Voting has become a very important part of our lives, we think we are voting for someone or a political party that is going to make a difference to our standard of living. Thats our main hope and I dont only mean seniors I mean everyone. We have a country that is rich in resorces, iron ore, gold, coal,wheat,sheep, wool, beef etc etc. the demand for these resorces are in great demand all over the world we all know that because we are told that everyday about our exports and imports if we care to read the right parts of the paper. Millionaires and billionaires are created overnight in Western Australia and they grandstand around like peacocks flashing their wealth. But with all the wealth that makes its ways into government coffers you can bet your life that the first words spoken by the pollies will be the good it will do the state or country's infrastructure. No sharing of the wealth to the people to assist them now when its needed but promises of what it will do for the future. The future has been coming for decades, it never arrives, law and order, justice system,education, hospitals, transport, roads and housing have all been earmarked for the future in years gone by but tomorrow never comes does it. Who could have forseen todays problems with fuel, banks and the price of food being in the chaotic state it is in yet they had meetings in the 1980s focusing on 2010,so what a waste of time that was and I told them so, because the people of whom some I knew personally had 1980s mentality, the same mentality that todays smart asses of 2008 are pretending they know what life is going to be like and what is needed in 2020-30 even 50. Its all bullshit. Our mines are being bought up by china and japan at the digging level and we are buying the steel back at incredible prices making our building infrastructure so much more expensive. So who is going to own what in 20 years and whos workers will be in the mines, just think about it.

So back to voting and what it really means to you/us/me whoever, wealth sharing from the booms will always make sure the pollies are well paid and well superanuated but your vote for whoever you want is just going to give CONTROL to these parasites and you will never be any better off because we give them a MANDATE of POWER to give to the seniors what THEY think is a living pension and to tax the worker to the hilt to keep him under control also. The future as they see it is for them not for us. So what would happen if there was a threat of NO VOTE and they thought their positions in life would be affected.

Suggestion on how to vote pamphlet. I would think after fiver decades that there

is little if any difference between either major parties, they are out to set themselves

up at our expense copying their US and UK political cousins {read their antics}.The

only way out as I see it is not to vote for either major party vote only for the minor parties

or Independents that do not have any preferences.



Do not waste your vote by stuffing up the ballot paper as the top

two majors rely on this apathy, as a non vote, which means voting can easily

be rigged, look how Bush got in: you've got to out number their rich mate's

like Banks, Finance Institutions and Industry who give them protection money

called "Political Donations" that's how, and why governments

deregulate so many institutions and can afford to remain in power over the

minorities both STATE AND FEDERAL.



If you do not use the power of your vote properly guess what?

In go the old brigade again, instead of using their vote to it's full

potential and putting in a minor party that do not have preferences, thus

giving the whole political system a severely bad case of shell shock and

left wondering what the hell happened.



It doesn't matter how the minor party performs as you have inflicted a

mortal wound into the system and that the untouchable's are not so

untouchable after all, and learning a very painful lesson. I remember

something about " we will look after the pensioner's etc" er, possibly next year?



It's time for the Elders of the tribe to hit back and remind these civil servants

that they work for the public not the other way round and make it illegal for

the diverse patronage of the law society in politics as they have overtaken

government with their manipulative tongues, giving away our natural assets,

our heritage and our way of life as we knew it, which is hard to recognise now

for their own agenda's not for the good of all Australians.



Constantly giving huge tax perksfor their rich mates, the more you earn the less

you pay in tax. It is us people who fought the wars, watched nuclear bombs drop,

and built Australia so those clownscould live in luxury and toss a few crumbs, not

too many, to us. We deserve and demand the respect to us, from our governments.

Just a suggestion on actually doing something rather than just blowing hot air.



Mr Prime Minister/ Premier, We the under signed have had enough of Labour and Liberal Governments of ignoring and abusing the reputations of the senior citizens of this country for your own use and power. When there's a war to be waged or a country to build we were the greatest things on two legs, and for decades you have with a tear in the eye, shaky voice and a Silvery tongue constantly reminded us of the hard times we had to go through to get to where we are and the country is today.



In fact in the past five or six decades we have never heard of a politician having held or fired a rifle in anger, even rolled up their sleeves to dig ditches or lay tarmac on the roads. We are sick and tired of constantly subsidising government perks, pay rises, illegal immigrants and other countries misfortunes at our expense, the ones who can least afford it.



It won't be too far into the future that you will be taking our teeth after we've gone to a better place I don't suppose either. There are those who are back to eating bread and jam for brekky and lunch again, it used to be bread and dripping during the 2WW but you people the politicians wouldn't have the first idea what that was like, because we were too busy trying to rebuild a decent country for you to grow up in.



Well my greedy little gremlins carefully peruse the amount of signatures offered below and count very carefully every one of them which you can randomly select to reaffirm that they will only be voting for those minor party's or Independents that do not pass on preference votes which is another con job of our political scenario. We would have thought that the latest polls in the NT would have taught you something but there are none so blind as those who don't want to see. Then there's WA elections in Sept and guess what, they have just got a pay rise, if that's not arrogance I don't know what is: Signed a very very disgruntled and grumpy bunch of old age pensioners.



