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Bruce
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Wollongong, Australia
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02-04-2021, 12:33 AM
11

Re: Legalise Drugs and Daylight Savings?

Originally Posted by AnnieS ->
somehow they are legal for farm animals....
They don't vote.
Dextrous63
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02-04-2021, 02:16 AM
12

Re: Legalise Drugs and Daylight Savings?

The traditional argument against PR (which I assume is what Australia has to a certain degree- please correct me if I'm wrong) is that it leads to weaker majorities and hung parliaments.

Is this the case Bruce?

The problem with not having PR is that IMHO it leads to disingenuous "tactical" voting and disinterest in politics (hence low electoral turnouts). Why bother voting if it's a stitch up by the major parties and one's own wishes of wanting an alternative view will be ignored and come to nothing?
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02-04-2021, 05:03 AM
13

Re: Legalise Drugs and Daylight Savings?

Originally Posted by Dextrous63 ->
The traditional argument against PR (which I assume is what Australia has to a certain degree- please correct me if I'm wrong) is that it leads to weaker majorities and hung parliaments.

Is this the case Bruce?

The problem with not having PR is that IMHO it leads to disingenuous "tactical" voting and disinterest in politics (hence low electoral turnouts). Why bother voting if it's a stitch up by the major parties and one's own wishes of wanting an alternative view will be ignored and come to nothing?

No, we don't have proportional representation (I think NZ has but not sure), in our system you need 50% +1 of the votes cast to win. If you don't get that on the first preferences then the candidate with the lowest votes is eliminated and his/her second preferences are distributed among the remaining candidates.

This is repeated until a candidate has 50% + 1 vote. There are tactics involved in "How to vote cards" the parties had out. They put the most likely opposition last but of course you don't have to follw how how to vote cards.

Occasionally it does lead to hung parliament where the government has to negotiate with the cross bench. In practice this leads to better government less driven by ideology.

In the upper house (which has a quota system) it is rare for a government to have an absolute majority. The last time a government had a majority in the federal upper house it led to Work Choices and a landslide against the government at the next election where even the PM lost his seat. I think the population likes an upper house where no one party has a majority

In my opinion it is a very good thing and combined with compulsory voting a population ends up with the government it deserves and you rarely hear complaints about it.
Dextrous63
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02-04-2021, 01:22 PM
14

Re: Legalise Drugs and Daylight Savings?

Thanks for the explanation Bruce.

At least there's a better chance of an voter's view meaning something (albeit not necessarily their 1st choice). The system in the UK means that your vote is worth either everything, or nothing.
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02-04-2021, 01:36 PM
15

Re: Legalise Drugs and Daylight Savings?

On the subject of legalising drugs....

IMHO there always has to be a "lowest rung". If one can deal with those who tread on it effectively, then they are less likely to climb further en masse. We change the height of that first step at our peril.

However, if keeping that first rung in place makes it impossible to manage things, and/or it makes a mockery of having an unenforcable law in place, then it is probably prudent to re-evaluate things.
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02-04-2021, 02:45 PM
16

Re: Legalise Drugs and Daylight Savings?

Originally Posted by AnnieS ->
somehow they are legal for farm animals....
And that is a BIG issue that needs to be corrected. Apart from anything else it results in cattle slurry smelling exceptionally awful.
 
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