Vox Populi

On April 25^th, Australians and New Zealanders commemorate ANZAC day, when the forces of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the shores of Gallipoli, Turkey.  It was the first time that ANZACs fought together and the day now serves to commemorate all who sacrificed their lives and liberties so we could be free.

You’ve heard politicians say that the next election “is the most important in history.”  In the next article, I plan to tell you why I think that is the case for the May 21^st 2022 Australian Federal election.  However, the purpose of this article is to share my thoughts on how to cast a meaningful vote.

The first thing you need to know is that the Greens party and any faux-independent climate change candidates are not your friend.

My friend Richard Blayden wrote a couple of prescient poems about the Greens, almost a decade ago.  Here are some excerpts, used with permission:

In this 2004 Institute of Public Affairs article on Greens’ policies, we read:

“Although the policies all claim to pivot around environmental concepts, the processes, and most of the policies themselves, are a reincarnation of the tired old Marxist, totalitarian model.”

and

“The detailed protection through control of the environment at the core of policy is little more than a variant of state control of land and natural resources that has always been crucial to socialist policies and regimes.”

In less than 20 years, the Greens have added the following claims to their rhetoric:

• All whites are inherently racist;
• What it is to be a man or woman cannot be defined;
• Biological men can have babies and may compete against women in sports;
• Parents cannot meddle in the education of their children;
• Life is not sacred.  The unborn and the elderly need no special protections;
• Individual freedoms must be sacrificed for the collective good (?);
• Borders are racist; and
• Big Tech, Big Pharma and the global elites must be given the power to force governments to act as though the above claims are true.

So, you see, the Greens have revealed their true agenda – the destruction of the Judeo-Christian west.

Despite this fact, Australia’s major political parties, both the Liberal National Party and the Labour party have lurched to the left, with only a few LNP and independent Senators daring to speak against this.  The time to do something is well overdue.  Fight like your country is being overtaken, but do so peacefully and lawfully.

The USA are already seeing a major uprising of inclusive nationalism and participative populism in rejection of the woke establishment.  The average person is taking democracy into their own hands.  Mums and dads are invading the electoral process at the local level, becoming precinct committeemen, voting out leftist school boards and are getting ready to destroy the Democrat Party, root and branch, at the November 2022 election.

Jesus Christ was able to be the friend of prostitutes and tax collectors and at the same time told them to “go and sin no more.”  Yet, none claim that he was unloving.  I pray that I can have a similar impact on those with whom I disagree.

Australians seem to me, a little lazy and apathetic.  There’s a little too much of “she’ll be ‘right, mate.”  That’s what concerns me most about the upcoming election.  Perhaps too many feel jaded and don’t think they can combat the ills of our age.  That is absolute B#@#S*^T!  There is a simple way to do this.  Just follow my 7-step plan.

1. Understand the Current State

In Australia, the Liberal National Party (formerly conservative) are currently in power at the Federal level while the Australian Labour Party (generally progressive) are currently in opposition.  Labour dominate leadership at the State and Territory level, with Liberal Premiers leading in only two of six States. Over the past decade or so, both of the major parties have shifted hard left. 

 

Both have been very comfortable with the World Economic Forum’s “Global Public-Private Partnership” model.  That is, the transfer of sovereignty and wealth to unelected bodies such as the World Health Organisation and the United Nations. Over the past two years, Australia’s COVID response was managed by a National Cabinet where the Prime Minister shared policy-making authority with State Premiers.  Each State Premier attempted to out-do the other in the name of COVID “safety.”

That was, until Omicron arrived, PCR testing lines got way too long and Premiers simply threw the towel in.  Many restrictions were lifted, but by that time, the damage was done.  Small businesses were crushed, freedoms were destroyed and the economy was in shambles.   Despite most mandates being lifted, the government continues to extend its emergency powers (I bet you didn’t know that); nationally and at the State level.

2. Assess the Performance of Different Policies

The media tells us that the government did a good job with COVID.  They like to brag about how they kept us “COVID-safe.”  Was it worth the pain?  Would a different set of policies result in better outcomes?  How can we know since every state employed similar policies and legacy media all repeated the same talking points.  Where was the control group?

Well, the results of an April 2022 US study may provide some valuable insights for Aussie voters.  Like Australia, the US is comprised of independent states which control COVID response within their borders.  However, what’s different about the US is that the policies of Republican-led States were very different to that of Democrat States.

The US National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) compared the impact of two very different sets of COVID policies across the 50 US states and Washington DC.

Republican Governers were generally pro-freedom, opened businesses and churches earlier, encouraged face-to-face education and opposed mask and vaccine mandates.  In contrast, Democrat Governers were lock-step with the Biden administration, keeping businesses and citizens locked-down longest, were late to open schools and enforced mandates.  Broadly, there were two different approaches on trial:

1. Strongly authoritarian, centre-led, pro-lockdown, pro-mandate
   versus
2. Consitituionally-respectful, locally led, pro-freedom and trust in the citizenry.