Email address containing signature and non net user's signature {friends}



I.E [email protected] . with non net user's name and address{es} The only problem as I see it, is getting a web site page to help us to direct the emails to, or may be a newspaper or even a TV Station, as I'm no PC boffin I wouldn't have a clue. So I would welcome your criticism's or improvements on the above suggestion so we can show them we mean business and that we need a pay rise NOW not next year; maybe. The amount of effort required is to find those political aspirants who have no preferences, or a minor party that will accept our terms to get our votes.

Looks like a way to go







Sorry when it come to computers I am challenged. so cant do much for you

I agree with your sentiments entirely Soapy, however--



You know how pollies dont like criticism, proven by the way they stack any Q&A;meetings/forums with fanatical supporters, so I doubt if you would actually get one to read past the first paragraph or so.



Consider how much mail a pollie gets and how very little his/her minders actually allow to reach the pollie (its what their job description entails) I think your above criticism, [u]heavily abbreviated[/u], would be far better in a face to face confrontation.



I think the way to go (and I'm open to criticism) is to put a statement together being brief, to the point, and written in a manner to get past the minders and will capture the pollies attention to keep them reading it to its conclusion.

I have just read through all of these posts , and thereare some great thoughts,therein, However , emails sent to pollies offices are to easy to delete , and their staff guard them like terriers ,,,so my suggestion would be ...if someone much cleverer than I could write out a letter, stating more concisely the points we need to put across . for us to copy , pass out to other pensioners ,carers etc,and post it to pollies of every persuasion .,and I for one would mark it private and personal...................it would ,in my humble opinion well worth the cost of the stamps I guess someone will correct me if I'm wrong

In my opinion also Dusty a much better proposal to e-mails which rarely get past first base.

Maybe letters are thrown in the bin at 2nd base also. BUT if enough people were to send a letter on the same day

every week with continuence enmasse! somewhere along the line it has to skip up the ladder. It can be done,

if we can all agree. Of course it has to be big enough to not be able to be ignored. Not just this forum but maybe a printed letter

sent to thousands to pass on maybe via seniors homes and retirement villages etc. etc. everything

starts with one (maybe it takes two :))

Phyl.

Hi people, I have edited this a bit as it was probably too long and CAPITALISED the informative bits, I'm fed up to the back teeth of all the whinging and no positive action or feed back. In the old days I had to fight to get what I, or my country needed of me, the same as many of you had to do.

So here's a clue get off your backside's stop crying and start fighting again, I'm sure you haven't forgotten how to, and we can beat the self serving political egotist's at their own game. If we do it right.



As on Polling day you generally want to get in and out as quick as you can with the attitude "what's it matter, the major's will get in anyway". Remember, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. I hope this below will help you guy's. In reply below.



Reply: example is, we preference another minor if that party has already dropped out the preferences flow to the next on our ticket and so on down the list till they get to a party that is still in the race - as I said hopefully we stay in the race to the end and our preferences don't go anywhere.

The voter of course can *"VOTE BELOW THE LINE"* in the UPPER house and decide where the preferences go *"THEMSELVES"*.



Have to warn you that where we do recommend preferences (which I think will be most seats) they will EVENTUALLY go to a MAJOR because as I said you have to number all of the boxes.

Sometimes we *"DON"T"* recommend it, for ie, have an open ticket or have split ticket (which is basically how to preference either major),

Our "democratic" style of government would be a lot more credible with some major changes to the voting system. The Preference system does favour the major parties as has been said......why vote for "Joe Bloggs" from the "Veterans of the Boer War Party".....if your vote only slides to the Lib/Lab party because all the Boer War vets are underground?

The other aspect of our election system that is desperate for an overhaul is Compulsory Voting. Even John Howard (may he never return) said that he was against compulsory voting, but "the time is not right for a change"......typical political codswallop. They will never abandon a system which they perceive as giving them an advantage.



Yes I agreed at the time with him - but disagreed on his time - it is right and right now - we need to get back to the original system of voting - non compulsory and first past the post wins the seat.



Stops all the "we'll get in and can ignore them buggers til next election' thingy.



Also preference voting has to go - it is corrupt - just a means of getting an exchange of favours from major and minor parties and no good to the average man in the street.



Both those are tweaks to make it easy to keep the two major parties in power - together with their political donations for favours by business.



we were told that we would pay for elections and this would stop donations being needed - HA



Now we pay and they still get in donations and do not tell me that these don't work for favours - see Gunn's and the Pulp Mill paid off both parties Feds and State as neither said much now did they and you would expect the opposition to cry foul.



Wonder the Green's dont say something as it would save a lot of trees in How to Vote cards as only those with an interest in politics would turn out to vote.



I do spend time and number all the candidates in the Senate - pain though it is.



Loath the system of two or three voting values.