How much money is donated to political parties in Australia every year? Take a moment to contemplate a guess. $5 million? $10 million? $50 million? In 2018, Australian (federal) political parties disclosed that they received $319 million in donations from various organisations and members of the public. An average of $184 million per year was […]
Despite all the media influence, donations, business networks and messaging, young residents are the most influential demographic in this election. If any candidate can activate that vote, they will easily win. However, from local government elections, young people are known to have low levels of engagement as local government elections usually aim to address the issues of rate-payers – in this case lots of businesses who all have two votes for every one vote a resident has.
Dear Mr Carey, Alas I was not available when you came to my home recently as I’m always keen to speak with our elected representatives and express some opinions and feedback. I appreciate the gesture and acknowledge it with this feedback on my topics of priority and some general observations. Economics – preparing for the […]
Once upon a time there was a town with only two shops, “Scott’s Supermarket” & “Bill’s Supermarket”. Both shops sold common everyday items, but due to their intense competitive rivalry, they agreed, and insisted, on a very bizarre commercial agreement – every three years all the people in the town must choose one, and ONLY […]
There are three kinds of lies; white lies, damned lies and statistics. – Mark Twain A recent Guardian article, deriving from an Essential Media poll around Australian’s feelings towards Christmas, is an example of how statistics can be twisted or misrepresented to prove any point one cares to prove. In this case, it’s a phenomenon we can […]
Re: Motion on Establishment of Anti-Corruption Agency, 8-9/12/2015 Dear representative elected on behalf of the people of the Republic of Ireland[1], This week a motion was proposed to the Dáil to set up an independent agency to address corruption in Ireland. The Government proposed amendments to the motion which stripped it of all its substance […]
Reflecting on the thoughts and opinions I entertained while spending time in India, I think that I came away for it having learned new lessons and for those lessons to be shared with people who may not get this experience. Otherwise, what justifies the indulgence of traveling somewhere to learn when you can stay at home […]
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” ― Voltaire Politics, or the game of getting re-elected, is one area where the art of dodging pointed questions is considered a required black art, which is either naturally occurring in an individual or acquired via coaching and specialised training. Politicians of the modern […]