Firstly let me clarify, I’m not suggesting anyone has or will be actually paid to vote. What I am suggesting or better still asking is; does the flash and fancy of politicians sway you?
One local organisation is investing considerably in a pre-emptive ‘who do you vote for to get Liverpool out of debt’ marketing/poll. For the record, government debt is a complex issue, and last year we invested so much in real estate. We do have an infrastructure backlog, which is huge, but so much like every council in Greater Sydney. And arguably this is a national issue. There are a number of governments in NSW who have preferred and do prefer to spend money on everything else but upkeep. But looking at the complex issue of council debt and spending is not really the purpose of this post.
A number of our local residents have received automated calls asking if they would vote for Liberal, Labor, Independent or other (“other” I assume means Greens, I guess that’s a topic for another post).
I had a chuckle really, if asked who is responsible for council debt, since Greens have never been on Liverpool council, any financial failings fall quite directly on to the Labor and Liberal (& independent) dominated councils of the past. Perhaps it’s time to enlist the expertise of the NSW Greens, after all they are the only registered party who doesn’t accepted corporate donations and has strong policy regarding sustainably economy and infrastructure.
But my question is a) who is paying for this polling; and, b) will the fact they call and ask sway you? Will fancy flyers and huge amounts of local advertising sway you to one group or another?
Personally I’d prefer not to weigh in on the waste. We Greens, locally keep our corflutes (picture boards) to a minimum, flyers that the majority of people throw away to an absolute minimum and at the last election actually produced ‘How to votes’ on boards at some schools so as to not waste paper at all. I prefer to walk, having visited almost every house in the local council area last election on foot. For me, the financial responsibility and environmental responsibility of many parties is never best examined than in their election campaigns.
These automated calls, whilst irritating, are also telling of a major party that doesn’t really want your ideas. They are not asking you if you have read the budget currently on public exhibition by council, they are not asking you what you would do, what programs you would like to see to address infrastructure and sound management of Liverpool’s finances. They want to know if you associate one party with good economics primarily. It’s a dummy play designed to get your attention, simplify issues and save the major parties being properly examined for being responsible for many of the financial issues Liverpool currently has.
Are you convinced? Is the appearance of election funds instil in you a sense that here is a financially able candidate? Does fancy advertising sway you?
In a day and age where people can’t pay their electricity bills, and others are living on the streets do you feel this is an appropriate way to get elected?
So now it’s your turn.
What are you looking for in a candidate?
What sorts of things irritate you during election campaigns?
Does the bellowing mouth piece of call you at home during dinner truisms, one liners and subtle word association games invigorate your sense of political participation? Or does it make you wish they would just go away?
Do you think there are more important things we should be talking about as we prepare to elect a new council, things beyond 1980′s economic word association games and one liners?
With an election just around the corner, it is extremely important that the community be aware of what happens behind closed doors, especially now as our draft Revenue Pricing Policy and delivery programs are on public exhibition. Below is a link to a story in todays SMH. 
Posted by Signe 
