Aussie expats urged to have say on voting
Aussie expats! Are you one of the half a million Australians living abroad that has been disenfranchised from electoral roll? The Southern Cross Group (SCG) has been campaigning to help.
The SCG is an international volunteer-run and independently funded advocacy and support organisation for Australians living abroad.
As their website communicates, the SCG’s philosophy is that those in the Australian Diaspora are a fundamental part of Australia in today’s globalised world. Put simply, Australia is the sum of all Australians, regardless of their geographic location.
The Australian federal parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) is presently conducting an inquiry into the conduct of the 2007 Federal Election.
The SCG is calling upon all Australians living outside Australia to tell politicians their views and experiences on expatriate voting and enfranchisement as part of a special parliamentary inquiry. The terms of reference for the inquiry are very broad and any person or organisation may make a submission.
E-mail submissions directly to the JSCEM can be made using the email form on the SCG’s website. The deadline for submissions to the JSCEM is Friday 16 May 2008.
Expatriate disenfranchisement has been a focus of the SCG’s advocacy efforts on behalf of overseas Australians since 2000 and the SCG website carries full information on work to date and key issues.
Current Australian electoral law prohibits thousands of expats from exercising their democratic right to vote as Australian citizens. Section 94A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 stipulates that those who are not on the electoral roll may only enroll from abroad if it is less than three years since they left Australia to live abroad. The SCG estimates that in the order of half a million expatriate Australian citizens are disenfranchised due to this limitation.
Although some one million Australians live abroad, only 70,059 votes were issued by overseas polling stations for the 2007 Federal Election, and many of those were Australians who were on holidays or business trips abroad rather than resident overseas.
SCG co-founder in Brussels Anne MacGregor said “We hope that many expat Australians will use this opportunity to provide input on these important matters to the new Rudd government. In the past, a number of amendments to electoral law have come about as a result of JSCEM recommendations following such inquiries. The SCG is heartened by comments made by Prime Minister Rudd while in London in early April to the effect that greater numbers within our one million strong diaspora should be enfranchised.”
‘Sort Of’ taking Australia by storm
Peter Denahy is currently taking the Australian country music charts by storm with his cheeky track ‘Sort Of Dunno Nothing’, poking fun at Teenagers.
Australia to become a republic? Not while the Queen’s on the throne, says Rudd.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke openly about his republican agenda during his first official visit to the UK.
Only hours before his first Audience with the Queen yesterday, Rudd made it clear he was a life-long republican. Pledging a commitment to an accelerated public debate about the monarchy, Rudd also added the Australian Labour Party currently has other domestic priorities.
The Australian Labour Party’s election manifesto last year stated: “Labour believes the monarchy no longer reflects either the fundamental democratic principles that underpin the Australian nation or its diversity.”
“I also honour the commitments I made before the last election when asked this - I said for us it is not a top order question. We have other fish to fry right now in terms of priorities back home,” he said yesterday.
Rudd refused to set a deadline for a Republic vote in Australia, but he did indicate it would not occur while the Queen was on the throne.
Australia says sorry
Today Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia made a move in Parliament to formally acknowledge the past mistreatment of Aboriginals, and say ’sorry’.
The motion was passed more than 10 years after Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission called for a formal apology in their ‘Bringing them Home‘ report.
The Prime Minister’s speech:
“That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.”
Source: Parliament of Australia
Are the days dwindling for wild brumbies in the High Country?
Wild bush brumbies, famous for roaming the Australian High Country since the 1830s are set to be removed under new plans by The Kosciuszko National Park.
High Country brumbies were made famous in the popular works The Man from Snowy River & Clancy of the Overflow by the Australian bush poet, Banjo Paterson and have achieved Australian folklore status.
The Kosciuszko National Park claims wild horses are responsible for growing erosion and other environmental damages caused to native flora and forna.
The plan has come under much scrutiny from members of the Australian public who believe the removal of the brumbies will have a significant impact on Tourism and Australian culture.
Further reading:
Image courtsey of iansand.
Kevin Rudd: It’s time to write a new page in our nation’s history
Kevin Rudd has led his party into a historic landslide victory with 53.9% of voters propelling Labor into Government with a 25 seat majority.
In Rudd’s victory speech in Brisbane, he vowed to act with great urgency on issues of climate change and water.
“It’s time to write a new page in our nation’s history.”
Although still too close to call, John Howard is dangerously close to losing his seat of Bennelong which is set to fall to a new Labor candidate, former ABC journalist Maxine McKew.
Watch Kevin Rudd’s victory speech, John Howard’s final address as Prime Minister and much more on The Age Media website.
How to vote: Five easy steps
Step 1. Are you eligible to vote?
Check that you are enrolled by searching the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) online database.
Are you registered as an Overseas Elector?
If you are not registered as an Overseas Elector and you have been abroad for less than three years (and intend to return to Australia within six years of your date of departure), you can keep your right to vote! Download this form to register as an Overseas Elector (registration for the 2007 Federal Election closed on 23-10-07).
If you live abroad for more than 3 years and you do not register as an Overseas Elector, you will be disenfranchised from the electoral roll until you relocate back to Australia.
Find out more info from the Australian Electoral Commission website.
Have you been disenfranchised? The Southern Cross Group is campaigning to help you.
Step 2. When to vote
A) Pre-poll voting
Mark these dates in your diary now: Tuesday 13th November 2007 - Friday 23rd November 2007
B)Postal voting
Postal Vote Applications will not be accepted after 22nd November 2007.
Step 3. How to vote
A) Pre-poll voting
Vote in person at Australia House, The Strand during these specially selected times:
Tuesday, 13th November 2007 , 10:00 – 16:00
Wednesday, 14th November 2007, 10:00 – 16:00
Thursday, 15th November 2007 , 10:00 – 20:00
Friday, 16th November 2007, 10:00 – 16:00
Saturday, 17th November 2007, 10:00 – 18:00
Monday, 19th November 2007 , 10:00 – 16:00
Tuesday, 20th November 2007 , 10:00 – 20:00
Wednesday, 21st November 2007, 10:00 – 20:00
Thursday, 22nd November 2007, 10:00 – 20:00
Friday, 23rd November 2007 , 10:00 – 18:00
For more information, check the Australian High Commission website.
B) Postal voting
Read the important information and download the postal vote form on the Federal Election page of the Australian Electoral Commission website.
Step 4. Where to vote
Australian High Commission
Australia House
Strand, London WC2B 4LA
(Corner of the Aldwych and the Strand. Nearest Tube station: Temple)
Tel: 020 7379 4334
Fax: 020 7240 5333
Step 5. Tell your mates!
The ‘tell your mates’ form is now closed.
