Australian Political Parties Drug Policies - election roll closes 12 August!

[poledriver]

lol Oprah didn't stick around long.

 

[poledriver]

Just thought I'd bump Opi8's great work.

I think anyone lurking around AussDD should read it and get a good idea of what their supporting.

Go Hemp party!

HEMP Party sets itself an ambitious membership goal

HIGH HOPES: James Moylan, HEMP Party campaign director, in his Lismore office.
Patrick Gorbunovs

FROM a small office in his Lismore home, James Moylan has big plans.

The national campaign director of the HEMP Party is trying to attract more members than the federal ALP by the time the election is held.

The HEMP Party has about 4000 members compared with the ALP's 40,000 but Mr Moylan is confident of reaching the target.

"We're getting 50-150 new members a week online. There's a constant stream. Our online reach is getting up to 60,000 people, which is bigger than any of the other small parties and nearly as big as the big parties," Mr Moylan said.

The HEMP Party was registered for the 2010 election but didn't run any candidates and struggled with membership. But after some lobbying of the Australian Electoral Commission to allow digital signatures, things have taken off.

"They (the AEC) would only accept paper forms with signatures that had to be posted out and back, which never works and costs thousands. I pointed out it was legal for digital signatures.

"Then there was 18 months of to-ing and fro-ing until seven months ago they wrote to every party saying they would now accept digital signatures. Now within seconds of joining you get a confirmation that you are a member."

He puts the success of their membership drive down to being "online, instant and free".

"Every other party requires a donation to join. We ask people to invest yourself in the issues."

And he described it as "more like a grassroots movement under the guise of a political party".

With 7 user comments -

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/party-enlists-grass-roots/1949470/

 

[laugh]

lol Oprah didn't stick around long.

was either aussie or tent haha

 

[drug_mentor]

Laugh I don't really know why you would oppose same sex marriage, just because you percieve marriage to be a sham or whatever is really missing the point. The point is equality and why should straight people be entitled to something that homosexuals are not. I really don't think you would see anywhere close to the same percentage of long term same sex partners getting married as you do hetero couples regardless, I just think they want to have the freedom to be allowed to do what everybody else can.

I don't know if this is the case in Australia or not, but atleast in the states same sex couples have less rights than married couples and that is wrong. I was watching Real Time with Bill Maher, not the most recent episode but I believe the one before that, it had a gay author on there and, atleast according to him, if he were to die and leave his money to his partner and their adopted child then they would be subjected to paying a gift tax which would not apply to a father leaving money to his wife and biological child. I believe he mentioned something about a life insurance issue but I can't recall the specifics so you will have to look that up. Same sex couples should not be any less entitled to anything than straight couples, this is the 21st century and judging people and restricting their behaviour based on something they have no control over and that affects you in no way is wrong and stupid.

 

[laugh]

yeh mate im all for equality! i feel as though whatever sexual orientation one may be one should be on equal terms. i guess what im saying is i just dont understand why homos want in on marriage when its a sham and outdated and the breakdown/divorce rates are so high. homos should start their own marriage game and should be allowed all the rights married heteros are entitled to except homos would not be changing or upsetting what the heteros have. instead of changing marriage to include homos homos should just start their own marriage union game and label it something else. each would/should be on the same level just different podiums. if that makes any sense at all. why upset the marriage folk and the stuck in their way heteros by changing marriage when they would be better off building their own game. in saying all that i couldnt really give a shit because its all just a joke to me.

a much bigger issue imo is the selection and rejection of embryos based on genetics and even sex. for instance their are couples of either orientation selecting their childrens sex and right to live based on genetics. i feel as though this is borderline playing 'god'. all the religious looneys whinge and complain about contraception but the for me the really blurred ethics/morals is in this child breeding/selection by genes via ivf etc. makes me think of ;brave new world' by aldous huxley. humans are inherently corrupt and greedy and allowing filthy humans the ability to play 'god' will inevitably lead to problems. i foresee clones and unnatural selection becoming a big issue moving forward. hitler would have loved it. 50,000 blonde hair blue eyed Adonis' to fight the (insert generic army)

 

[opi8]

I think it would be easier if they were just afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. IMO the fact that two persons, regardless of sexuality cannot get married in 2013 shows just how bad our society is.

 

[Captain Brewster]

HEMP Party sets itself an ambitious membership goal

FROM a small office in his Lismore home, James Moylan has big plans.

