Thrivable Voting

Picking who to vote for

THRIVE is not affiliated with any political party. We believe in democracy and respect your right to decide for yourself how to order your ballot box. 

What we will do is provide you with factual information. We have put together the policy platform of the top eleven political candidates for the 2022 Australian Federal Election. We have grouped these by policy area, and by party, for your convenience. 

The policies are given as stated by each party themselves. This may not be reflected in legislation voting practices. To view the track record of how your local representative votes, the website https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/ may be helpful.  Also, some of the listed policies are vague, with no indication of how they are to be achieved. For the purpose of this analysis, policies will be treated as though stated in good faith and evaluated according to their merit.

Why have we made this tool? Most election or political tools rely on asking voters how they feel about policy issues. The problem with this is that the framing of the question or the policy itself may lead to incorrect assumptions about the outcomes of the policy. 

This is why we’ve tried to, where there is sufficient data, evaluate impact and predict outcomes in our policy analysis.

Hopefully, this will provide Australian voters with the information they need to vote for the outcomes they want. 

 

Policy Analysis

Analysing the Issues

Not everyone cares about every single issue. That’s why we’ve taken the time to break the policies down into policy area. That helps voters compare party policies in the areas that they care most about. 

We’ve also included either our own analysis, or points to consider when making this comparison. This analysis is based on the THRIVE framework, using the best available science and data for each policy area.

THRIVE’s goal is to achieve thrivability. So what is thrivability? We view it as the next step, beyond sustainability. At its core, to be sustainable simply means able to continue. Thus, changes focused on achieving sustainability are literally the bare minimum change required to survive. THRIVE believes humanity can do more than that; we want people and nature to, well, thrive. Essentially, we think quality of life is important. 

The THRIVE Framework is a way to examine issues and evaluate solutions in relation to this goal of thrivability. We recognise that human happiness can sometimes compete with environmental well-being, which is why we use a 7-point scale to demonstrate a “thrivable” zone. This zone is the area between a social floor – the minimum required for people to live happy lives, and an environmental ceiling – the maximum damage we can do to the environment before it becomes unsustainable. 

We have included some questions we think it’s important to consider when reviewing these policies. We have some information about the impacts of these policies and have shared this as well. 

Where we have enough data, we have ranked the impacts of these policy positions according to how thrivable we believe they are. We will continue to update this information as we draw closer to the election. 

We are in a critical decade of action. This election cycle may well determine the future of Australia. We hope that with accurate information, Australians will make the best choice. 

Environmental Policies

Resources

Policies

Managing our natural resources is important. We must consider the effects on our environment and local ecosystems, and also how they may affect things on a global scale. We must consider economical impacts, asking questions such as: how much revenue does this resource bring, what jobs will be affected if we stop? We must also consider the social impacts – are there health risks posed by working in this industry, do people feel strongly about remaining in their industry, would this change if they were offered more options? None of these issues are black and white, which is why using a holistic model to examine them is so important. 

The LNP supports growth in the forestry industry. The Greens oppose it, wishing to stop land clearing and native forest logging. Part of their reasoning is that logging promotes wildfires.

The United Australia Party would like to explore nuclear activity using our local uranium, and establish downstream processing of minerals in South Australia. The Greens have a long-held stance against nuclear energy. They would also ban any construction of new coal oil or gas infrastructure. The Greens would further phase out the mining, burning, and export of thermal coal by 2030. The Animal Justice Party would prevent any fossil fuel consumption, and ban mining operations near the Great Barrier Reef. Katter’s Australia Party would focus on our resources being used for us before being exported, with a particular focus on Queensland Gas which is famously cheaper to buy overseas than locally. 

The Centre Alliance would like to see our natural resources (such as water and gas) that provide utility be owned by the public. Katter’s Australia Party would like to further develop irrigation and dams in North Queensland. Labor would more simply like to better manage Australia’s water. One Nation would also build more water dams to increase water security and control and store water.

Thrivable Analysis

Forestry

For each policy area, there are multiple considerations that need to be accounted for when assessing the impact. For example, here are some of the questions we considered in relation to the policies for the Forestry industry.

  • How would expanding our logging industry impact our natural environment/biodiversity?
  •  Does it raise the risk of wildfires?
  •  What kind of economic impact does this industry have?
  •  What would the loss of that industry mean for workers?

The LNP wants to focus on forestry as a resource while simultaneously tackling illegal logging. There is potential to build a strong economy via the forestry industry. 

