They Vote For You now has over one hundred policies to help us keep track of how our representatives are voting on our behalf! They range from whether to have a Royal Commission into banking to whether to legalise same-sex marriage, and you can find them all on your representative’s voting record. For example, here’s a snapshot of our Prime Minister’s record:
We’re very pleased with our current crop of policies – and we hope you are too! – but there are still many subjects that our Parliament has voted on that haven’t yet to make it onto our site. And we’d like to do something about that before our newly (re-)elected MPs and Senators fly into Canberra for their first sitting day.
Tell us what you care about
We want you to get involved and let us know what new policies you’d like to see on They Vote For You. You can do this by:
- Jotting down the issues that matter most to you;
- Looking up your current representative’s voting record;
- Reading through the policies they voted on to check if all the issues that matter most to you are included; and
- If any are missing, letting us know via email, Twitter or Facebook before our new Parliament’s first sitting day on Monday 22 August 2016.
I’ll be online each Thursday and available to chat over Twitter and Facebook, so please feel free to join me then to discuss potential policy ideas.
When did you say their first sitting day was?
The parliamentary sitting calendar hasn’t been updated yet, so we don’t actually know when the first sitting day of our new Parliament will be. However, our guess is that it will be some time after the beginning of the Spring parliamentary season, which starts in late August.
So let’s see how many new policies we can create by Monday 22 August 2016
We look forward to hearing from you!
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9 Comments
I don’t think they have had a look at sea level rise around the Australian coast as the result of global warming. In SA I understand that the sea is rising 5 mm a year. Add on to that storms and king tides, the damage costs would be enormous. Perhaps an inquiry into sea level rise could help with the issues of fossil fuels and make the government realise they have to take unconventional gas seriously instead of pushing for it.
Hi Anne,
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ve had a quick look at what divisions have taken place in Parliament that relate to sea level rise, and it looks like there may be enough to create a new policy on the subject. I’ll let you know if it works out.
Best wishes,
Micaela
Hi Anne,
It’s still a work in progress, but I have started a policy today called “For addressing sea level rise as a matter of urgency”. Take a look and feel free to make changes to it: https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/policies/111
Best wishes,
Micaela
It is a no brainer when the Live Animal Export is continuing to deny australian’s extra employment in the meat export trade, Barnaby (Fudge) Joyce needs to get off his arse and re-introduce a Federal Non Union system of abbatiors so the meat is processed in a humane australian way.
Hi Leslie,
Good news – we already have that policy on They Vote For You: https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/policies/32
Cheers,
Henare
National Integrity Commission.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for your suggestion! Perhaps you would be interested in our policy on creating a federal Anti-Corruption Commission similar to NSW’s ICAC: https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/policies/86
Best wishes,
Micaela
If we’re going to have plebiscites, first introduce new standards that:
– make the result binding on parliament
– standardise the procedures for plebiscites (whether to use Yes/No questions, to have mandatory voting, etc)
– allows for the Governor-General to decide to hold a binding plebiscite rather than a double dissolution (the DD must remain an option, because it is Constitutional)
– includes a minimum time provision for a substantially similar proposal to be taken to the people again
Hi Tim,
Sorry for the delay in responding to you and thank you for the suggestion!
It would be great to have a policy on the mechanics of plebiscites on They Vote For You. Unfortunately, I can’t find any divisions (or formal votes) on this topic so cannot create this policy at this time. But I will keep this in mind as Parliament resumes, as it may come up then!
For more information about why we can’t make some policies, see our blog post on the subject: https://www.oaf.org.au/2016/07/28/they-vote-for-you-why-isnt-there-a-policy-on-that/
Please keep in touch about any other policy suggestions you might have.
Best wishes,
Micaela