Federal Election 2019: Four Aussies explain why they’re voting Liberal, Labor, the Greens and One Nation

We asked four Aussies to explain why they’re voting Liberal, Labor, Greens and One Nation in the Federal Election this Saturday.

COMMENT

After what feels like months of watching political ads on TV, the big day is finally almost here: On Saturday, Australians will cast their vote in another federal election to decide who will govern our country for the next four years.

It’s been a dramatic few months in Australian politics, plagued by scandals and skirmishes that have left almost all parties looking worse for wear and many voters wondering which way they should go.

Here, four Aussies share who they’ll be voting for before they queue up to enjoy the day’s real main event — a glorious democracy sausage.

JESSICA MUDDITT, LIBERAL

Jessica Mudditt will be voting Liberal — just.

This Saturday I’ll be voting Liberal. I have to admit, this is the closest I’ve come to not voting for them.

I’m still angry that Malcolm Turnbull was dumped back in August, and I can’t stand climate change denier Tony Abbott or dingbat Dutton.

As for ScoMo, I can take him or leave him. He’s not particularly irritating or offensive and he has an easy assurance that I like, even though he’s a bit too conservative for my tastes.

For me, deciding how to vote at this election has involved a process of elimination.

I’m going to vote for a major party because I want the strongest say possible in who our next government will be.

And let’s face it, it isn’t going to be the Greens.

And I can’t bring myself to vote for Labor because Bill Shorten drives me up the wall.

I can’t think of a less charismatic politician. His voice trails off as though he is unconvinced of what he himself is saying and he runs funny.

I know these things are superficial, but I don’t want to have to listen to him rabbit on as our leader for the next three years.

I’d prefer to listen to ScoMo, especially as he seems less snarky with journalists nowadays when they ask him a curly question.

And on a less superficial note, I don’t trust Shorten or Labor to run the economy — for that we need the Libs.

In an election campaign that has mostly been a yawn fest, Shorten’s standout gaffe was about Labor having no plans to increase taxes on superannuation contributions.

Doing so is in fact Labor policy. In 2016, it announced a raft of changes that would generate $30 billion over a decade.

When Shorten was accused of forgetting his own party’s policy, his Labor colleague suggested that he misheard or misunderstood the question. I remain unconvinced.

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Similarly, Shorten’s vagueness about the economic impact of Labor’s climate change policy is worrying. I am all for taking a strong stand on climate change, but it has to be a practical plan or it won’t get us anywhere.

Labor has pledged that it will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 — which is much more ambitious than the government’s target of 28 per cent. Although Labor’s plan sounds good in theory, the problem is that Shorten won’t put a price tag on it.

During an appearance on the ABC’s 7.30 program a couple of weeks ago, he repeatedly refused to say what its short-term cost will be on Australia’s GDP.

But after the interview, someone else did it for him. BAEconomics released modelling showing Labor’s climate change plan would cost the economy $264 billion. $264 billion!

By comparison, the Liberals have been a lot more disciplined — and to my mind, realistic — about what they will deliver if re-elected. This is in keeping with their style of running things these past six years.

I fear less that I will have to pay more taxes under a Liberal government or that they will get us into debt. And we ought to give the government credit for last year delivering a surplus budget for the first time in more than a decade. The last time Labor achieved that was 30 years ago.

So when I line up to order my democracy sausage this weekend, I’ll be asking for a side of more of the same.

SCOTT WARREN, LABOR

Scott Warren is voting Labor for the first time this election.

I can’t put my finger on when exactly it happened, but we turned a corner when people started letting their politics dictate their values rather than vice-versa. It’s a dangerous change, and one I’m not sure we can ever get back.

With the cavalcade of disasters, offences and indecencies it has presided over, the Morrison Government shouldn’t have the faintest hope of re-election on Saturday, but some commentators assure us it’s no done deal.

But how? The old maxim holds true: Always back self-interest, it’s the best horse in the race.

“OK, so maybe the Libs are going to demonise entire races and religions, marginalise women in their own party, prey on the least well-off to generate negligible revenue and then spend $180m on a cynical stunt reopening a vile detention centre? But I’m $47 a fortnight better off under them and they won’t take away my negative gearing … ”

It would defy logic if we didn’t see it happen time and time again.

