Blog comments

• Why would ben cousin get away taking drug and still in the Sport?? Any sport other than AFL would have the player suspended, disqualified etc etc. There are rapist, drug addicts, violent outburst and so on on the AFL which lowered the meaning of the sport so much. What message is this saying to our kids? As long as you are a AFL star, you could do what you want??

  John Monday 30 August, 2010 - 10:36 PM

• Dear Darryn,

  Are you really this stupid or just pretending.
  Lets have a an unbiased look at the vote.
  The last three candidates are as they say like minded so the electorate won out.
  DLP - First vote 60K
  FF - First Vote 82K
  Lib - Left overs - 150K

  with preferences from from like minded groups final is
  DLP 210
  Lib -Leftovers - 191
  They preference each other knocking out their enemy.
  Proportional representation is the fairest system of all systems an it seems only Darryn is unable to comprehend it..
  The house of reveiw was not designed to be dominated by major parties and by this system we have fair representation of all the population. Not a duoply that the uneducated like darryn seem to demand

  Tony Monday 30 August, 2010 - 8:39 PM

• If voting was non-compulsory only angry people with a barrow to push would vote so you'd be changing governments every election. It'd be total chaos. Good for radio talkback but crap for Australia.

  Mylene Wednesday 25 August, 2010 - 9:42 AM

• Hi

  It is a joke when parties direct their preferences to these nobodies, but I can't agree with you about first past the post. Only the majors would ever win anything in that case. With our system we can make a protest vote or vote for a minor party of independant, but know that if they don't get up, our vote isn't wasted and it goes to our next preference. I voted for some independants this time, but they were never going to win so I was still able to have my vote go to my major party of choice in the end. I've lived in the USA and the UK where first past the post works, and I don't think they get good results because of it and new forces in politics will never get up in either place. Having parties direct preferences shouldn't happen, above the line voting shouldn't happen, and a ballot being invalid if all boxes are not numbered is wrong. Shouldn't I be able to put 1, 2, 3 and then stop if I don't want my vote going to anyone else? Also agree with you about non-compulsory voting, for a long time I thought it was good, but the more people I meet who don't care and don't even understand our system, the more I think we shouldn't make them turn up and vote.

  James Tuesday 24 August, 2010 - 6:44 PM

• You are correct Derryn, Australias voting system is shocking. Politicians are practically guaranteed our vote. So they relax and prior to elections bombard us with their expensive and offensive TV ads instead. They no longer allow us to probe them in community halls like they once did. Our compulsory voting system is undemocratic and anti civic. Former Australian diplomat, Bill Smithies explains why he refuses to vote despite being jailed. http://bit.ly/d9XahS

  Eric Paul says effective participation and political equality are further restricted by the preferential voting (PV) electoral system. Preferential voting denies representation by smaller parties, ...and minority or special interest groups ... In the 2001 elections 2.2. Million voters or 19.2 per cent of the electorate voted for independent candidates but they won only 2 per cent of the seats. Almost 2 million voters were disenfranchised in favour of the major political parties. Attempts to change the system to a more representative one such as the mixed member proportional system adopted in New Zealand have been strongly opposed by the business community and leaders of the main political parties who see it as a threat to their political power. The political elite is also firmly against giving the electorate the right to a citizen-initiated referendum.

  Australia has a very poor record of upholding ethical standards in public life - whether in government or in parliament more broadly said Sir Max Bingham QC and Professor Jeff Malpas and urged Kevin Rudd to establish a federal ethics commission in 2008 (from Kevin Rudd eyes MP ethics watchdog and A watchdog for every house.

  I am not enrolled to vote and oppose compulsory voting, juristocracy and parliamentary dictatorship. Australia`s lone stance against civil rights bill: how juristocracy enables this and blocks debate http://bit.ly/DZ3ot

  Jennifer Nash Tuesday 24 August, 2010 - 7:31 AM

• I would argue that Democracy is working when a minor party ( which cannot afford advertising or get any coverage from the media) can get a seat in the Senate. Yes, the percentage of votes they got was low, but I would argue the % of voters who would vote for them would be far higher, if they could get any media coverage.

  Cath Monday 23 August, 2010 - 10:05 PM