So, what’s the verdict?  Which was more effective in managing safety, the economy and education?

Here are some excerpts from the report:

“The COVID-19 pandemic was distinct from other previous health pandemics in the degree to which we saw government interventions in the economy and suspension of individual freedoms – including policies such as lockdowns, curfews, mask and vaccine mandates, mandatory business closures, school shutdowns, and so on.

After the first several months of the pandemic, decisions about the most effective policies to balance health risks and allowing businesses to stay open and workers to go to work, as well as keeping schools, stores, churches and parks open and under what conditions were left to the 50 states.

The purpose of this paper is to measure and compare the different economic and health trajectories across the 50 states and DC.

Our measures fall into three categories: the economy, education, and mortality.  For economic performance we used two measures: unemployment and GDP by state.  For education we used a single metric: the Burbio cumulative in-person instruction percentage for the complete 2020-2021 school year, with hybrid instruction weighted half.  For mortality we used two measures: COVID-associated deaths reported to the CDC and all-cause excess mortality.”

The 10 best performers were: Utah, Nebraska, Vermont, Montana, South Dakota, Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, Arkansas and Idaho.

Nine of out Ten have Republican Governers.

The 10 worst performers were: New Jersey, DC, New York, New Mexico, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

Nine of out Ten have Democrat Governers.

Republican Governers were generally pro-freedom, opened businesses earlier, encouraged face-to-face education and opposed mask and vaccine mandates.  In contrast, Democrat Governers were lock-step with the Biden administration, keeping businesses and citizens locked-down longest, were late to open schools and enforced mandates.

So, verdict is in.

• Protecting the freedoms of the citizenry is good policy.  It is good for health, education and the ecomony.

while

• Forcing lock-downs, forcing mandates and stripping freedoms is not just wrong morally; it is bad policy, costing lives and livelihoods.

3. Rate the Candidates

Can this translate to the Australian political landscape?

ABSOLUTELY!

Both Liberal / National and Labour State Premiers were just like the Democrat State Governors in locking down businesses, forcing mandates and shutting schools.

Some of Australia’s minor parties have dared to stand up for the citizenry.  Parties like the United Australia Party and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation support personal freedom, oppose lockdowns and mandates, oppose the push for Net Zero carbon emissions and support the generation of cheap, reliable base-load power.

As important as these policies are, there are other critical considerations for elected representatives.

Over two weeks ago, I emailed three local candidates in my electorate: Liberal, UAP and PHON.  I asked each of them to explain their position on topics including Critical Race Theory, the role of parents in education, prayer in schools, transgender sports, diversity, inclusion and equity, religious discrimination, abortion and euthanasia.

I received a response from the UAP candidate – Tony Moore within 24 hours.  The others are yet to respond.  Based on the publicly available data and Mr Moore’s responses, I rate the candidates in my electorate this way:

It’s not so easy to contact the State Senators, but you can do some research on-line. 

While the LNP in the House of Representatives has been very disappointing, there are still some good candidates in the Senate, which acts as a check against the excesses of the House.

In summary, Australia’s major political parties have chosen to replace personal freedoms with unchecked government control in areas including health, the environment and spending our tax dollars.  Just like leaders of most of the world’s nations, both LNP and Labour are generally happy to cede sovereignty and personal freedoms to unelected officials of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations for supposed health and environmental crises, respectively.  We must stop this.

4. Create your own “How to Vote” guide

For the House of Representatives, write down all of the local candidates on a piece of paper.

Identify the candidate who best aligns with your values AND supports effective policies.

I would recommend placing LNP third last, unless your LNP candidate is one of the few  who align with your values AND supports effective policies.

Regarding the Senate, it’s not so easy.  If using the preference system is too difficult for you, then vote above the line, but find out who is worth voting for.  I DO KNOW that the LNP Senators Matt Canavan and Amanda Stoker oppose Climate Alarmism and the Woke Agenda.   PLEASE vote for Greens last and Labour second last.

5. Tell others

You don’t need to vote just like me.  However, I strongly urge you to follow my process. 

6. Vote for life and liberty – Lest We Forget!

We need to think and act locally, not globally.  Concentrate political power at the local level, because that’s closest to the vox populi.  Ensure that the Senate is equipped to stop the bad policies of the House.  Elect representatives who will actually represent and serve the people.  We must never again let the elites abuse the power given to them.

When you couple pro-freedom policies with pro-Judeo-Christian values, the choice is clear.  I will be voting for my local UAP candidate, Tony Moore.  I’d suggest that you ask your local candidates about topics that are important to you and vote appropriately.  Matt Canavan and Amanda Stoker will get my fisrt two votes in the QLD Senate.  Then please consider placing UAP and PHON candiates in the Senate ahead of most others.

7. Trust God