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Post by AussieMeg on May 13, 2016 4:37:23 GMT
So on 9th May a Federal Election was called for 2nd July and people are losing their minds because OMG IT'S SO FAR AWAY, OVER 8 WEEKS UNTIL THE ELECTION AND WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH ALL THIS CAMPAIGNING FOR 55 WHOLE DAYS!!! And I think to myself OMG these people need to go live in the US and see what a long drawn out election process really is LOL! These are some of the headlines I have read: Voters brace for 55 day campaign .... to kickstart the nation's long journey to the polling booths Get ready for a loooong 55 days ahead (Yes, it really had four o's in the word loooong) A marathon 55 day election campaign
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Post by chances on May 13, 2016 4:42:41 GMT
That sounds amazing! Our system in the US is beyond tedious. I hate everyone by the end.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 3, 2024 7:42:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2016 4:53:06 GMT
USA is more like 550 days
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
Jun 26, 2014 18:51:17 GMT
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Post by perumbula on May 13, 2016 4:53:18 GMT
I have wished for years we had a parliamentary system so we could have multiple parties and short campaigns. You guys have it easy.
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
Jun 26, 2014 18:51:17 GMT
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Post by perumbula on May 13, 2016 4:53:51 GMT
USA is more like 550 days Ha! I wish. It's more like 1000.
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Post by lumo on May 13, 2016 5:09:45 GMT
I would kneecap someone for 55 days
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Post by Delta Dawn on May 13, 2016 5:29:03 GMT
We had 11 weeks for our election and I swear the people around me were about to kill one another. 11 weeks and we were so mad at one another. How the US can have an election every 2 years. (4 years to vote, 2 years to campaign).
Australia sounds great right about now! 8 weeks and then you will have a new PM? Awesome!
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Post by mirabelleswalker on May 13, 2016 5:32:45 GMT
Cry me a river.
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Post by AussieMeg on May 13, 2016 6:05:33 GMT
Do you have the time to post a quick explanation of Australia's political system? Why and how an election is "called"? OK, here's the Australian Electoral Process for Dummies. Because I'm a bit of a dummy myself! There are 2 major parties (and some minor parties) much like the US system: Labour (left / Democrat) Coaltion (right / Republican) [The Coalition is a joint party made up by the Liberal and the National Parties. Don't ask me why a (centre) right wing conservative party is called the Liberal Party, it's a misnomer.] The political party chooses who will be the leader, which cuts out about a gazillion days of voting in the primaries that you have in the US. Elections are held at least every 3 years, and the current Prime Minister decides when the next election will be held. A Prime Minister can be in power for as many terms as he is voted in. It is not limited to 2 terms like in the US. Our longest serving PM in modern times is John Howard who was PM for nearly 12 years. Voting is compulsory. It is also completely anonymous. I am not going to go into an explanation of voting in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. Mainly because it's boring, but also because I don't have a good understanding of it!
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Post by AussieMeg on May 13, 2016 6:05:54 GMT
LOL! 8 weeks and then you will have a new PM? Awesome! Probably not. I think the current PM will be re-elected.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,612
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Aug 29, 2014 18:57:20 GMT
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Post by hannahruth on May 13, 2016 8:27:18 GMT
What are we up to - day 5 and I'm already bored to tears with it all. Can't wait for it all to be done and dusted and somebody can hopefully get on with running the country anda doing something positive!
Role on July 2 is all I can say.
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Post by anniefb on May 13, 2016 8:35:43 GMT
So on 9th May a Federal Election was called for 2nd July and people are losing their minds because OMG IT'S SO FAR AWAY, OVER 8 WEEKS UNTIL THE ELECTION AND WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH ALL THIS CAMPAIGNING FOR 55 WHOLE DAYS!!! And I think to myself OMG these people need to go live in the US and see what a long drawn out election process really is LOL! These are some of the headlines I have read: Voters brace for 55 day campaign .... to kickstart the nation's long journey to the polling booths Get ready for a loooong 55 days ahead (Yes, it really had four o's in the word loooong) A marathon 55 day election campaign LOL. NZ campaigns are usually about a month so I guess on that basis 50 days is loooong
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on May 13, 2016 10:18:16 GMT
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Gillyflower
Full Member
Posts: 129
Location: QLD, Australia
Jul 16, 2014 12:06:56 GMT
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Post by Gillyflower on May 13, 2016 10:35:11 GMT
It should just be next weekend so we can be done with it.
