Editorial
This edition is a biased analysis of issues relevant to the upcoming federal election, written by students with political positions.
When it comes to issues of rights for communities which have, at best, been ignored and, more realistically, been actively targeted by successive Labor and Coalition governments, there is no benefit tip-toeing some centrist path.
However, before any impassioned boot-licker looking to climb the party ladder feigns outrage, we remind them that merely pointing to the existence of possible bias does not undermine an argument. We refuse to take empty accusations of bias from the puppets of establishment politicians seriously.
In writing this, we aim to shed light on the self-assured hubris of career politicians whose conscience feeds on collective amnesia regarding the subjugation they have wrought. We hope that the article on First Nations policy reveals just some the hypocrisy shared by members of parliament across all parties.
There are undoubtedly positive policies adopted by the Australian Labor Party. But those policies have not and never will be premised on morality. The currency of change is ballots, not ethics. Our article on voter suppression laws will demonstrate how those ballots have been stolen from Australia’s most vulnerable communities.
Of course, in writing this we do not forget that greater evils than Labor and the Coalition existing in the Australian political landscape. Parties standing for all forms of oppression are running in this election. But to think their existence in isolation is folly. They are part of a broader system of hegemony, which both major parties actively participate in and reap the benefits of. As the profile in this edition reflects, when young people attempt to affect change, they are met with the full powers of nationalistic, conservative vitriole — we hope this does not deter new generations.
We encourage readers of this election edition to consider a whole range of alternative options that are available to them.
Acknowledgment of Country
The Federal Election selects a Parliament for an illegitimate settler-colonial state. The Australian project has slaughtered First Nations people, taken children, incarcerated, and erased language and culture. Both major parties carry on a legacy of dispossession.
Parliament House stands upon on stolen land — three nations have a connection to the land now called Canberra: the Ngunnawal, Ngambri and Ngambri-Guumal people.
When a new cohort of parliamentarians is elected, there will likely be very few First Nations representatives among them, nor will there be many who will go on to wholeheartedly facilitate decolonisation. For 47 years and counting, a Tent Embassy has stood in some form or another adjacent to Parliament House, demanding reparations, genuine land rights, and honest legal protection. Over time, members have been violently removed by police, and the embassy temporarily taken down. It still not considered an official embassy by the Australian government.
When you approach the ballot box this weekend, remember: your democratic empowerment requires the disempowerment of First Nations’ self-determination. You should vote accordingly.
MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT
House of Representatives:
This ballot contains a vertical list of candidates. This is compulsory, preferential voting. Every box must be numbered to reflect who you’d like to be elected. Don’t be a galah: check you have not repeated or skipped any numbers.
Senate:
Quite a large piece of paper. You can either vote above or below the horizontal line. If you vote above the line, you need to at least number tbe boxes 1 to 6. If you vote below the line, you need to number at least 12 boxes. Do not number boxes both above and below the line.
Vote #1 the party you like the most, not who you think will get in. Giving a party your first preference gives them $2.756! The Australian Electoral Commission funds parties that receive at least four per cent of the total first preferences in the election.
Honi suggests that after exhausting your preferences on ideologically admirable parties, you preference Labor above the Liberal party. Preference both above the sweep of racist, homophobic, ruling-class parties in this election, even less deserving of federal parliament.
