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Begin Rant: Stay out of what you suck at.

This morning on my way to work I heard an ad on the radio for the SIDS and Kids 2 degrees campaign. No, this rant did not start brewing on my way to work this morning. It’s been brewing for years. The...

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Begin Rant: Cheap Votes (the devaluation of the Australian voter)

For about 2 years now I’ve been mulling about writing a book on how undervalued the Australian voter is. Odds on I’ll never get around to actually writing the book, so I thought I’d share with you the...

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Cheap Votes: Part 1 – called elections and long set terms

Called elections and long set terms have their pros and cons. The common theme here is blatantly obvious: politicians don’t like short set terms. Why? Well that’s pretty simple. Voters are more likely...

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Cheap Votes: Part 2 – compulsory voting

The supposed asset to our political system of compulsory voting makes both politicians and campaigns lazy. There. I said it. Lots of people don’t want to vote. Plenty will tell you they don’t feel...

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Cheap Votes Part 3 – electoral funding

All areas of Australian politics don’t spend enough on campaigning. Fact. It’s one of those classic sayings in US politics that (until Obama 08 anyway) more money was spent in the US on selling...

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Begin Rant: Google+ application in political campaigns

Well it’s still early days yet, and my political brain is still supposed to be on sabbatical, but I have to say it: Google+ was born to campaign. In utilizing social media for political (and other)...

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Begin Rant: #occupyrecruiters

OCCUPY RECRUITERS! The 99% of us want good jobs we like to do, but the evil 1% that are the recruiters are stopping us! With their inane questions, complete lack of comprehension of the profession they...

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Cheap Votes Part 4 – candidate quality

An American political consultant friend of mine once commented to me that he was a bit stunned by the clear lack of oratorical skill of Australian politicians. As I said to him: ‘that’s not the only...

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Cheap Votes Part 5 – unprofessional campaigning

If there is one thing that I believe is central to much of the issue around the value of the voter in Australia, it is the professionalism, or lack there of, in Australian campaigns. The vast majority...

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Begin Rant: The mysterious case of the missing Renewable Energy Atlas

I don’t often rant about renewable energy. Largely because there is no need to. The legislation is generally doing its thing, people are putting money in to it, research is happening, work is...

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Begin Rant: Seeing the other side of the Israel/Palestine issue

So for those of you not aware, I’m currently spending some time in Israel. The reasons for this are long and varied, and not particularly relevant to this post, but I’m here for a while. And prior to...

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Begin Rant: Cheap Votes Part 6 – party machines

Do not be fooled: the most dangerous element in the Australian body politic to the value of the voter is our current political parties. Or more correctly, the party machines. Madly obsessed with...

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Begin Rant: Understanding real discrimination

This post fills me with great sadness to write, and discloses some personal things I probably wouldn’t otherwise, but it needs to be said. Throughout my life I have always given lip service in...

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Begin Rant: Rudd v Gillard

In my Cheap Votes series (which I will get around to finishing eventually) I have made numerous references to our current batch of leaders being pathetic because the party system likes it that way. The...

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Begin Rant: Cheap Votes Part 7 – lack of issue campaigning

So you may have noticed a theme in this series of posts relating to the level of substantive policy debate. Issues matter. And Australia doesn’t talk about them enough. There are real issues in...

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Begin Rant: How not to tweet as a politician

Yep, this is a completely pointed rant, aimed at one person in particular but with a few broader implications. We have seen many people, celebrities, media personalities and, yes, politicians, vilified...

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Senator Mary Jo Fisher: Australia does not know what it has lost.

Those who know me know that I have no love for the Liberal Party. As a former and would-still-be-if-they-hadn’t-killed-it Democrat, I recoil at phrases like ‘stop the boats’ and despair at things like...

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Begin Rant: The problem with Newstart (tip: the Greens are wrong)

So the Greens are banging on about how hard it is to live on Newstart and we’re having inquiries. Cry outrage, demand action, blah blah, everyone take note of Greens being in touch with underclass...

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Begin Rant: Removing domestic politics from regional refugee management

One does not need to be learned in any related subject, whether it be international relations, human rights, or anything else, to know that Australia is screwing up its response to refugee arrivals by...

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Begin Rant: I don’t support Abstudy either

So I stuck my hand up today and admitted, rather bravely, that I don’t support Abstudy either. Yep, I lined up with the people dubbed by their own party as bigoted in saying that the ‘positive...

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