However, having just done my civic duty (a day early - I'll be out of my electorate on the weekend) and spent quite some time trawling through the information I could find on NSW Senate candidates, in order to MAKE MY VOTE COUNT, I thought I'd share the slim pickings I gleaned.
This is my own quick run-through, composed for my own sorting purposes. Feel free to do your own research Here , and fill in any gaps in the comments section below.
Most parties provide links to their webpages and policies. Not so, the independents, you'll have to search further if you want to know what they are standing for.
Anyway, here's my summary for the left-inclined and lazy:
HEALTH AUSTRALIA - Read alternative health, anti vax, anti fluoride.
SENIORS UNITED - Single issue party, focused on the rights and needs of senior Australians.
FAMILY FIRST - Christian Church affiliated party. Pro big business, prioritising defence, and "trickle down economics". Family is defined as traditional exteFnded family (assume anti equal marriage, anti abortion choice, etc...)
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS - Small l - liberals, state that they are for smaller government and the free market. Their slogan "end political correctness" brings to mind the lovely Pauline Hanson, for some reason...
FLUX Australia - Similar to the direct democracy party, I gather - pledged to vote according to their constituents, via the FLUX system...
DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY - want to limit concentrated power in corporate and union hands, value 'social justice', but are anti-abortion and "pro-family" (presumably 'traditional' family only.)
SCIENCE/CYCLISTS PARTY - Centre Left, with a focus on renewable energy, environment, increasing density to ease housing prices, Syd-Melb bullet train, pro marriage equality, drug use decriminalisation, ending offshore detention and an indigenous treaty. Keen to see decisions made for the common good and based on sound evidence.
SHOOTERS FISHERS AND FARMERS - As you'd expect from the name.
VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA PARTY - Single issue and self explanatory.
RISE UP AUSTRALIA PARTY - "Protect our way of life" - read anti-immigration.
ONLINE DIRECT DEMOCRACY - For those who want to contribute directly to decisions made in the senate, these guys pledge to vote according to online polls on any issue - even if it goes against their own conscience.
DERRYN HINCH'S JUSTICE PARTY - Perhaps he should be renamed "Derryn Lynch". All about bail, domestic violence and sex offender laws. Wants a public register of sex offenders (to me that just reads "lynch mob" - sorry, Derryn.
JACQUIE LAMBIE - The inimitable Ms. Lambie needs no introduction.
PIRATE PARTY - Arrrgh!!! Renewable energy, social justice, climate change, affordable housing... and of course, intellectual property rights
PAULINE HANSON - Is she STILL in politics????
VETERANS PARTY - Single issue (and sound a bit like rednecks, to me)
SECULAR PARTY - I'm all for separation of church and state, but they do come across as angry atheists...
COUNTRY MINDED PARTY - Big on food and water security, tackling climate change and environmentally responsible policies. Want to see fair carbon pricing, are pro gonski and clean energy, anti-CSG and value farming over mining.
SOCIALIST EQUALITY PARTY - Proper socialist revolutionaries. Anti-capitalism. Anti-war. Angry.
KATTERS AUSTRALIA PARTY - Big hats and big Queensland.
PALMER UNITED PARTY - Millionaire wildcard party.
CITIZENS ELECTORAL COUNCIL. Conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers.
MOTORING ENTHUSIASTS PARTY - Don't tow my car away!!!
ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY - single issue, self explanatory.
ARTS PARTY - Standing against the gutting of the arts in schools, community and public life. I, for one, think our artists and thinkers give us a large part of our social humanity... a single issue of sorts, but one I think affects our whole society more deeply than we realise (there's my plug!)
NON-CUSTODIAL PARENTS PARTY - Single issue - self explanatory
MATURE AUSTRALIA
FRED NILE GROUP - Another dinosaur that surprises me every time his fossilised remains re-animate!
SEX PARTY - Left wing, pro safe schools, pro drug decriminalisation, and of course, pro sex.
AUSTRALIAN PROGRESSIVES. Centre left. Ethics, Empathy, Equality, Evidence, Engagement, Empowerment. Seem to be very much about communication and empowerment, and encouraging participating voices in politics.
NICK XENOPHON PARTY.
DRUG LAW REFORM PARTY - Legalise marijuana.
SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA - Should be renamed the sustainable IMMIGRATION party - nothing much else about sustainability.
GREENS - We know who they are!
AUSTRALIAN LIBERTY ALLILANCE - Stand for 'Western values' and against multiculturalism.
RENEWABLE ENERGY PARTY - Exactly as they sound. Firm ideas about emissions targets and switching to renewables in accountable timeframes.
MARIJUANA PARTY - Self-explanatory.
So... no claim here to be unbiased or expert, but if you want a quick summary, that's where I got to. add your own thoughts below to complete the pic!
