Join
a political party, be a preselector
John
Kilcullen
The
following remarks relate to the ACT, but they apply mutatis
mutandis elsewhere.
· In
the
ACT 276,398 people are enrolled to
vote
in the 2016 Federal election.
· The
membership
of ACT Labor is a small fraction of the electorate, fewer than
2000
members; the ACT membership of the Liberals and the
Greens is
smaller.
· Members’
most
important function is preselection, i.e. deciding
who will be
the candidates for three safe ACT Labor seats (2 House of
Representatives, 1
Senate) and the one (pretty safe) Liberal Senate seat.
· In
the
most recent contested pre-selection, in 2010, the ALP candidates
for the
House of Representatives seats was decided by fewer than 250
voters: seehere, here and here. Andrew
Leigh
was preselected by 144 votes to 96, Gai Brodtmann by 123
to 109. In
2013 ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja was
preselected
by 114 to 84.
There
is no reason why nominations should be left in the control of
such small
numbers of people.
As
a friend commented to me, we need to “break down perceptions in
the community
that joining a party is such a big deal (a bit like joining a
cult) but instead
something people should consider getting involved in like any
other community
activity they might join.”
If
you want to make a difference in politics, become a member of a
party. Don’t
join a faction, don’t be discouraged by what happens at
Conference, but
be sure to participate in preselections.That will have
much more effect
than a protest vote.
To
join Labor go here,
Liberal here,
Greens here.
In
short, if you want to have a real say in politics, join one of
the parties. You
don't join for life. If it doesn't work out, walk out.
More
information on ACT Labor
Each
ACT Labor parliamentarian has to face preselection every three
years. Every
“rank-and-file” member of the ALP in the ACT can vote in
preselection provided
they have been members for twelve months. You do not need to
attend any meeting
or participate in any way: being a member for a year is all that
is required to
vote in preselection. To become a member it is not necessary to
belong to a
union.
Every
member’s vote counts equally; unions and factions have no
special weight.
MPs
and Senators are influenced by the views of members even when
pre-selection is
not due for some time. They can be influenced by indications of
possible loss
of support. If a significant number of new people join and
express discontent
(for example, with Labor policy regarding Manus and Nauru), the
behaviour of
incumbent Parliamentarians will begin to change.
Are
there drawbacks to joining? There are two: (1) you must pay
a
(significant) membership fee, and (2) you promise to vote
for the
preselected candidates--but on the other hand, you have a say in
preselecting
the candidates. A protest vote at a general election achieves
little or nothing
in comparison with the opportunity to make your protest within
the party as a
potential preselector.
Are
political parties evil?
Bob
Douglas “Has
party
politics become destructive to the public interest and the
public good?”
asks: “What would happen if every electorate in Australia did
what the Indi
electorate did in 2013 and elected an independent to the
Parliament?” My
answer: Once they got to Parliament they would form alliances,
i.e. parties,
behind the scenes. I would rather they openly declared their
connections
beforehand. Independents often say that they will stand up for
the interests of
their district. To win government a party has to get support for
the same
policy package in many districts, so they have to work out a
reconciliation of
a wide range of interests. Independents may work for some
undeclared objective
and then not seek re-election, but members of a party care about
its long-term
reputation. Members of a party go hostage for one another. If
some behave badly
it reflects on the others. For more on the party system
see here.
Malcolm
Turnbull:
"This is going to be a very close election. Every seat matters,
every vote
matters. And I say to every Australian... that every vote counts
and they
should treat their vote, regardless of what seat they are in, as
though it was
the vote, the single vote that decides the next
government. Every vote
counts." As Mr Turnbull knew, and everyone knows, this
statement is
simply false. That is why parties run "marginal seat" campaigns
and
take a lot of notice of the presumed wishes of swinging voters
in those seats;
see Barrie
Cassidy, "Pork barrelling and the hoax of 'every vote
counts'".
See also Peter
Martin. The parties tend to neglect the safe seats.
Politicians
in marginal seats have to pay attention to swinging voters.
Incumbents in a
safe seat have to pay attention to the views of their
preselectors. As a
preselector your vote really will count.
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