Stable Population Party leads field in Griffith By-Election 2014

Thank you for your response, Timothy. It is reassuring to know that you have taken a stance in support of peace in this war-ravaged planet. Given that you are the only candidate so far known to me to have taken the right stance on these two most critical issues, you are clearly the most relevant candidate as Sheila has pointed out above. (However, it seems, that two other candidates, whilst ignoring these critical concerns, have some merit – see below.)

You wrote:

Unfortunately, minor parties are not given enough media time to talk about all issues so they often have to focus on one issue.

Whilst I can see it would not be advisable to campaign on too many issues, I see no reason, why other policies that a candidate supports can't be put on the record where sufficiently interested people can find them.

Second and third preferences

Even though none of the other candidates have (yet) taken a stance on these two critical issues, some are promoting policies which I think are also laudible. Voters giving you their first preference should consider giving their second and third preferences to:

• Karel Boele : Electronic direct democracy 'PeopleDecide' independent
• Melanie Thomas : Pirate Party

Karen Boele's electonic direct democracy seeems to be like Swiss Direct Democracy that has been previously promoted on candobetter.

Whilst I think that voters should give their third prefence to the Pirate Party, their web-site does them no credit. It's home page consists only of a membership application form. The only other content consists of the #4.2.1Pirate Party"> constitution. There is no material which explains the policies of the Pirate Party, nor news nor discussion forums.

Nonetheless, the Pirate Party's principle policy is opposition to the scam of proprietary copyright software such as Micro$oft Windows. The Windows Operating System has been used by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on its citizens and the citizens of allied countries by transmitting data from their computers' hard disk drives straight across the Internet to the NSA's storage systems.

For her opposition to proprietary software such as Micro$oft, Melanie Thomas should be put high in voters' preference allocations.

End economic neoliberalism

Another policy which should be raised with electors is the mad doctrine of neoliberalism first imposed upon Australia in 1983 by then Federal Treasurer Paul Keating. This doctrine dictates that only supposedly more efficient private enterprises driven by the profit motive, can own and operate services upon which Australian citizens depend – banking, telecommunications, transport, electricity generation, insurance, etc.

This doctrine has led to a succession of Australian Federal and state Govenments, never with any electoral mandate (with the arguable exception of Victorian Premier Jeff Kennet in the 1990's) flogging off to private profiteers the people's assets.

The doctrine of economic neoliberalism was codified in the 1993 Hilmer Report (pdf, 132k).

We are long past the time when this policy should be scrapped by Australian governments at all levels.

Any small party or independent candidate who campaigns energetically, and is known, at least by informed voters, to support all the above policies, should stand a good chance of getting a primary vote substantially more than what such candidates have become accustomed to.

Whilst this may not be sufficient to defeat the major party candidates, given the vast resources at the hands of the major parties and the media bias against decent candidates, this could improve the prospects of you and other good small party and independent candidates winning seats outright in subsequent federal, state or local elections in coming years.