Australian Politics Forum - The death of democracy in Australia

longweekend58

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Re: The death of democracy in Australia
Reply #45 - Sep 5^th, 2010 at 11:16pm

Voluntary voting with low turnouts can actually play into the hands of well-funded organised minorities who vote en masse and encourage people to vote in geographical or socio-economic groups that adhere to their leanings. this can allow far greater influence for some minorities than they actually deserve. this encourages corruption and at the very least a subversion of the basic democratic principle if one-person, one vote.

Voluntary voting sounds ok as long as everyone has the same disinterested view of politics. But they dont. and it opens up the opportunities that compulsory voting defends us against.

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AUSSIE: "Speaking for myself, I could not care less about 298 human beings having their life snuffed out in a nano-second, or what impact that loss has on Members of their family, their parents..."

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mellie

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Re: The death of democracy in Australia
Reply #46 - Sep 5^th, 2010 at 11:28pm

longweekend58 wrote on Sep 5^th, 2010 at 11:16pm:

Voluntary voting with low turnouts can actually play into the hands of well-funded organised minorities who vote en masse and encourage people to vote in geographical or socio-economic groups that adhere to their leanings. this can allow far greater influence for some minorities than they actually deserve. this encourages corruption and at the very least a subversion of the basic democratic principle if one-person, one vote.

Voluntary voting sounds ok as long as everyone has the same disinterested view of politics. But they dont. and it opens up the opportunities that compulsory voting defends us against.

Spot on!

..... And blank voting is the next worst thing.

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All together now Labor voters.......&&&&lap-tops, pink-bats refugees and Clunker-cars&&&&insurance.AES256

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mellie

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Re: The death of democracy in Australia
Reply #47 - Sep 5^th, 2010 at 11:51pm

The Australia Acts (Request) Act 1985 bypasses the people's right to referendum concerning this massive constitutional change. . . .

Two states of Australia - namely Queensland and Western Australia - even went so far as to entrench this important safeguard of the people's right to referendum by entrenching it in their own state constitutions. Tragically this was disregarded in both of these states where the people were never consulted or asked whether they wanted these socialist republican changes, and it is interesting to note that the press stayed silent throughout . . .

3

Don't be put off by the links reference, thankfully, it's just a matter of it possibly being one of few hosts willing to publish this book in it's entirety online.

Click on the above '3'

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deepthought

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In Defence Of Liberty

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Re: The death of democracy in Australia
Reply #48 - Sep 6^th, 2010 at 5:45am

longweekend58 wrote on Sep 5^th, 2010 at 11:00pm:

its 10 times what you get for a speeding fine even tho you arent driving dangerously or unsafely. which is the great abrogation of a 'right'?

your definition of a 'right' is ludicrously broad.

We, as Australians have a right to participate in the political process. Equally we should have the choice whether to exercise that right or not.

This is a basic right in a democratic state.

Driving is not a right, it is a privilege and this privilege can be withdrawn if we do not comply with the Traffic Act or other related codes.

It is your definition of a 'right' which is broad.

We actually have few rights. Much of what we do is controlled by legislation, such as driving.

But voting is one of those rights. That right should be ours to exercise if we were to fairly describe our political sytem as free.

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deepthought

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Re: The death of democracy in Australia
Reply #49 - Sep 6^th, 2010 at 5:50am

stryder wrote on Sep 5^th, 2010 at 10:58pm:

VOTING - not a right but a RESPONSIBILITY

================================================

Oh boy, and its 100% right, its the CLEAREST point, Australia has had a successful democracy, LETS MAKE SURE IT REMAINS THAT WAY.

You miss the salient point.

It is unlawful not to 'vote'.

That takes it out of the realm of rights and responsibilities and into compulsion. It is required by law.

It is no longer a right if you are compelled to do it.

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mellie

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Re: The death of democracy in Australia
Reply #50 - Sep 6^th, 2010 at 9:43am

Let us now look at an article by Christopher Dawson in The Australian (20/11/1985) referring to comments by Professor Mark Cooray, Associate Professor of Law at Macquarie University:

The Government should not be allowed to get away with a passage of the Bill in Parliament in order to prevent and stifle public opinion and deceive the public.

"It fails to substantiate, advance or improve any of our existing rights or freedoms," he says. "It tends to devalue some of them by exclusion.

"The document is a propaganda exercise to present a selected package of rights as the totality of rights which we require. Thereby the stage is set for the gradual de-recognition and eventual abrogation of fundamental liberties and rights through social engineering and the gradual destruction of the liberal democratic system."

"The exclusion of property rights from the Bill deprives the document of much of its effective content and reduces it to the level of a socialist program on human rights.

"In societies which deny the right to hold, enjoy and productively use private property, citizens are dependent for their employment and livelihood on the government. They have therefore no capacity to oppose the government or to exercise their fundamental political rights.

"The exclusion of property rights . . . is a deliberate omission from a document designed to promote a socialist agenda.

". . . Why is the Government refusing to submit the Bill to the people?

Is it because of the Left's traditional mistrust of the electorate? If so, it has no moral authority to speak on behalf of the Australian people . . ."

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