Gilly.
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teddyw
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,821
Jun 29, 2014 1:56:04 GMT
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Post by teddyw on May 13, 2016 10:41:52 GMT
That sounds amazing! Our system in the US is beyond tedious. I hate everyone by the end. Same!
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on May 13, 2016 10:50:17 GMT
Your comment about voting for the House of Representatives has me confused. Do you vote for representatives or for the Prime Minister directly? In Canada (and I would imagine much of the Commonwealth) we vote for a representative for our riding and the leader of whichever party gets the most members is, by default, the PM. Is it different in Australia?
And you vote for your Senate? That's one thing I would love to change about our system here.
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rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,123
Jul 1, 2014 20:20:18 GMT
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Post by rickmer on May 13, 2016 11:31:49 GMT
love the headlines! when i see american candidates stumping endlessly i always have 2 thoughts: wow, what a waste of money and these people must be so exhausted. by the time someone makes it into office, they will need a year to recover from all that rigamarole. admittedly, this american election i think 3 things, the two above and: are they *really* going to make that man president?
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Post by AussieMeg on May 13, 2016 11:54:53 GMT
Your comment about voting for the House of Representatives has me confused. Do you vote for representatives or for the Prime Minister directly? In Canada (and I would imagine much of the Commonwealth) we vote for a representative for our riding and the leader of whichever party gets the most members is, by default, the PM. Is it different in Australia? And you vote for your Senate? That's one thing I would love to change about our system here. You're really testing my knowledge here, it's been a long time since Year 12 Politics (which I dropped after one lesson LOL!). We have to vote for both the House of Representatives (lower house of parliament) and the Senate (upper house). When voting in the House of Reps you are voting for the member in your local electorate. There are 150 electorates in Australia. Then whichever party wins the most seats is in power (or to be precise, they are invited by the Governor-General to form a government). The Senators serve for 6 years. Half of them are up for re-election during one federal election, and the other half will then be up for re-election at the next federal election 3 years later. Therefore we always have to vote in the Senate at every Federal election every 3 years. I always just pick up a How to Vote card from the party I want to vote for at the polling booths and number the choices for the House of Reps and the Senate however they tell me to. Otherwise it's too bloody complicated.
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on May 13, 2016 12:17:59 GMT
Your comment about voting for the House of Representatives has me confused. Do you vote for representatives or for the Prime Minister directly? In Canada (and I would imagine much of the Commonwealth) we vote for a representative for our riding and the leader of whichever party gets the most members is, by default, the PM. Is it different in Australia? And you vote for your Senate? That's one thing I would love to change about our system here. You're really testing my knowledge here, it's been a long time since Year 12 Politics (which I dropped after one lesson LOL!). We have to vote for both the House of Representatives (lower house of parliament) and the Senate (upper house). When voting in the House of Reps you are voting for the member in your local electorate. There are 150 electorates in Australia. Then whichever party wins the most seats is in power (or to be precise, they are invited by the Governor-General to form a government). The Senators serve for 6 years. Half of them are up for re-election during one federal election, and the other half will then be up for re-election at the next federal election 3 years later. Therefore we always have to vote in the Senate at every Federal election every 3 years. I always just pick up a How to Vote card from the party I want to vote for at the polling booths and number the choices for the House of Reps and the Senate however they tell me to. Otherwise it's too bloody complicated. I guess my question is, do you vote for your Prime Minister separately from your House of Representatives or is he/she elected as default as the ruler of the party with the most electoral seats?
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on May 13, 2016 12:26:31 GMT
love the headlines! when i see american candidates stumping endlessly i always have 2 thoughts: wow, what a waste of money and these people must be so exhausted. by the time someone makes it into office, they will need a year to recover from all that rigamarole. admittedly, this american election i think 3 things, the two above and: are they *really* going to make that man president? Not to mention the notion that the President shouldn't actually do anything in his last year (like appt. a judge to the Supreme Court).
I can't imagine campaigning for 2 years. In Canada, we've had governments that have lasted for less time (I'm old enough to remember having 2 federal elections only 274 days apart).
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Post by AussieMeg on May 13, 2016 12:27:38 GMT
When voting in the House of Reps you are voting for the member in your local electorate. There are 150 electorates in Australia. Then whichever party wins the most seats is in power (or to be precise, they are invited by the Governor-General to form a government). I guess my question is, do you vote for your Prime Minister separately from your House of Representatives or is he/she elected as default as the ruler of the party with the most electoral seats? Yes the leader of whichever party wins the most seats in the House of Reps becomes the PM.
