The Federal election has been the focus of much attention lately so Larry O'Loughlin scanned the election offerings to come up with some highlights and offer some opinions.

The election for all members of the Federal Parliament on 11 July will not go down in history as one of the more exciting, as it was not called to decide issues, but to take opportunities to attain power.

If the ALP loses, the ensuing theoretical struggle in the party would be to come up with credible excuses. I can remember Federal elections since 1975 and it seems to me that the ALP never had it so good. Most media outlets are giving them a dream run; 'financial indicators' are picking up just nicely at the right time; the Opposition parties are proceeding as if they have two right feet, both in their mouth; there is no opposition from the major national organisations which exist such as the ACTU, or the ACF, and there are no strong organisations in key areas such as among students or the Left; and the ALP itself is giving a good impression of being united, especially with the prospect of at least four new Ministers after the election.

On the other hand, the ALP has probably never done more to deserve to lose. The litany of their crimes almost fades into the recesses of my memory as the latest outrage or three emerges. I was an ALP member when Hawke became Prime Minister four weeks after winning an uncontested leadership ballot following the resignation of Bill Hayden. At first we called for the implementation of 'Party Policy'&emdash;a quaint phrase often used back then&emdash; then we started to rumble with discontent as we saw moves to ignore that policy, and then we could do nothing but join the public protests which started to build over issues such as: support for the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, the refusal to give humanitarian aid to Vietnam, the use of the 'Hogg amendment' to allow the mining of uranium at Roxby Downs, financial deregulation, the use of the Accord to cut real wages without respecting the Social Wage parts of the deal, the refusal to introduce national Land Rights Legislation, the cutback in child care centre places after keeping to their committments at first, the sale of uranium to France, the axing of the dole to 16 and 17 year olds, and the threat of the Australia Card.

Everyone would have a list of things they think the ALP has done wrong, but even my own shortened list above would not have been enough in itself to stop me voting ALP. The real problem is that I feel that there are very few other ways that I can affect their exercise of power. I am unconvinced by arguments that the others would be worse because the distinction between bad and worse has blurred, and there can be no guarantee that the ALP will not adopt more of the Liberal-National Party policies after the election.

There are things to do with this election that won't leave a bitter taste in the mouth. There are good candidates in a number of areas, especially the Senate with 'progressive' candidates in most States. The Democrats, as Roman Orzanski puts it, 'are turning greener by the bushel as conservative elements leave' and deserve consideration. However, they tend to be parliamentary-oriented and have failed to deliver in the past on environment related issues such as repealing section 45d of the Trades Practices Act. This repeal may have done more to stop the export of uranium than any other pious resolution, because it would have removed legal restriction on unions applying 'secondary boycotts'.

The Nuclear Disarmament Party has re-emerged for the election, although it has not been visible doing grass roots work since the last election, and seems not to have addressed the issue of how it relates to the environment movement. I will not trust anyone who does not have a record of some sort to judge, or processes for relating to people outside the party.

George Georges would be my favorite candidate of any in Australia and he has a good chance of being elected. He is standing in Queensland with a good 8 point program, which includes peace and disarmament, civil and industrial rights (especially against the Australia Card), Aboriginal rights, free education, return of privatised public enterprises to public control, and the environment. He is also supporting animal rights and has strong support from groups in this area. Senator Jo Vallentine will again contest the Senate in Western Australia where she heads a 'Vallentine Peace Group' (VPG) ticket. The VPG platform stresses disarmament and has been widened to include social justice and environment issues.

Michael Mansell, who is Director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Centre, will put himself forward as a candidale in the Senate who will represent those people who don't get a voice under the current system; recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty will be one of his major themes.

One hope we have is that Paul Keating will win in his seat. That is, the real Paul Keating, who is also Secretary of the Community Radio Federation. He is running against the Treasurer, the imposter Paul Keating, in the seat of Blaxland, and has a chance, as he is above the imposter on the ballot paper. And finally, people have the opportunity of not voting or voting to deplete your preferences as quickly as possible.

Back...