Melbourne poll … from robocalls to biased Faine to The Oz hit squad
With just three days to go in Melbourne’s bellwether byelection pitting the ALP’s Jennifer Kanis against the Greens’ Cathy Oke (and Crikey founder Stephen Mayne), it’s time to cast an eye over the situation on the ground as Julia Gillard hopes to dodge a grenade from what was once Labor’s impregnable heartland.
Jon Faine under fire over election-eve panel
Fringe candidates have rounded on ABC Mornings presenter Jon Faine for failing to include them on his election-eve panel at the Queen Victoria Market on Friday. The three-person panel includes the two major candidates — Jennifer Kanis and Cathy Oke — but just one third candidate, Stephen Mayne.
Independents lined up to sledge the veteran broadcaster, saying they were more popular than Mayne and deserved to have their voices heard.
Family First candidate Ashley Fenn told Crikey his omission was because of Faine’s “left-leaning political views”.
S-x Party candidate Fiona Patten claimed Greens volunteers were handing out Mayne how-to-vote cards — “It’s like having two Greens and Labor there … and no independents. “Faine has shown his colours that he is a Greens supporter … and he is being biased. “I’m going to give him a call now,” she added. “I would love to be on that panel … we polled over 8% at the last byelection in Victoria.”
A spokesman for Independent African community candidate Berhan Ahmed, Ken Betts (a former Liberal candidate in Footscray interestingly) said Faine was “disgraceful”. “Where’s the equal time? It’s all about Greens and Labor,” he said. “They’re [voters] are coming our way, he’s getting the Vietnamese vote because my wife is Vietnamese and I’m on a number of Vietnamese committees, the Africans are supporting him, the Chinese are supporting him … he’s going to out-poll Stephen, that’s for sure.”
What are the top three issues facing Melbourne residents and how would you address them?
Drugs, transport and policing. We want decriminalisation of recreational drugs, and drug administration within the health rather than the criminal justice portfolio.
Public transport in the city has to run 24 hours on Fridays and Saturdays to allow people from the suburbs, who come in for a night on the town, to get home and go to sleep – $50 cab fares are not affordable for many. Trapped in the city, people can become anti-social and violent.
More than 50 per cent of violent crime happens in people’s homes in the suburbs. Only 2 per cent of violent crime happens in the city. So where are all the police? In the city, of course.
What is your vision to help the homeless, mentally ill and dispossessed?
A large percentage of people with mental illness also use drugs. Decriminalise drug use and people are way more likely to report themselves with a health problem before it gets out of hand. If we treat drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal one, we will have better resources to deal with people affected by drugs and people with mental illnesses.
Not all homeless people want a ‘‘home’’ to live in. This has to be respected and tolerated and adequate facilities provided.
We need to establish specialized emergency facilities for the mentally ill. Police are being forced to drop mentally ill people at emergency rooms. Obviously this is not the answer!
People know the word sex gets attention, so having it in your party name gets you noticed, says Amber Petty.
I heard there was some sort of Australian Sex Party out there, thanks to Adelaide agency Fnuky's cheeky 2010 election campaign for them, aptly titled Jerk Choices.
At the time, I rather naively thought they might be a bunch of randy people whose mission it was to have us all propped up at strip shows or running around nude at the beach. Although why they'd want us nude at the beach, I don't know.
So when I met a smart young man recently who insisted I must meet his friend Fiona Patten, a member of the Australian Sex Party, I was a little intrigued. Intrigued to think he saw more sex in me than I have seen in myself but, as they say, sex sells and I was on board for an introduction.
I walked into our meeting place, eyes darting around to see if I could guess who looked the most like a "sex party" candidate.
Far from being what my gullible self may have presumed seeing - a woman in tasselled bikini top waving a copy of FHM at me - an elegantly dressed lady smiled across at me.
Written by MoronWatch: Watching morons, so you don't have to
Tuesday, 10 July 2012 11:22
The Australian Sex Party is a recently-formed progressive political party, with a strong emphasis on civil liberties. Dismayed that none of the mainstream parties were prepared to stand up to lobbyists from the religious right, Fiona Patten and her colleagues founded the new party and stood for election against those who supported the introduction of strong Internet censorship in Australia. Fiona recently visited London, and Moron Watch took the opportunity to interview her.
Written by Melbourne Times Weekly | Chris Hingston
Tuesday, 03 July 2012 14:53
Gambling reform campaigner Stephen Mayne has indicated he will preference the Greens above Labor, but Sex Party preferences - a potential key factor in the byelection - will favour Labor.
The first how-to-vote handouts have emerged, shedding light on preferences.
Labor appears to have snubbed Mr Mayne's overtures at a preference deal, placing him 12th on the how-to-vote guide.
Labor's cards ask voters to put Democrat David James Collyer second and Sex Party candidate Fiona Patten third.
Her party took more than 8 per cent of the vote in the 2012 Niddrie byelection but only 2.89 per cent in Melbourne in 2010.
She said Sex Party preferences could be the deciding factor in the election. The Greens preferenced Family First candidate Ashley Fenn last and are seventh on Labor's how-to-vote card.
Neither party's how-to-vote card places their lead rival last - the Greens have Labor's Jennifer Kanis ninth, while Labor gives the Greens' Cathy Oke 15th position.
Mr Mayne criticised the Labor how-to-vote card, saying it favours "the reactionary religious right" ahead of the Greens. "This is a progressive inner-city seat," Mr Mayne said. "They should change it [the card] ahead of election day."
Labor state secretary Noah Carroll said it was a "Melbourne Cup field" of candidates. "Our current how-to vote guide is seeking to maximise the Labor vote by designing it for ease of marking," he said.
He would not comment on the positions of the Sex Party, Family First and DLP.