The national campaign director of the HEMP Party is trying to attract more members than the federal ALP by the time the election is held.

The HEMP Party has about 4000 members compared with the ALP's 40,000 but Mr Moylan is confident of reaching the target.

"We're getting 50-150 new members a week online. There's a constant stream. Our online reach is getting up to 60,000 people, which is bigger than any of the other small parties and nearly as big as the big parties," Mr Moylan said.

The HEMP Party was registered for the 2010 election but didn't run any candidates and struggled with membership. But after some lobbying of the Australian Electoral Commission to allow digital signatures, things have taken off.

"They (the AEC) would only accept paper forms with signatures that had to be posted out and back, which never works and costs thousands. I pointed out it was legal for digital signatures.

"Then there was 18 months of to-ing and fro-ing until seven months ago they wrote to every party saying they would now accept digital signatures. Now within seconds of joining you get a confirmation that you are a member."

He puts the success of their membership drive down to being "online, instant and free".

"Every other party requires a donation to join. We ask people to invest yourself in the issues."

And he described it as "more like a grassroots movement under the guise of a political party".

With 7 user comments -

http://www.northernstar.com.au/news/party-enlists-grass-roots/1949470/

I'm not that informed when it comes to Australian politics, hasn't really bothered me until recently. So correct this once I'm done.

If we have the same issue as last election ie. not enough votes, so they can't form a government. Could the Hemp Party be one of the independents they'll have to "make a deal' with?

I mean, pretty sure they (Hempers) only want one thing.

 

[poledriver]

^ Not sure either sorry.

Drug Law Reform Party

Inaugural Sydney meeting 6.00pm this Tuesday 6th August - Where: Dowson Turco Lawyers
Address: 15/572 King Street, Newtown, 2042
Time: 6.00pm - 7.30

Drug Law Reform Australia is holding our first Sydney campaign meeting at 6.00pm this Tuesday the 6th August.

I know it's winter, but the meeting will give members a chance to get to know each other and discuss plans for the election.
We will be discussing what we can do to make drug Law reform an election issue including running candidates, fundraising, media and campaign strategy.

With the election only months away, this informal gathering is an important chance to start thinking strategy to get a Drug Law Reform candidate elected.

All are welcome, not just members.

You can invite any interested friends via the Facebook Party Event page

Let's get this party started!

Let's make our voices heard leading up to the Federal Election.

For more information please contact our NSW contacts, Miles Hunt 0402621671 or Stacy Dowson on 0402 543 455.

We look forward to seeing you this coming Tuesdy at 6.00pm.

Cheers,

Greg Chipp
President/Convener
Drug Law Reform Australia inc.
Phone: 0417 773 372

 

[gimpan]

yeh mate im all for equality! i feel as though whatever sexual orientation one may be one should be on equal terms. i guess what im saying is i just dont understand why homos want in on marriage when its a sham and outdated and the breakdown/divorce rates are so high. homos should start their own marriage game and should be allowed all the rights married heteros are entitled to except homos would not be changing or upsetting what the heteros have. instead of changing marriage to include homos homos should just start their own marriage union game and label it something else. each would/should be on the same level just different podiums. if that makes any sense at all. why upset the marriage folk and the stuck in their way heteros by changing marriage when they would be better off building their own game. in saying all that i couldnt really give a shit because its all just a joke to me.

a much bigger issue imo is the selection and rejection of embryos based on genetics and even sex. for instance their are couples of either orientation selecting their childrens sex and right to live based on genetics. i feel as though this is borderline playing 'god'. all the religious looneys whinge and complain about contraception but the for me the really blurred ethics/morals is in this child breeding/selection by genes via ivf etc. makes me think of ;brave new world' by aldous huxley. humans are inherently corrupt and greedy and allowing filthy humans the ability to play 'god' will inevitably lead to problems. i foresee clones and unnatural selection becoming a big issue moving forward. hitler would have loved it. 50,000 blonde hair blue eyed Adonis' to fight the (insert generic army)

So separate but equal?

How do you feel about prospective parents aborting children when its known they will be born with Down syndrome or what ever the elephant man had?
Im far to selfish to even look after a regular child let alone a child you may have to look after until one of you dies.

 

[opi8]

So separate but equal?

How do you feel about prospective parents aborting children when its known they will be born with Down syndrome or what ever the elephant man had?
Im far to selfish to even look after a regular child let alone a child you may have to look after until one of you dies.