I am doing the only thing I can do: I’m voting Labor for the first time in a state or federal election — after casting a Liberal vote at 11 elections over the course of 18 years.

Parenthood changes everything about you, although I was told it would make me even more conservative. I think it actually helped me find my decency.

How can I look at a group of people who have presided over Manus and Nauru with such a devastating lack of humanity and even begin to care that I might be a few thousand dollars a year in front if I support them?

How can I trust my children’s future to people who paraded a lump of coal through parliament and laughed like the planet’s greatest challenge in documented history was nothing more than a fun way to mock lefties?

How can I believe these people are genuine about being our representatives in parliament when the country spoke so unequivocally in favour of marriage equality and, like children who didn’t get their own way, they refused to walk into the chamber and communicate their electors’ will when it came time to make history?

And that’s just to cherrypick three examples. I didn’t even get to Adani, Barnaby, Pauline’s “It’s okay to be white” vote or the passionate defence of George Pell that was mounted by several Liberal MPs.

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And not that any of this is entirely new, because to be fair there wasn’t all that much decency in what happened with Tampa way back when, but maybe we overlooked it because at least John Howard was a Leader in the Capital-L sense of the word: Someone with a vision for the country, who fundamentally knew what he stood for and understood how to communicate it to his countrymen.

And just as some of my friends in the United States now find themselves wistful for the George W Bush years now that they’ve lived through a Trump presidency, the faults of John Howard’s reign seem superficial when you look at this embarrassing cadre of wreckers who consciously destroyed their best hope at re-election in the name of an internal square-up and then have pinned their re-election on trying to make us all scared of everything.

“But Bill Shorten knifed two prime ministers, he’s as bad as any of them …” Yep, and these blokes made him seem downright likeable and electable by comparison. A slow clap for the members for Cook, Warringah and Dickson.

Because as much as I object to their fundamental lack of decency, perhaps even more so I can’t reward such monumental stupidity as they demonstrated in executing their number-one donor and fundraiser six months out from an election with the thinnest of majorities to work with.

And ultimately, if you earn enough to be better off under a Liberal government, you earn enough to make a small investment in a more decent direction for Australia and — I still can’t believe I’m saying this — make Bill Shorten our next Prime Minister.

MICHELLE BRASIER, GREENS

Comedian and writer Michelle Brasier. Picture: Supplied

The year is 2000. The air is alive with the sweet smell of Impulse and Lynx. Britney Spears is on top of the charts and Mrs Ferguson sits us all down to explain how voting works in Australia.

She uses Britney Spears as an example.

“So if you vote for Britney but she doesn’t get over half the votes, you might want to look at who she has put down as her first best friend (Justin Timberlake). Justin now gets that vote. “Unless, of course, you specify that you want your second chance vote to go to Christina Aguilera, in which case that’s where it will go … or something … We aren’t sure … anyway, here’s some out of date sex education.”

Voting has always been a little bit confusing. It’s not great because Australians are legally required to vote (or cop a fine) but not legally required to be properly educated about it in any way. Or at the very least, my generation wasn’t.

For reference, I am one of the avocado generation. This puts me in the typical baby making age for women. I am not currently making a baby. For a number of reasons, not the least of which — the world is on fire.

Sure, it’s annoying for you to have to vote if you don’t want to but you know what else is annoying? Climate change. Floods and fires and species dying out and vulnerable people’s rights being stripped away. Argh so ANNOYING!

Also annoying — the people living in countries where voting can mean be risking your life.

So stop whingeing. Make your vote count. Do something.

I’m scared about the future so I’m voting for the Greens. Yep, I am publicly declaring here of all places, that I’m voting for the Greens.

I’m voting because I hold out hope that this is a party of people who are in politics because they genuinely care about the things I care about.

I’m voting for them because I want enough of them in the room to make a difference.

They highly preference Labor so it’s not a “waste” for anyone trying to get rid of the current government.

I have hope. Hope isn’t very cool. Being sincere and trying to do the right thing isn’t as cool as being rich but it’s more important.