The forestry industry creates more jobs and in turn incomes. 

However, by logging forests there are many environmental impacts. Trees are considered to be a renewable resource but they take a long time to regrow. Not to mention, there are many impacts when cutting down trees, including: loss of biodiversity, having carbon emitted back into the atmosphere, reduced water filtration (land degradation) and storage, and lastly, increased flooding.

Therefore, expanding the forest industry will have effects on the natural environment regardless if there are plans for rehabilitation. Having no plans to restore the forest is of course worse for the natural environment. 

The Greens will aim to stop land clearing and native forest logging. In order to ensure people in the forestry industry do not lose their jobs the Greens will create local forestry jobs via tree planting and restoration of damaged forests and habitats. By transitioning previous forestry jobs into forest restoration jobs any individual economic burden is mended. 

By creating more jobs to rehabilitate forests, trees would become a more expandable renewable resource. Although other environmental factors would still suffer such as loss of biodiversity and water filtration and storage. 

By tackling illegal logging or stopping native forest logging a small amount of environmental impacts will be reduced. 

As a note, the Animal Justice Party does advocate for abolishing the forestry industry. Thrive considers it infeasible to completely stop logging based on the amount forestry contributes to Australia’s GDP ($7.2B).

Mining

  • What impact do mining operations have on our natural environment?
  •  Is this different in vulnerable places like the GBR? 
  • Is this industry viable long-term? 
  • Can we mine different things?
  •  What about uranium? Gas?
    Should these resources be exported or be used for Australian needs?

In terms of environmental impact, mining leads to

  • Erosion
  • Sinkholes
  • Deforestation
  • Loss of biodiversity
  • Significant use of water resources
  • Dammed rivers and ponded waters
  • Wastewater disposal issues
  • Acid mine drainage and contamination of soil
  • Ground and surface water

All of these impacts can lead to health issues in local populations. 

However, the mining industry is a pillar of the Australian economy, contributing 100’s of billions of dollars to the economy. With so many jobs and industries reliant on mineral resources 

Overall, many experts consider mining to be unsustainable economically, socially as well as environmentally. It damages the natural world, creates many health issues, and perpetuates inequality in our economic systems. Therefore, it may not be viable long term.

Further research and data analysis could provide a more comprehensive analysis of this complicated question.

Water

  • Who is using Australia’s water supply?
  • What impacts does this have?
  • What are the consequences of the proposed dams?
  • Should water supply be publicly owned?

Australia uses 5 per cent of its renewable freshwater resources. Most of this water is used for agriculture. It is important to take a contextual approach when discussing water use within Australia, as available water varies greatly across regions. Drought-afflicted regions need reliable water sources, particularly as these areas also tend to rely economically on the agricultural industry. Hence the call for more dams from the rural-focused parties. 

So, what are the impacts of dams and water storage reservoirs? Are they a good solution to the problem of water insecurity?

The answer, here, is not really

Dams can provide renewable energy, mitigate flooding, and even create beautiful lakes. However, their ability to secure a reliable water supply is limited due to Australia’s climate. Essentially, unpredictable river flows and higher amounts of evaporation make Australian dams less effective than those in other parts of the world.

Dams also might not be as economically viable as previously believed.

Studies have actually shown that  “631 recently built hydropower dams were associated with reduced local economy, population, and greenness in areas within 50 km of the dam sites, particularly in the Global South.”

Other research states that dams are barely economically viable. The average cost overrun of dams is 56%. This can create a large economic burden on local communities.

On top of that, dams are quite damaging to the environment. They release greenhouse gases, destroy carbon sinks in wetlands and oceans, deprive ecosystems of nutrients, destroy habitats, increase sea levels, waste water, disrupt the regular water supply and displace poor communities. And of course, all of this worsens the effects of climate change. 


Overall, dams are not a good strategy for managing Australia’s water supply. 

Thrivability Score

We have quantified the predicted impact of these policies on a 7 point scale. Our thrivable range is 2-6 with 1 being below the social floor and 7 being above the environmental ceiling.

FORESTRY

LNP policy rating: 6.8

This policy falls outside of a thrivable range as there are no plans for restoration or rehabilitation. Although they do not plan to emit an excessive amount of damage – damage will still be done and forests will need to be restored. In this case the environmental damage is unsustainable. As such, it exceeds the environmental ceiling in terms of impact.

