Off Topic With Ashley

There’s always a handful of independents in any election that you as the voter have no idea who they are. The unfair mandatory voting policy of our government brings unprecedented numbers of apathetic voters to the polls, and I’d argue that these people are those most likely to vote for whichever of the “big two” had the more compelling advertising campaign.

So I like to shop around.

I’m going to focus on the independents in Indooroopilly and Mt Coot-tha, because my street is split down the middle. I have a vested interest in both, even though I can only vote in the latter. Here’s a quick list of independents in my area and what (I understand) they stand for.

ZWOLENSKI, Dave, Mt Coot-tha

This guy is an absolute unknown to me. I can’t find any information about him at all, which is a sure sign nobody else is going to know or care either. I don’t understand how you can run in an election without a web presence at least.

James Sinnamon, Mt Coot-tha

James Sinnamon is one of those passionate people that feels the current government has failed. He believes in all kinds of upheavel, but mostly for standing up against corporations, for the people. It’s a really noble sentiment, it really is.

He’s contesting in Mt Coot-tha, and based on the fact that I’ve never heard of him, I highly doubt he’ll win. He’s positioning himself further left than the Greens which is fantastic, but I think it’s probably a bit of an overestimation of the average Queenslander. He very transparently recommends using preferential voting to send your second vote to the Greens, or whichever other political party you happen to prefer, which I think is great.

He’s got a web presense, but it’s not very organised. He does have a fair bit of information about his ideas on his blog though.

DS4SEQ, Mt Coot-tha & Indooroopilly

Aka “Daylight Savings for South East Queensland,” these guys are an one-issue party. “DS4SEQ has only one policy” proclaims their web site, along with a bunch of cherry-picked facts and figures. The only thing they’ve got going for them is novelty, and on that they’ve been getting more media coverage than The Greens.

I’ve previously written about their policy (and my opinion on daylight savings in general,) so I don’t think I need to go into this again. It’s one of those horrible issues; either you’re for it or against it. They have no preferences, so a “vote 1″ for DS4SEQ will go effectively nowhere. If you’re going to vote for them in your electorate, make sure you fill out your preferences sensibly.

Conclusion

I’m going to leave this open ended. I’m fairly certain I’m going to vote Green this election. Considering my electorate is in a hotspot for Greens supporters, it may even be worthwhile. I’d preposite* that if you’re interested in your vote, you should definitely check out who’s running in your area, and what they actually stand for. Compulsory voting means the entire system is essentially rigged, but I believe that everyone should at least do a bare minimum of research before they blindly cast their ballot.