Anti-Islam, anti-vax and vegans all want your federal election vote
Keys to mosques and prayer halls kept in police stations and Aussies encouraged to take up a “plant-based” diet are among a host of policies put forward by minor parties vying for your vote. INTERACTIVE: PARTIES AND THEIR POLICIES
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Keys to mosques and prayer halls would be kept in a police station safe; children charged with terrorism offences to be made wards of the state; and a ban on dual citizenships are among a host of policies put forward by minor parties vying for your vote.
The parties are a mix of anti-Islamists, anti-vaxxers and campaigners for men’s rights, women’s rights and animals’ rights are presenting a raft of policies
Former Bankstown aerobics instructor turned Love Australia or Leave Senate candidate Kim Vuga wants the burqa banned to “encourage integration”, radicalised juvenile offenders to wear tracking devices and for sermons to only be delivered in English.
The former Department of Defence civilian employee, who was involved in the making of the SBS TV documentary Go Back To Where You Came From, also believes gun laws should be relaxed to allow rim-fire semiautomatic firearms as well as silencers, while teenagers should undergo conscripted national service.
Founded four years ago, Ms Vuga has accused political leaders of pandering to other nations instead of looking after the interest of Australians.
The party’s “hard line” immigration policy calls for a “zero Islamic” immigration policy.
“We cannot look after those in need if we do not secure our own future,” it said.
“I believe the men should be fighting for their country, not fleeing.
“The only refugees we should be taking are ones who will integrate and not present as a threat to our country.”
The party is not alone with its hard-right stance, with the anti-Islamic Australian Liberty Alliance — last week renamed Yellow Vest Australia — sharing similar views.
Votes for minor parties and independents soared at the last federal election with more than one in four Australians choosing to support Senate candidates that were not from the Coalition, Labor or the Greens.
In the House of Representatives, one in eight Australians parked their vote with a minor party or independent candidate.
And there is no shortage of those wanting a share of that pie this time around.
An anti-vaccination campaigner whose naturopath wife has been banned from advising women to feed their babies goats’ milk is another of these newly registered parties hoping for representation in parliament.
On a platform that bans vaccination and the “mass medication” of the population through fluoridated water, the Involuntary Medication Objectors Party wants to “give a voice” to the “tens of thousands” of Australians who rejected the “highly questionable” government-sponsored immunisation program.
IMOP founder Michael O’Neill, who ran a campaign against the No Jab, No Play campaign, runs a “health retreat” in Bellbrook near Kempsey with his wife Barbara.
Ms O’Neill, who was investigated by the Health Care Complaints Commission, was in February the subject of an interim order which banned her from offering any health services, including advising parents “to feed goats’ milk to newborn infants”.
It is not the only headache for the couple, with Mr O’Neill taking to Facebook on Tuesday to reveal he had been blocked from using billboards to advertise the party in Sydney.
Mr O’Neill last week claimed billboard companies had been advised against allowing any advertising that related to vaccination.
“We have been denied our legitimate and legal right to advertise our party,” he told his 2293 Facebook followers.
Mr O’Neill did not respond to The Sunday Telegraph’s inquiries.
Others include The Women’s Party, whose Facebook page has already suggested an internal spat with one member posting a message this week accusing the party of failing to support the women “who stand up to make a change”.
The Women’s Party founder Divvi de Vendre said the party had amassed around 900 members since it was registered earlier this year.
Ms de Vendre, who is a “transitioned woman” said it was clear women needed a bigger voice in parliament.
“We stand for a lot of issues for women, but also anti-corruption,” she said.
Ms de Vendre, who is hoping to run two Senate candidates, confirmed an internal spat within the party after a member attempted an unsuccessful takeover.
The member had since been expelled, she said.
NSW North Coast lawyer Mark Swivel is behind the newly registered The Together Party, which wants a republic and greater action on climate change.
Other minor parties include the Better Families (wants a national curfew for teenagers), The Pirate Party (rip off and copy anything you like on the internet), the Secular Party of Australia (religion out, carbon tax in) and Animal Justice (all meat to be banned from schools, TAFEs and universities).
PALMER’S AMBITIOUS ONE NATION CANDIDATE HEIST
Clive Palmer has recruited a dozen former One Nation candidates to run for his United Australia Party at the election.
A new analysis of the party’s candidates shows about one in 10 of Mr Palmer’s endorsed senate and lower house candidates has run for another party in recent years, with the majority representing One Nation at state or federal elections.
The parties’ relationship spectacularly broke down in June when ex-One Nation senator Brian Burston defected.
Senator Burston will lead the party’s NSW senate ticket while his brother Graham, also a former One Nation candidate, will stand in the seat of Paterson. Other former One Nation candidates turned Palmer supporters include Christine Bernier, who was third on One Nation’s NSW senate ticket in 2016 and got about 470 votes.
Former One Nation candidate Andrew Schebell who unsuccessfully ran for a state seat at the 2017 Queensland election has been preselected for the federal seat of Wide Bay. In Victoria, two former One Nation senate candidates — Peter Cozyn and James Unkles — will run for UAP in the lower house.
In the Sydney seat of Macquarie, perennial candidate Tony Pettitt will run for the United Australia Party on May 18. At the 2004 poll Mr Pettitt ran for One Nation, as an independent in 2007 and for the Australia First Party in 2013.
A spokesman for Mr Palmer denied UAP was targeting former One Nation candidates.
“We are seeing more than 1000 new members joining our Party every month and they are coming from Labor, Liberal and One Nation,” he said.
Originally published as Anti-Islam, anti-vax and vegans all want your federal election vote
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