Greens policy rating: 3.5

Their policy is economically, socially, and environmentally sound. They address all potential issues regarding work (social), environmental impacts (restoration), as well as by being realistic and not banning all logging as there is much economic benefit that comes from the forestry industry. 

AJP policy rating: 1.8

While their policy is great for the environment, it would have significant negative economic and social impacts. As such, it falls outside the thrivable range.

WATER

Labor policy rating: 5.5

Labor’s plan to broaden the national water grid has a lot of potential. However, there is limited evidence to evaluate the effectiveness or sustainability of this plan.

Katter policy rating: 6

There is insufficient evidence demonstrating the benefits of Katter’s proposed dams when compared to the environmental and social harm. We have placed this policy at the outer limits of thrivability, within the thrivable zone solely on the basis that renewable energy sources are always better than the alternatives of non-renewable resources. 

One Nation policy rating: 6

One Nation also supports building dams, and so have received the same rating as Katter’s National Party. They also would ban the sale of water to foreign investors. It should be noted that what is sold is generally virtual water. That means that non-Australian investors purchase the right to use a certain quantity of Australia’s water supply, which gets used in Australia to grow crops or for industrial use. One Nation’s objections appear to be based more on the economic export, rather than any environmental concerns.

Preserving the Environment

Policies

Preserving the natural environment is essential for life, including human life, to flourish. However, this must be balanced against people’s quality of life. 

LNP, Labor, the Greens, Centre Alliance, the Animal Justice Party and the Rex Patrick Team all have statements expressing support for preserving Australia’s natural environment. Katter’s Australia Party is the only party to explicitly target Australia’s wildlife as pests to be removed to make way for human expansion. They wish to make waterways safe from crocodiles, and manage flying foxes. 

The two major parties, Labor and LNP, show soft support for protecting the environment. The LNP would fund protection for the great barrier reef and restore habitats for koalas. 

The Animal Justice Party has the most policies regarding environmental protection. They would establish a Commonwealth Environment Commission, improve protections for the Great Barrier Reef, legally recognise the Rights of Nature, invest in biodegradable products, and introduce habitat protection as a fundamental planning principle across Australia. 

The Greens would also like to strengthen Australia’s Environmental Protection Laws and stop the extinction crisis by 2030. They propose to save the Great Barrier Reef through grants, restore wildlife habitats by planting 2 billion trees, expand our marine protected areas and generally replenish and restore our natural environment. 

The Rex Patrick Team would like to protect the Murray-Darling river and stop drilling in the Great Australian Bight. 

Thrivability Score

LNP policy rating: 5.6

Labor policy rating: 5.5

Centre Alliance: 5.6

Rex Patrick policy rating: 5.5

All of the above parties have policies that are very vague but do state an intention to protect the natural environment. The lack of specific plans to enable this policy may create the impression that this is a greenwashing tactic and not a high priority. 

Greens policy rating: 3.5

The Greens plan to create and transform jobs from the older industries into environmental industries. This is both economically and environmentally feasible. 

Animal Justice Party policy rating: 2

The Animal Justice Party has an environmentally sound policy. Although it may be a little too idealistic. By protecting so many areas and creating harsh environmental laws, there is little room to access resources societies want to have readily available. This will also abolish many jobs and economies for industries that rely on resources. Without a plan to transform the economy along with the environment – the economy may collapse. 

Katter policy rating: 7

Katter’s policy has no interest in preserving the environment. Katter’s claims of the severity of issues such as crocodile attacks on humans have also been disproven. Crocodiles have an important role in maintaining balance within natural ecosystems. Focused culling of any species can have significant consequences on local biodiversity and food webs. These impacts create a domino effect which would eventually affect our own resources.

Generating Power

Policies

How we generate power is a hot issue in Australian politics. All major parties recognise the need for reliable energy to maintain our standards of living. The main argument, then, is whether to continue using fossil fuels such as coal and gas or whether to transition to renewable energy sources.

Pro Fossil Fuels – these are the parties which support expanding Australia’s use of fossil fuels, by building more coal-fired power plants and rejecting the renewable energy industry. They would also support investment in nuclear power.  

Pauline Hanson One Nation

Liberal Democrat Party

United Australia Party

 

Renewables eventually – these parties believe we need energy from fossil fuels in the medium term but support an eventual move to cleaner energy sources. 

Liberal National Party

Katter’s Australian Party

Labor

Rex Patrick Team

Renewables now – these parties believe we need to pivot hard towards renewable energy sources. 