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Post by anxiousmom on May 13, 2016 12:31:56 GMT
Last night the boy and I were watching the news. They covered a story on something other than politics and the boy looked at me and said 'you mean there is something else happening in the world?' and then laughed. I am tired of it-so, so tired. Instead, I have been watching the last season of MI-5. I love Harry, he is a curmudgeonly old coot and I think he is the bomb.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 3, 2024 7:42:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2016 13:10:44 GMT
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grinningcat
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,663
Jun 26, 2014 13:06:35 GMT
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Post by grinningcat on May 13, 2016 13:16:25 GMT
After the marathon known as the last Federal election, I'm ready for a law being put in place that elections can last a week and that's it. No politicking outside of that timeframe, nothing. You have a week and that's it. And that's generous. The day after the election last year, I was ranting and raving about one day electoral campaigns. I completely lost patience with the 100+ day campaign we had. Waste of time. Waste of money. Can't imagine dealing with the bullshit in the US.
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Post by joblackford on May 13, 2016 14:40:03 GMT
I guess my question is, do you vote for your Prime Minister separately from your House of Representatives or is he/she elected as default as the ruler of the party with the most electoral seats? Yes the leader of whichever party wins the most seats in the House of Reps becomes the PM. And that also means the PM can change during the time between elections. If the party loses confidence in their leader they can challenge them, and put their leadership to a vote. I'm from NZ which has a similar system, at least in terms of the length of elections. There's a deadline by which the election must be called (based on whatever the term is - 3 years) but the election can be called earlier, and the parties sometimes strategize to have an even shorter time for campaigning if they think that people will more likely vote for them in that case. Sometimes they will even call a snap election long before their term is up. Which is to say, there's no "election day" on the calendar. It could be in July or it could be in September or it could be in March. I want to say that NZ has a maximum 60 day period between calling the election and the actual vote... I looked it up on wikipedia at one point, when I was ready to strangle someone during the US election cycle. But as my American friend said "but how would they waste millions and millions of dollars in such a short time?"
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Post by padresfan619 on May 13, 2016 15:55:45 GMT
People keep saying in regards to the us election, that they can't wait for November so it will all be over. Except really the cycle just goes on again. I feel like it never truly stops, it just ramps up the closer an election year comes.
I would LOVE a 55 day election cycle!
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Post by ilikepink on May 13, 2016 16:33:10 GMT
I'm sitting here trying to imagine the US doing it in 55 days, and I don't think they could do it. But wouldn't it be nice to have some kind of real time frame - even a defined 6 months would be easier than the crap going on now. Another odd thought: If we all think it's too long, and the candidates are exhausted, why then are we all doing it that way? If we all agree it's dumb, why can't it change? But that's just me -
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Post by mellyw on May 13, 2016 19:33:47 GMT
Ha, I just posted in another thread about this before I saw this one. I lived oversea's for 10 years, saw many Parliamentary elections on different continents. And as much as restricted election time sounds like heaven on earth, don't think it will happen here. As much as I want to think I want that, it feels to much like a hit to our freedoms. Or maybe that's my *American* talking.
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Post by hennybutton on May 13, 2016 20:13:05 GMT
I'm sitting here trying to imagine the US doing it in 55 days, and I don't think they could do it. But wouldn't it be nice to have some kind of real time frame - even a defined 6 months would be easier than the crap going on now. Another odd thought: If we all think it's too long, and the candidates are exhausted, why then are we all doing it that way? If we all agree it's dumb, why can't it change? But that's just me - I have thought for years that we should stop public support of primaries. Let the parties choose their candidates by whatever method they choose and let the voters choose at the general election. Way too much taxpayer money is spent in the primary process. Make the parties pay their own way.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 3, 2024 7:42:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2016 20:33:22 GMT
Ha, I just posted in another thread about this before I saw this one. I lived oversea's for 10 years, saw many Parliamentary elections on different continents. And as much as restricted election time sounds like heaven on earth, don't think it will happen here. As much as I want to think I want that, it feels to much like a hit to our freedoms. Or maybe that's my *American* talking. Can I ask in what way would it be a " hit to your freedoms" just curious what you meant by that.
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