It's hard to explain the love a parent feels for a child. Even if they're not perfect, they are still your pride and joy and obviously you want to give them the best possible life.

While nothing is black and white, individual circumstances must be taken into account of course, but I don't think many parents would say "oh, this baby has brown hair and I wanted a blonde haired child. Let's cull this one and hope for better one next time". I think that analogy is similar to many non-life threatening disorders, women aren't just growing a completely separate being inside them for 9 months. Those 9 months, the mother is bonded in more ways than one to the child.

You deal with the cards you are dealt in life to the best of your ability, if your child is unfortunately handicapped in some way, parents simply do their best as parents to make their child's quality of life as good as possible. I feel extremely lucky and am very thankful that my children don't have any major issues (except, of course, for their drug fucked junkie father). I also have great respect for parents who spend an enormous amount of mental and physical energy, time and sacrifice their own lives to take care of their children if they were unfortunately born with some kind of high maintenance disability. I also think that most people, if put in the same position would simply love their child too much to give up on them. It's not something that you can fully understand unless you have experienced it. A lot like drug addiction.

 

[laugh]

So separate but equal?

marriage is just a fucking contrived label, i dont see what the big deal is. can you think of a situation where being separate but equal would not work? homos and heteros should have the same rights except they are classified under different labels/names.

How do you feel about prospective parents aborting children when its known they will be born with Down syndrome or what ever the elephant man had?
Im far to selfish to even look after a regular child let alone a child you may have to look after until one of you dies.

i couldnt give you a sincere answer because i truly dont know what i would do in that situation - what would you do? tbph though that is a very different example to the one i gave previously. choosing sex, or hair colour is not on imo. people are so vein these days, our society is so fickle..

 

[gimpan]

It's hard to explain the love a parent feels for a child. Even if they're not perfect, they are still your pride and joy and obviously you want to give them the best possible life.

While nothing is black and white, individual circumstances must be taken into account of course, but I don't think many parents would say "oh, this baby has brown hair and I wanted a blonde haired child. Let's cull this one and hope for better one next time". I think that analogy is similar to many non-life threatening disorders, women aren't just growing a completely separate being inside them for 9 months. Those 9 months, the mother is bonded in more ways than one to the child.

You deal with the cards you are dealt in life to the best of your ability, if your child is unfortunately handicapped in some way, parents simply do their best as parents to make their child's quality of life as good as possible. I feel extremely lucky and am very thankful that my children don't have any major issues (except, of course, for their drug fucked junkie father). I also have great respect for parents who spend an enormous amount of mental and physical energy, time and sacrifice their own lives to take care of their children if they were unfortunately born with some kind of high maintenance disability. I also think that most people, if put in the same position would simply love their child too much to give up on them. It's not something that you can fully understand unless you have experienced it. A lot like drug addiction.

Yeah, while a part of me agrees with you that people raising children with severe disabilities are some of the strongest people in our society, I tend to think that if given the choice the majority of parents would take the abortion road, which makes sense for the parent and society.

 

[laugh]

which makes sense for the parent and society.

i dont think i agree with this. as far as im concerned a person with a disability has as much right as anyone else to life. whether or not the parents are committed enough or not is another question and i think i would respect the parents decision.

society treats people with disability so poorly it is disgusting. our whole society works on the bullshit idea that individuals needs to be bringing in an income and as far as im concerned that is a flawed idea in a flawed society. i think this is a pretty big part of why a lot of indigenous people have difficulty in this white mans world. there is more to life than just going to work to make money. shit is going to get interesting in the future with the ageing population.

i respect your comment gimpan im just adding my 2c

 

[opi8]

You (gimpan) are right that the government wants as many able bodies as it can to put in the machine to keep the whole ponzi/pyramid scheme working. The problem with the current monetary system is the same as any pyramid scheme. Without more suckers getting in at the bottom, the whole system collapses.

Fractional reserve banking, as well as the lax rules that surround lending money, was one of the worst things to happen in recent history IMO.

 

[gimpan]

Hey man watch what you say about the scheme we runnin, I hope to be at the top of it one day!

 

[Tronica]

Election rolls close 8pm tonight! If you aren't on the roll, now is the time to join so you can vote for HEMP party or Drug Law Reform Party or whichever party you feel best represents your views on drugs.

http://www.aec.gov.au/