Centre Alliance

Australian Greens

Animal Justice Party

Thrivable Analysis

We have spoken a lot about the importance of transitioning away from fossil fuels, as well as the urgency of the situation. The evidence is clear that fossil fuels are unsustainable, both environmentally and economically. Renewable energy is necessary to mitigate climate change damage. Renewable energy represents fantastic economic opportunities as the world moves away from fossil fuels. The only way to thrive is if we pivot hard towards producing and consuming renewable energy sources.

Here are some of the articles we have produced analysing these topics.

Fossil Fuels:

Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Wind Energy:

Advantages and Disadvantages of wind energy

Solar Energy:

Solar PV

Nuclear Energy:

Going nuclear

Public perception of nuclear power

Is nuclear energy safe?

Energy Storage:

New ways to store energy

Renewables around the world:

Iceland uses 100% renewable energy

Orkney Islands

Renewable energy in Spain

 

 

Emissions and Pollution

Policies

Carbon Emissions

Net Zero emissions by 2030 are the bare minimum we need to limit global warming to 1.5c. Australian political parties have a wide range of stances on this issue. 

The LNP believes we are already on a path to achieving Net Zero by 2050, and don’t believe any change in strategy is needed. 

Labor’s plan is to reduce Australia’s emissions by 43% by 2030, and maintain that trajectory to achieve net zero by 2050. 

The Rex Patrick Team also intends to commit to a net-zero by 2050 strategy. 

The Greens are more ambitious, aiming for a 75% reduction by 2030, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2035. Part of their plan revolves around phasing out petrol and diesel cars and legislating vehicle pollution standards. The Animal Justice Party aims to rapidly transform to a carbon-free energy infrastructure. 

Opposing these approaches are Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party and the United Australia Party. PHON believes that climate change is a hoax and rejects any evidence or advice from the UN IPCC. They would like to withdraw form the UN Paris Agreement.  UAP claims that net zero leads to zero jobs and zero future for Australians.

Other pollution

The greens and AJP would like to reduce plastic waste. The AJP supports banning plastics outright, while the Greens would phase out single-use plastic and support a global plastic treaty.

The AJP would like to stop all food and clothing waste from retailers. They would like to invest in enterprises which are reducing and reusing waste. 

The Greens supports a right-to-repair initiative to minimise e-waste. 

Katter’s Australian Party wants to increase biofuels and increase the ethanol mandate by 10 per cent by 2025.

Thrivability Score

LNP policy rating: 6.5

Australia is not doing enough to lower emissions. There is a need for change and there are many sources proving that. Australia needs an overall strategy for lowering emissions, as we are not currently meeting targets. In fact, the current government does not have a target which is worrisome. Relying on ineffective carbon capture techniques or technology that does not exist yet, is not a thrivable solution.

Labor policy rating: 5.9

Labor has an ambitious policy to lower emissions by 43% although their policy outline seems more intent on casting blame for the current situation than explaining how they will achieve this goal.  While the plans to invest more in renewable energy is admirable, in terms of emission reduction, Labor’s plan relies on ineffective carbon credits schemes. 

Rex Patrick policy rating: 5

The Rex Patrick Team is very firm on the need for a national plan for achieving net zero. As a minor party, they do not have specific policies on what this plan would entail, making it difficult to assess. Their score is less environmentally sound based on having a target of 2050 for achieving Net Zero, without emission targets for the intervening years. 

Greens policy rating: 3.5

The Greens have a well laid out specific plan to achieve Net Zero by 2035. By phasing out greenhouse gases and moving towards renewable energy, the government would transition the economy along with it. Investing in this newer industry would provide surety for job security and the national economy. 

Animal Justice Party policy rating: 2.1

The Animal Justice Party has environmentally friendly policies that include somewhat vague plans for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. AJP expresses some disdain for interim targets. In general, AJP oppose many proposed emissions reduction strategies, based on environmental impacts and uncertainties around longevity. They do not have their own proposed solutions, and their overall strategy suggests a low priority for social and economic impacts for people.

In terms of other pollution, AJP proposes reducing waste through repurposing and donations. There are social, economic as well as environmental benefits when recycling clothing and food. 

Pauline Hanson policy rating: 7 

Rejecting the reality of climate change and pulling out from the UN Paris Agreement will have adverse effects on the natural environment including extreme weather events, and destruction of resources and farmlands. This will negatively affect the economy and Australia’s well-being. Implementing these policies would lead to climate disaster.

