Celeste Liddle, Melissa Fisher, Anjali Sharma and Steven Herrick Composite: Guardian
The two-party system needs to be broken
When it comes to this election, I am uninspired. All around me, particularly in the aftermath of the US election, I hear panic that a Peter Dutton-led government will be our equivalent here.
This sentiment fails to have an impact on me. It assumes, for example, that the government has a moral high ground. In my book, that’s simply not the case. The ALP, just like the Coalition, continuously relied on dogwhistle tactics to hold on to their power and ensure an increasingly disengaged electorate even turns up to cast a vote for them and grab their democracy sausages.
The ALP have been disappointing when it came to a vision for Indigenous rights beyond holding the referendum and the massive loss of lives in Gaza. They have been lacklustre on the environment, discriminatory on refugee rights and middling on health.
A Dutton-led government may threaten public health more, and fuel public ignorance more, but will it really be that different? When I think of federal politics over the last two decades, evidence suggests no. Indeed, it’s been currently so bad that John Howard has emerged as one of the few charismatic leaders who actually did shift the country, even if, in my estimation, he took it all in completely the wrong direction.
My only wish for this election is that democracy and better constituent representation, rather than power-holding and party room dynamics, drives our existing system more regardless of who forms government. The only way that is going to happen is with a robust crossbench and power-sharing agreements between major and minor parties, along with independents, promoting legislative negotiation and cooperation. The two-party system needs to be broken and voters’ voices need to be heard.
• Celeste Liddle is a 46-year-old Arrernte woman living in Melbourne/Naarm. She is a freelance writer, social commentator and activist. Liddle was a Greens candidate for the seat of Cooper in the 2022 federal election. She left the party in February 2023
Poverty and disability is my main barrier to employment
The most important issue for me coming up in the federal election is raising all welfare payments above the poverty line. It was disappointing that the government chose not to increase jobseeker in the recent budget. Australia is a wealthy country and there’s no reason for poverty to exist.
We’ve watched inflation drive up prices of everyday living expenses like food and electricity, which has impacted those in poverty the most. We were struggling before but now it’s harder again.
Increasing payments is the fastest, most direct way to give relief to people doing it tough and will impact their ability to eat, access shelter, pay rent and receive medical care. I know for myself that raising payments to the poverty line would mean I could afford good healthy food and improve my mental and physical health so I could then work.
Poverty and disability has become my main barrier to employment. The government can’t cure my disability but they can cure my poverty and that of many others. More than 3.3 million people have been left behind by previous governments.
I will be voting for independents or parties that support this policy. It’s time we built a more equitable future for not only us but future generations.
• Melissa Fisher is an artist and anti-poverty activist who relies on jobseeker. She is 43 years old and based in Adelaide
Climate change is an intergenerational inequality issue
As a 20-year-old student, this election I am voting with the issue of climate change front of mind. This is not a standalone issue – it interplays with and compounds several other issues.
Climate change is a cost-of-living problem, with climate disaster and extreme weather events driving up prices of food, fuel, power and housing. By lowering supply across the board, extreme weather events driven by climate change will compound inflation and add to the strains on our hip pockets across the country.
Climate change is also an intergenerational inequality issue, because we know climate disasters will continue to increase in frequency and severity, leaving my generation and generations to come to bear the brunt in a way generations before us have never had to. Although there is widespread knowledge that climate change will disproportionately affect the young people of today and tomorrow, there is no legislation that specifically safeguards the health and wellbeing of these generations in the face of climate change.
I will be voting for any party that commits to legislating a “duty of care” to current and future generations in the face of climate change and addressing this intergenerational burden.
• Anjali Sharma was the lead litigant in Sharma v Environment Minister, the landmark court case against the then federal environment minister Sussan Ley. She is 20 years old and based in Canberra
Australia needs to make new friends
More funding for the arts and increased spending on public health is both sorely needed in Australia. But whoever our representatives will be after the election, they must address the Trumpian dystopia we’re witnessing and offer a clear vision for an independent Australia.
Appeasement will never work; better to make new friends fast. Can Anthony Albanese channel his inner Curtin and look to Europe, Asia and South America “free from any pangs as to our traditional links and kinship” with the US?
The ALP should build a coalition with the teals and the Greens and offer them some portfolios. Could the ALP find another Rex Connor to lead us into a green Nirvana, rather than selling gas to the lowest bidder? We’re a country rich in rare minerals, sunshine, wind and waves. We should begin acting like one.
And would it be OK to effectively tax Gina Rinehart and others like her? Don’t call it a mining tax this time. Brand it the “public education levy” and pass on all funds to your local community school.
• Steven Herrick is the author of 28 books for children and young adults. His most recent book is a YA novel, In Times of Bushfires and Billy Buttons. He is 66 years old and based in Brisbane
