The Ginninderra ballot paper and where my vote may go

There is a week to go till the ACT election and I thought it would be a good idea to post my draft ballot paper along with the reasons I'm putting the candidates in the order I have. In summary I've gone for the Greens at the top, then the dem, ALP, then independents, minor & one issue parties, Libs & a couple of vinegar votes at the end. Yes, I do admit to choosing my hierarchy of independent preferences based solely on how interesting their surnames are.

Is it really worth researching them so they can go in 8th or 9th preference position? The only factor that may change the way I vote could be the Robson Rotation rules applying to our ballot papers. I may end up just donkey voting CAP, AMP & most of the independents. But you can rest assured Stanhope will be last on my ballot paper. A Little Background: In my seat of Ginninderra there will be 5 members elected to the Legislative Assembly. In 2004 the quotas went this way .

3 to the ALP & 2 to the Libs. Things that should be noted. The majority of those primary Liberal votes (10,000 of 19,000) were for Bill Stefaniak , who has resigned from the Liberals mid campaign.

This has left them desperately trying to establish candidate profiles in Ginninderra. So far it seems to be a scatter gun approach with corny individual candidate ads aimed at 11 year old kids, mixed with negative Stanhope attack ads. The Liberals have also gone big on corflute.

Very classy stuff indeed. Further adding to their woes they now have the collapse of economic markets taking valuable headline space and keeping local politics off the front page. The new parties on the block, in the form of the Community Alliance Party and the Australian Motorists Party .

Have built reasonable profiles over the last few months and will pull votes from both the majors, but I think the Liberals will suffer more than the ALP. If these new kids do get votes, I doubt it will be enough to pull off a quota. My estimate is that they'll get 1000 to 1500 primaries per group. Both will also be competing for votes with ex breakfast DJ Mark Parton . Some commentators are taking Parton's tilt at politics seriously, but I have a feeling he has only got 500 primaries coming his way at best. The Greens are placed pretty well at present in Ginninderra.

They'll need to increase their primaries from 2004 by at least double or 4000 to 5000 more votes. That might seem a big ask, but it is worth looking at the lead candidate Meredith Hunter's showing in the 2007 Federal election when she stood in the seat of Fraser, which covers the ACT electorate of Ginninderra. She picked up a healthy 13.38% of the vote .

If she pulls that off next weekend she should safely obtain a quota. Here is the draft Ballot Paper: Meredith HUNTER – Greens - It's positively not because I want an injecting room on every street corner. Yes I know it would be handy, especially for the kiddies.

But even more important for me than having safe injecting rooms for IV drug users is being able to vote for a party that considers social and environmental consequences before business profits and political donations. Especially in areas like public transport policy and renewable energy. James HIGGINS – Greens – Ditto Darren CHURCHILL – Democrats – He gets my third preference because he wore a black shirt for a TV interview. Which is brave.

Stupid yes, but nevertheless brave. You've got to admire that. Also you have to admire Darren for keeping on, even after the Dems missed the deadline to register as a party.

Mary PORTER- ALP – Mary is a hard working local member who I've witnessed at work putting constituents before the party. Chris BOURKE – ALP – Because he's not a Liberal. Adina CIRSON – ALP – Because she's not a Liberal.

David PEEBLES – ALP – Dave gets my second last Labor preference because he letter-boxed me. Harold HIRD – Independent – Because he’s a grudge bearing old ex Liberal MLA. Cathy McILHONEY – Independent – Because she has a sweet surname.

Adam VERWEY – Independent – Because his surname sounds like segway. Barry SMITH – Independent – Because his name is very boring. Eddie SARKIS – Unlisted? – Because he chose not to be listed as an independent.

Roger NICOLL – CAP – Because they are slightly less threatening than the AMP and less funky than the Dems. They run on a voodoo economics & transparency platform of Improved services; Lower rates and charges; and Open government. Mike CROWTHER – CAP - Ditto Jane TULLIS – CAP - Ditto Deborah HANNIGAN – AMP – Because they are slightly more threatening than CAP .

Chris SEDDON – AMP – Ditto Andrew SIMINGTON – AMP – Ditto Denis WALFORD – AMP - Ditto Wayne WHITING – AMP - Ditto Vicki DUNNE – Liberals – Because she was the only lib not to voice her own TV ad. Andrea TOKAJI – Liberals – Because she has the worst TV ad so far. Matthew WATTS - Liberals – Because he didn't letter box me.

Alistair COE – Liberals – Because he letter boxed me. Jacqui MYERS – Liberals – Because I hate the way you pollute the roads with corflute. Mark PARTON – Independent – Because he stole the Democrat’s slogan .

Jon STANHOPE – ALP – Because he got the taxpayers to foot the bill for this public art sculpture of his hair.. Fri Oct 2008 12:10 (1 month, 1 week ago)