Climate Change Impacts

Policies

Tackling climate change is an extremely important issue. We are in a critical decade to take climate action. This election cycle may determine our future – and decide whether Australia has one. 

The LNP have stated that they believe the climate crisis will be resolved through technology. It is important to note that this technology does not currently exist. LNP policies that impact climate change include funding growth in the mining sector, increasing gas supply, and better management for radioactive waste from nuclear medicine.

Labor intend to improve Australia’s disaster readiness through strategic investments and reducing our carbon emissions. 

The Greens would increase funding for emergency services and monitoring organisations such as the Bureau of Meteorology to better predict and respond to climate impacts. 

Katter’s Australian Party would like to reduce vegetation management laws. Currently, native vegetation is protected by law and cannot be cleared without a permit. This is to protect native species, but can impact bushfire management.

The Rex Patrick Team would like to see more climate action taken. They would improve bushfire preparations, and push for better environmental protections.

The Animal Justice Party has many policies related to climate action and awareness, particularly as they relate to biodiversity and habitat protection. They would like to see better labelling of products and education programs to raise awareness of environmental issues. In general they support any research, legislation and investment into initiatives that support animal wellbeing and preserve natural habitats. This extends to banning animal agriculture and fossil fuels entirely. Ideally, they would see half the Earth set aside for the wild, untouched by humans.

One Nation believes that climate change is a hoax. They would reverse all current action pertaining to climate change, including withdrawing from the UN Paris Agreement.

The Centre Alliance would focus on water management and farming. This includes:

  • Create incentives to invest in agriculture 
  • Fast-track storm water harvesting as opposed to desalination
  • Acknowledge states that were early adopters of water-efficiency schemes 
  • Address wasteful practices to ensure fair distribution of water across entire system

Thrivability Score

Tackling climate change is vital, and that includes managing the impacts. The cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of implementing climate change policies. 

Without change, we will see:

  • shifting weather patterns that threaten food production
  • rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding

Climate change affects our ability to survive, so we have social, economic, and environmental goals to tackle the problem holistically.

Pauline Hanson policy rating: 7

Pauline Hansen’s One Nation does not believe in Climate Change and would like to withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement. Neglecting to address climate change will result in serious consequences for Australia including increase in severe weather events

This would affect businesses, housing, food supply and the well-being of all Aussies. 

LNP policy rating: 6.6

The LNP plans to grow unsustainable industries such as mining and forestry. They do not have plans to reduce emissions and have shown themselves unwilling to support communities impacted by catastrophic events. The LNP’s policies will have short-term economic benefits, but in the long term the harm from these events, such as food and water insecurity, and damaged infrastructure will be devastating to Australians.

Labor policy rating: 6

The Labor party plans to reduce emissions through ineffective carbon offsetting schemes. They also continue to support unsustainable mining practices and Australia’s reliance on fossil fuels. That said, they do have plans to mitigate the impacts of climate change which puts them just in the thrivable zone.

Centre Alliance policy rating: 5.7

The Centre Alliance plan to allow easier access to taxpayer funded research towards renewable energy and climate change. This is useful in tackling and addressing climate change. They would also like to invest in agriculture. Our current agricultural practices do contribute to climate change and thus a shift to sustainable agriculture is necessary.

These are realistic steps in the right direction toward solving the climate crisis but unfortunately it is not enough. This policy is not very ambitious. 

Katter’s policy rating: 5.9

Similarly, Katter’s Australian Party would like to reduce vegetation management laws. If vegetation laws are reduced, farmer’s will be permitted to clear vegetation from their property without consideration for preserving native flora and fauna. This may help with mitigating the effects of climate change such as increased bushfires, but would also negatively impact biodiversity. There is also a risk that reduced regulation may result in increased unsustainable agricultural practices. 

More data is required to fully evaluate the impacts of this policy. For now it is on the edge of the thrivable zone due to the potential for harm.

Greens policy rating: 4

To address the climate crisis the Greens plan to remove gas, oil and coal money from politics. They intend to implement a carbon price to ensure polluters pay for their damage towards the environment. Carbon taxes allow for a more efficient economy.

Environmentally, by lowering carbon emissions via a “polluters pay” scheme – less greenhouse gases will be emitted into the atmosphere. 

The Greens would also like to increase funding in emergency services to ensure people’s safety during weather events. This has the potential to ensure people’s economic security as well as mental and physical health when catastrophic events occur. 

