2010 Federal Election- Your Democratic Right

Posted on August 16, 2010

This Saturday August 21st, Australians will go to the polls to vote on the federal election. It will be the second time this year that South Australians have had the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to vote.

Unfortunately at the state election on March 20th the South Australian Liberal Party was unable to form Government despite getting 51 per cent of the vote. In an election fought on trust we saw the Labor Party using dodgy how to vote cards and posing as Family First volunteers to trick people into allocating their preferences to Labor.

Over the weekend, former Labor Leader, Mark Latham, urged voters to submit a blank ballot paper, an informal vote, on polling day. I absolutely refute this request- why would you throw away your right to decide who will run your country?

Voting is a democratic right and a privilege and South Australia has a proud tradition of leading the way on democratic reform.

Compulsory voting was first introduced to South Australia in 1942, but it was not until this year that it became compulsory to enrol.

Women in South Australia gained the right to vote in 1894, and voted for the first time in the election of 1896. We were the first colony in Australia and only the fourth place in the world to grant women the right to vote. We were the very first place in the world to grant women the right to stand for Parliament.

When you go to the polls on Saturday I urge you to look past Labor’s spin, consider the policies of the alternative Government and vote Liberal.

Tony Abbott and the Liberal team have a strong economic record and have promised to end Labor’s waste. They have a strong plan for national security, a strong plan for education and a strong plan for the environment and a strong economic plan. The Gillard Government has this nation borrowing $100 million a day- sometime we are all going to have to repay this.

An Abbott Government will buy 150 billion litres of water on the short-term water market and 100 billion of those litres will go into the Coorong.  This will be the most significant inflow of fresh water into the Coorong in a decade.

I will be exercising my democratic right on Saturday with a vote for Tony Abbot and the Liberal team by marking ‘1’ next to my local Liberal candidate. I urge you to do the same.