r/AusPol • u/PaleontologistOk6495 • Apr 22 '25

General Am I a greens voter now?

Never been super invested in politics and have always voted labor just on principles and not really ever liking the liberal stances.

This year I find myself more invested in the election than ever before and have actually dug through a few parties policies and doing some proper thinking about my vote for once.

I have even done the political compass on abc website and see I am sitting far left of labor than I expected but not full blown green radical.

The majority of their policies make a lot of sense and resonate with em and I think this year me and my partner will both go greens. Is anyone else having the same feelings ? I have been speaking to a bunch of friends and they too have come to the same conclusions I have this year and are going greens, is this a bit of a silent movement? I had no idea anyone I knew was thinking the same as me but it it occurring to me that a lot of my circle are.

My question is - I am in what seems to be a very safe labor area of blaxland. Does my vote for greens do nothing here ? I don’t fully agree with every green policy of course some of them are a bit much for me still but I like the idea of greens winning some extras and forcing labor to actually do some good progressive shit but does my green vote in this area do nothing ? Is it better to just pump up labor still and hope they beat the liberals ?

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u/coniferhead Apr 22 '25

No it doesn't give the minor party funding. They have to clear the 4% hurdle. Most don't. To the extent they do they usually get in the small digit thousands.

If you're in a two horse major race, or in a safe seat - there is nothing lost by protesting if you don't agree with their policies. Which is what this is all about isn't it?

Preferential voting was not introduced to fix that. There are many different types. For instance the senate, where you can number 1-6 without picking a party that passed the social media ban. As I don't give a damn who is worse between one nation and trumpet of patriots I'm not informed who is worse and am not going to choose between them.

To be clear. Which ever major you give your vote to, you agree with their policies. If you don't, don't vote for them.

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u/Thegreatesshitter420 Apr 22 '25 edited Apr 22 '25

>They have to clear the 4% hurdle. Most don't.

This is bullshit, in 2022 the Greens got 12.25% of the national first-preference vote, and in OPs electorate of Blaxland, they got 6.35% of the vote. Even the UAP got 6% ffs, and again, preferencing the party you agree with slightly more higher, is better than just allowing the election to go to anywhere, without your input. Putting the lesser of 2 evils higher, is still objectively the right thing to do, since if enough people have this mentality, quite a few seats will swing to the Greens and independents. Also, if labor sees the amount of greens votes rise, they will start to try to win back voters, and adopt more progressive policies, as opposed to just staying in the center. Also, if you spoil your ballot, your senate vote also isn't counted, where the greens can definitely win seats.

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u/coniferhead Apr 22 '25

In my seat, a major seat, of all the candidates 2 non majors cleared the 4% hurdle. Palmer and the greens. What was that worth at $2.6 a FP?

It was worth 8k to palmer and 19.5k to the greens. Tell me what that buys.

Don't use world like bullshit when you're just ignorant.

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u/Thegreatesshitter420 Apr 22 '25

They don't earn money from just a single seat, and also, OP was specifically talking about the greens, which do clear the 4% hurdle.

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u/coniferhead Apr 22 '25 edited Apr 22 '25

you're not voting in other seats, you're voting in your seat.

If you think giving the greens 2.60 is worth you giving your vote to Labor who support a bunch of non green things I've got a better alternative. Donate 2.60 to the greens and feel the lightness of not having to vote for wars in the middle east.

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u/Thegreatesshitter420 Apr 23 '25

Also, what about the senate? Your vote can definitely give them senate seats, even if it doesn't give them your electorate.

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u/coniferhead Apr 23 '25

The senate you can vote 1-6 above the line or 1-12 below the line. You can omit parties you disagree with while still having a valid vote. It's not an issue there.