To further fund organisations that predict impacts and plan for catastrophic events is to invest in people’s safety and overall well-being. This potentially creates job opportunities therefore boosting the economy. 

The Greens policy is very sustainable. It may be a little idealistic as it requires a lot of funding and investments towards green energy. That being said, implementing strict carbon taxes may aid in funding.

Rural Australia

Policies

Rural Australia will likely bear the brunt of climate change impacts. These are the policies related specifically to rural australia, by party. 

One Nation:

  • Ban further sale of freehold farmland to foreign investors and limit the sale of leasehold farmland to foreign investors 
  • Apply a 25-year tenure to farmland
  • Reimplement Foreign Investment Review Board applications on all Agriculture Land from expiring Free Trade Agreements 
  • Support Australian farmers during the drought 
  • Reimplement Foreign Investment Review Board applications on all Agriculture Land from expiring Free Trade Agreements.
  • Support Australian farmers through drought and other natural weather events.

Centre Alliance

  • Increase investment in agriculture 
  • Increase food security 
  • Impose stricter regulations to protect farmers who want their crops to remain GMO free 
  • Encourage investing, tourism and immigration to regional Australia via incentives 
  • Encourage people to move to regional areas with low population 

United Australia Party

  •  Stimulate economic growth in rural areas by stimulating 20% tax concession incentive to people that live more than 200 kms from a capital city 

Animal Justice Party

  • Allow reforestation by reducing grazing 
  • Invest in the development of new animal-friendly clean technologies
  • To ask the NHMRC to report on the state and potential for cultured meat, dairy and egg products 
  • A cessation of all land clearing associated with animal agriculture 

Australian Greens

  • Work with farmers to increase carbon sequestration on land
  •  Restore Carbon Farming Futures grants
  • Create sustainable agriculture research centre to aid farmers seek alternatives towards green farming
  •  Support organic certification and ensure consumers are properly informed
  • Build local hemp, cannabis and seaweed farming industry. 

Katter’s Australian Party

  • Support Regional Queensland and Rural Australia 
  • Create incentives for new projects, allocated supplies and royalties to mining and agriculture 
  • Allow farmers to have access to category H firearms 
  • Create North Queensland as a separate state to unleash its full potential 
  • Decrease liquor licensing prices for pubs in rural areas 
  • Ensure regional councils given a greater share via the Local Government Financial Assistance Grants 
  • Reduce vegetation management laws. The primary foundation of a free democracy is property rights, and private ownership of property is the fundamental part of those rights. 
  • Fight for Australian Dairy Industry by introducing the Fair Milk Logo Scheme – a voluntary scheme where milk processors who bottle milk could put a ‘fair milk’ logo on bottles where they paid farmers a fair price for the milk.

Rex Patrick Team

  • Keep jobs in SA
  • Standing for Regional SA 
  • Reconsideration of the location of national radioactive waste management facility at Kimba and Hawker with properly considering and assessing the Indigenous cultural and heritage at the nominated sites.

Thrivable Analysis

Social Policies

Housing

Policies

Most parties seem to recognise that the housing situation in Australia is dire. The LNP, Labor, Greens, Animal Justice Party, and United Australia Party all have policies aimed to generally expand housing and home ownership. However, there is some variance in their approach to tackling this issue. 

The LNP wishes to strengthen the home guarantee scheme to make purchasing homes more affordable. They also wish to encourage people to move into rural areas. 

Labor would implement a “help to buy” scheme, cutting the cost of buying a home by up to 40%. 

The Greens have a more explicit plan that builds new, sustainable houses to increase supply, most of them specifically for public housing. They also want to end homelessness entirely, which the Animal Justice Party expresses support for. However, the Animal Justice Party would restrict any new housing developments that destroy the habitats of animals such as koalas. They would further want to change building standards to cater to both human and animal needs, such as integrated nesting/housing. 

The United Australia Party’s approach is to control the banks, restricting interest rates to 3%. This is similar to the Centre Alliance’s plan to reduce red-tape and taxes to stimulate cost-effective housing construction. Both the United Australia Party and the Centre Alliance wish to prevent foreign investors from entering the Australian housing market.