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My generation is accused of having bleeding hearts. So? Why are you so mad? You little people are so upset that we have hope and positivity and empathy? That’s your insult? That we sip lattes? Have you had a latte? It’s a treat!

We have a real habit of making fun of people who do the right thing because “they think they are better than us”. So maybe we should be better ourselves.

I would rather be an “inner city (convenient), latte sipping (yum), bleeding heart (person with feelings) leftie” than somebody who actively promotes the continuation of cruel border policies, epic destruction of our own natural habitat and normalises discrimination.

I’m encouraging you to vote for the climate. If you don’t want to vote for the Greens, vote for Labor. They are easily bullied into things by both sides and if we are loud enough, they will usually listen to us. I hope they win. I truly do.

If you’re thinking of voting for the Coalition because they might sit on the economic right, stop and think for a second. Your money will get you nowhere if all of our natural resources are gone. You aren’t going to be rich enough to stop climate change. Invest in renewables. Maybe you can get filthy rich from that.

Humans are the only animal that don’t always act in the best interest of the continuation of their species.

Let’s be better than dogs. Just kidding, nobody is better than dogs (hot tip — I’m also highly preferencing the Animal Justice Party).

In summary: Do you research. Don’t be a d*ck to the earth because Mars would be a sh*tty place to live.

TONI REEVES, ONE NATION

Pauline Hanson's party speaks loudest to Toni Reeves. Picture: Supplied

I grew up in the suburbs of Dundas and Parramatta in Sydney’s west, where my parents before me also grew up.

I first became aware of One Nation when Pauline Hanson started the party and have followed her journey from the beginning so I’ve seen how Pauline and One Nation have evolved.

I’m an Australian-born working single mother to two boys aged nine and 11. My youngest has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD and ODD.

One day recently, I found One Nation candidate Emma Eros on Facebook and through following her posts, which were common sense and aligned with what I believed, I also started following Mark Latham, whom I had once underestimated.

I have now come to agree with much of what Mark, Emma and Pauline stand for. I will not stand by and watch the selling off of our prime agricultural land.

The fact I’ll be voting One Nation is a huge 180-degree turn around from when I first became interested in politics and followed the Greens. This is a testament to how Mark and Pauline have shown staying power and evolved with the true needs of Australians and the country’s best interests over the years.

As you can probably tell by the fact that I have previously supported the Greens, I have many concerns relating to sustainability and worldwide overpopulation and much of what I have read about One Nation and their policies addresses these concerns.

I have come to realise that the Greens do not truly represent Australia and its bests interests — they’re only concerned about the environment and the country is so much more than that.

One Nation’s policies address the whole country. This is why I recently voted Emma Eros and Mark Latham in the NSW State Election and will vote for Pauline in the upcoming Federal Election.

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My main concerns for the future of Australia are the key areas of overpopulation, poor infrastructure and planning for a burgeoning population, transparency in government and the selling off of Australia. Don’t get me started!

One Nation has common sense policies that speak to me.

I’m an advocate for each of their policies. I have read them all thoroughly but if I had to choose my favourite policies, they would be the three from Mark Latham:

• To cut electricity bills by $85 per annum. Every cent counts.

• Scrapping the spending of $810 million dollars on the Olympic Stadium at Homebush. I can think of a million other ways that the money could be better spend. Again, it all comes back to common sense.

• The new proposed hospital at western Sydney is the jewel in the crown for me. As the daughter of elderly parents in their 70s who live in that area, I can honestly say that this hospital would be a big bonus for the residents of the area as well as boosting the local economy during the construction phase.

For me personally, the main weaknesses the Coalition and Labor exhibit is they keep churning out the same old rhetoric and nothing ever changes.

The saying that I think applies to our two major parties is broadly credited to Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”.

As for Clive Palmer — he had his chance and fell asleep at the wheel. His money would be better spent assisting the homeless.

By voting One Nation I will be contributing to the election of a party that I believe to have the best interest of Australians at the heart of their policies.

I believe that the Australian voting public need to stand back, take a good hard look at the state of Australia and then venture over to the One Nation website and have a look at their policies. I think they will be pleasantly surprised.