (Motoring Enthusiasts Party) supports marriage equality. David Leyonhelm (Liberal Democrats) thinks government should be kept well away from the bedroom, house and the community as a whole.
BY PATRICK EMERY
Image: Pia Salvatore