Thrivable Analysis

We can probably agree that everyone having somewhere to live is a social good. But we also recognise that there are finite resources in terms of land, building materials, builders, funds to pay for all of these. Does the Greens policy of 1million new houses cost more resources than we have? Is it an effective method of increasing home ownership? Is ownership the best goal? Where are these houses going to be built? Do we have space for them? Are houses the best solution for shelter, should we instead be building sustainable apartments?

What impact does lower interest rates or low deposits actually have on the housing market? What does this say about the proposed strategies? What impact will the recent rise in interest rates have? If house prices drop, what financial impact will this have on mortgage repayments? How much of our wealth is tied up in the housing market, and what kind of impacts will changing that balance have on the economy and people?

How much consideration should we give to animal habitats if we need to develop more land? Does this mean that further development of rural regions is not a thrivable option?

Can we afford to just give homes to homeless people?Is it a more cost effective solution?

Healthcare

Policies

Healthcare is an extremely broad concept, with policies that cover funding, medicare, dental, aged care, pandemic response, dietary health, sexual health, mental health, and substance abuse. 

The LNP, Greens, and Labor generally support increased funding for healthcare. In terms of public vs private health cover, the Greens would prevent any taxpayer funding for private healthcare. Instead, everything would be fully covered by medicare. Labor has a softer stance of strengthening medicare and NDIS to reduce health costs. The LNP wants to make medicare more accessible, but also wishes to support private health insurance to make it more affordable. The Centre Alliance goes a step further, wanting private health insurance to cover 30% of health care. They would even prefer a reduction in healthcare by focusing on quality over quantity. The Centre Alliance also wants the NDIS to be carefully evaluated. One Nation wishes to stop all funding to the NDIS, and restrict Medicare coverage.

The parties have different priorities for the kind of healthcare that should receive government funding. Some had strong feelings both for or against, while other parties did not mention specific priority areas. 

The LNP supports government funding for treating: Diabetes management, cancer, new medicines and vaccines, pandemic response, women’s health, indigenous health, rural health strategy, aged care in WA, mental health and suicide prevention, preventative health, medical research, .

Labor supports funding for: New urgent care clinics, increased newborn screening, Australian Centre for Disease Control, telehealth services, mental health care, indigenous health, kids with hearing loss, melanoma, supporting nurses, improving aged care, people with disability.

The Australian Greens support funding for: Vaccines, Free RATs, National Centre for Disease Control, COVAX for global equitable vaccine access, producing our own vaccines, stronger covid response, climate change health-impacts, better maternity care, birthing, tampons and pads at school, vaginal issues, Dental care, gender-affirming treatments, abortion access, mental health, drug use as health issue, legal and regulated cannabis, pill testing, alcohol and other drug treatment, safe injecting facilities, opioid substitution therapy. 

The United Australia Party is for: Genetic manipulation, alternative antiviral therapies for Covid-19.

Against: Vaccine passports/mandates

The Centre Alliance is for: Labelling GMO products, better gambling regulation, disrupting illicit drug businesses, better rehabilitation clinics, drug use as a health issue.

The Animal Justice Party is for: State funded healthcare, voluntary euthanasia, decriminalised abortion, vaccines, accessible and affordable contraception, mental health treatment for trauma related to animal rescue/care, banning meat/animal products due to health risks, better food labelling, promoting plant based diets, health warnings on meat products, 

They are against: Researching medicines that require animal testing for conditions related to lifestyle choices (such as diabetes), overprescription of antibiotics, subsidies to meat industries, processed meat in schools or hospitals, 

Katter’s Australia Party is for: organ donation, transitioning from tobacco products to vapes.

One Nation is for: Cheaper medical cannabis, federal police drug bus, stronger drug screening/prevention. 

Against: abortion, vaccine mandates, sex workers

Thrivable Analysis

Important points to cover:

  • Public vs private healthcare
  • Vaccine mandates and pandemic responses
  • Increasing medicare coverage vs restricting it

Education

Policies

The key arguments around education revolve around funding and curriculum.

 Funding includes the question of private vs public funding for schools, teacher salaries, and education costs for students. The LNP does not address these issues in their policy plan. 

Labor and the Greens would increase funding for public schools, with the Greens specifically decreasing the funding given to private schools. The Greens would also increase teacher’s pay. 

In terms of costs to students, Labor and the Greens would offer free TAFE. The Greens and the United Australia Party would also offer free university, and wipe out HECS debts. 

