Elections

In an election where it is likely there is to be a landslide, it is important to vote for combinations in the upper house that can act as a check on government.

In the upper house this election, there are 3 viable choices, the John Hatton Group (Group C), Save Our State (Group E) and the Australian Democrats (Group L).

In the case of the Australian Democrats, Arthur Chesterfield-Evans is back and is the lead candidate on the ticket.

Note that in state elections, you can use preferences (number 1, 2, 3 and so on) above the line, so you can put these three in whatever order you want.

My analysis this time will be brief, and not just because this election seems to be a foregone conclusion. This Saturday in Epping we have 6 candidates, being:

1. Emma Heyde, Greens
2. Greg Smith, Liberal
3. John Kingsmill, Christian Democrats
4. Victor Waterson, Independent
5. John Thomas, Family First
6. Amy Smith

I am going to start with the quick eliminations - candidates who in my view simply are not an option, with very brief reasons:

While the election of a candidate in Bennelong on the back of sporting fame rather than merit is sorely disappointing, the national result (assuming it does not change after counting of postal and declaration votes) is that independents will decide which side gets to form a government. That is encouraging, since it means the system can get a chance to work the way it is supposed to for a change.

On reviewing the preferences lodged for above the line voting in New South Wales, I cannot find any satisfactory set of preferences. Of course that may be in part because I cannot identify any group among them that I think should have the balance of power in the Senate (and I would prefer to not put either Liberal or Labor first).

For people looking for information on the New South Wales Senate Candidates, another blog has investigated them and posted a handy summary. It is a little tongue in cheek in parts, but most of the descriptions are fairly accurate.

On the way home I saw outside the local polling station, the Epping community hall, posters of John Alexander in every possible placement spot outside. There are far more there than they needed to get their message across - the only reason to do that, and to do so before the sun went down on the day before the election, is to deprive all other candidates of a voice.

This election in Bennelong we have 11 candidates. There are no independents, just party candidates. We also have no Democrat, with Peter Goldfinch having hung up the Akubra for this election.

My starting point is going to be to eliminate some from consideration so the field is reduced to a more manageable size.

11^th place: Victor Waterson, One Nation. Bennelong is not a place where One Nation's xenophobic positions belong. The party is also irrelevant after their policies were adopted by the majors.

Bennelong candidates for 2010, so far, in no particular order, are:

1. Maxine McKew - ALP (Labor)
2. John Alexander - Liberal
3. Lindsay Peters - Greens
4. Terje Petersen - Liberty and Democracy Party (Libertarians)
5. ??? - Australian Sex Party
6. Julie Worsley - Christion Democratic Party
7. Victor Waterson - One Nation

Apologies to all, however I have had to deal with some matters that have meant I do not have time to do the candidate profiles for the council elections this weekend. Please check out the candidate information sheets for the candidates on www.elections.nsw.gov.au.

The Bennelong result is now certain after 3826 postal votes have been counted.