The Australian Sex Party’s Fiona Patten on track to win seat in Victoria’s upper hous

[poledriver]

The Australian Sex Party’s Fiona Patten on track to win seat in Victoria’s upper house

THE Australian Sex Party’s Fiona Patten is on track to secure an upper house seat in Victorian Parliament.
With 60 per cent of the votes counted, early results indicate Ms Patten is well on her way to victory.

The Australian Sex Party was set up four years ago to counter what it perceived as persecution of the sex industry by politicians using a religious platform.
One of the first issues it campaigned on was a Royal Commission into child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.
“We honestly felt like we played a part in bringing that about,” Ms Patten said.

The party wants prostitution laws reformed and marijuana decriminalised; it wants to see same-sex marriage legalised, equal opportunity for people with HIV/AIDS and age-appropriate sex education in schools.
“But the issue I want to tackle first is one that neither of the major parties will even discuss and that is that 86 per cent of the population want to see a debate on euthanasia,” Ms Patten said.
“I mean, we have so many choices in our lives, we have science doing amazing things but at the end of the day we are an ageing population. There are too many ill people, too many patients suffering because they are not allowed to choose a dignified, pain-free death and their families have to watch them suffer, sometimes for years.”

If elected, Ms Patten said her first act would be to refer a voluntary euthanasia bill to the law reform commission. She hopes Labor and the Liberals will allow a conscience vote on the issue.
Next on the list is drug reform.
The Australian Sex Party made preference deals with the Basic Rock ‘N’ Roll Party, Voluntary Euthanasia Party, Animal Justice Party and the Australian Cyclists Party — groups with names reflecting the diversity of the 22 parties competing in this election.
Other fringe parties in with a chance include the Shooters and Fishers Party, the Democratic Labor Party and the Country Alliance.

Cont -

http://www.news.com.au/national/vic...rias-upper-house/story-fnj4aog3-1227141416153

 

[kytnism]

this is a wonderful and refreshing development. as is the lower house victory by the greens (insofar) as poll results are announced.

Ellen Sandell hopes she is the first of a Greens tidal wave that will sweep through the inner city and into State Parliament.

The Mildura-born former climate activist and policy worker turned 30 less than a week ago. On Saturday night she made history, winning the glittering prize of Melbourne to become the first Greens representative in the Victorian lower house.

Votes are still being counted but current projections have Ms Sandell with a two-party preferred lead of 1.2 per cent over sitting Labor MP Jennifer Kanis. The party is retaining hope of further lower house gains in Richmond and Prahran, which are on a knife edge.

"It's probably still sinking in a little bit," she said on Sunday morning, not long after enjoying the raucous Greens celebrations that ran late into election night at a Fair Trade laneway bar. She thanked her mother, Patricia, who "filled me with chickpeas" during the campaign.

Ms Sandell said she believed the inner city had been taken for granted by Labor, which was more intent on making election promises in marginal seats than providing a vision for the state.

Despite not having the balance of power in the lower house, Ms Sandell believed the Greens could still influence Labor policy on its core progressive issues. She promised not to use a government car and instead would ride her bike to Parliament.

"These seats have been held by Labor for over 100 years, I don't think Labor's really felt the need to address the issues that people care about in the inner city," she said. Key issues in her electorate were protecting the environment, increased investment in public transport and more transparency of government decisions.

In Melbourne, the Greens poured in the advertising dollars and recruited hundreds of volunteers in an effort to swing enough votes. The party had to win without Liberal preferences.

The Greens also expect to win up to five seats in the upper house, which Labor won't control. Party leader Greg Barber said the government would "need the Greens to pass bills in the upper house".

Senior Labor strategists have been worried about losing Melbourne for some time, with some conceding the changing demographic in the inner suburbs means the Greens should be able to cement themselves into the spot.

Now that a Greens flag has been staked in Melbourne, the party will be eyeing other vulnerable inner-city seats where its vote increased, including Richmond, Prahran, Northcote and Brunswick. Melbourne's inner-city residents, with much higher average income and education than the rest of the state, have proved far less receptive to Labor's cost-of-living campaign, which focused on local schools, roads and hospitals.

Concerning for Labor is the fact the Greens did well in Richmond without devoting many resources to the seat. Candidate Kathleen Maltzahn's pitch was much more local and earned her a swing of 2.6 per cent.

Despite their strong showing in the inner city, the Greens' statewide vote has barely moved since 2010. When counting resumes on Monday the party's first preference result will be hovering on the same 11 per cent figure it won four years ago.

source

...kytnism...

 

[Crankinit]

Good stuff.

 

[bit_pattern]

I'd prefer not having an industry front group elected to our parliament, personally.