Many parties have different proposals on what to teach students in the national curriculum. The Liberal Democratic Party would go so far as to not have a national curriculum or standardised testing at all. The Greens would like more arts education. The Animal Justice Party would like schools to teach children ethics, with an emphasis on environmental issues and promoting animal rights. They also support age appropriate sex-ed. In contrast, One Nation wants to restrict education to the basic principles of literacy and numeracy.

Research

The decision of which research initiatives to fund is largely determined by the government. Naturally, each party has different ideas on which topics should receive this funding. 

The Greens would research waste avoidance and reduction, and preventative programs to tackle gender equality.

 The Centre Alliance would invest more in researching renewable energy and climate change. They would research the long-term health and environmental impacts of GMO’s. They would also regularly update gambling research, and increase research funding in general to be on par with other countries. 

The Animal Justice Party would fund research on potential symbiotic relationships between humans and animals to improve society. 

Thrivable Analysis

Important points to cover:

  • Giving government funding to public vs private schools
  • Free education
  • Changes to national curriculum

Inequality

Policies

Inequality is a broad concept that impacts many Australians. We’ve broken down this section into several policy areas that address issues relating to inequality. 

Discrimination

Labor wants to protect all Australians from discrimination.

The Greens want equality and justice for all and to eliminate racism. To achieve this they want anti-racism training for all federal MP’s. They would also provide grants to community organisations to tackle structural racism and fund national anti-racism campaigns. The Greens want to make hate speech illegal, establish a federal multicultural commission and allow dual citizens to run for federal office. 

The Animal Justice Party would promote a kind and culturally-diverse human community through tolerance, social connectivity and inclusion, and especially welcoming those in need.

Animal Rights

The Greens want to end animal cruelty, ban the live export of livestock, end factory farming, end gambling industries promoting horse and greyhound races, ban the import/export of shark fins, and establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare.

The Centre Alliance wishes to ensure animals are treated according to Australian animal welfare standards while also processing and exporting chilled meat.

Katter’s Australian Party wants to keep waterways safe from crocodiles and manage flying fox populations. 

Unsurprisingly, the Animal Justice Party has the most policies relating to animal rights. They would:

  • Strengthen legislation relating to animal cruelty and ensure consistent and adequate sentencing and rehabilitation for perpetrators of violence 
  • Oppose the use of guns for the lethal control of animals 
  • Prohibit recreational shooting and hunting in National Parks and State Reserves 
  • Advocacy of a plant-based diet completely free of animal products
  • Continually raise awareness of animal interests in Parliament 
  • Ensure that consideration is given to animals in the drafting of all legislation 
  • Work towards a definition of personhood to replace the current property status of animals 
  • Challenge the cultural, economic and legal conceptions of nature and animals as property to be owned by humans and educate the public to live within our ecological limits
  • Amend state-based animal welfare legislation to include an enforceable duty of care towards animals on a landholder’s property during all land use changes

Older Australians

Labor wants to treat older Australians with more respect.

The Centre Alliance and the Greens would improve aged care.

The Centre Alliance would furthermore encourage and deliver affordable, comfortable, well-maintained retirement and aged care accommodations. 

Women/Families

  • Support Australian Women (Labor, Australian Greens, Centre Alliance, AJP) 
  • Help to end family, domestic and sexual violence (Greens, Labor, Centre Alliance)
  • To establish a Federal Government inquiry into the connection between slaughterhouse work and family and social violence (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Fairer Australian Family Law System This will financially support the children and not the ex-partner.(One Nation) 
  • Increase the coverage of domestic and family violence refuges, especially those that also shelter dependent children and animals, and provide secure funding (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Create a single national register for convicted perpetrators of domestic and family violence and animal cruelty to forewarn potential victims and convey societal values of non-violence (Animal Justice Party)
  • Reform the family law system to consider the animal’s wellbeing during divorce proceedings and make it easier for victims to amend animal registration and microchipping details without alerting the perpetrator as to their whereabouts (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Introduce compulsory reporting mechanisms for veterinarians who reasonably suspect animal abuse or domestic and family violence to be occurring (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Facilitate information sharing, collaboration and cross-training between police, other government departments, veterinarians and the Independent Animal Protection Agency to stamp out all forms of violence (Animal Justice Party)
  • Require public agencies to address the gender pay gap. (Greens)
  • fund organizations that fight to end violence against women and children and provide services to vulnerable women; (Greens)
  • 10 days paid domestic violence leave.(Greens)
  • Abolish inappropriate behaviour in parliament; Mandate that all MPs undertake regular harassment training. (Greens)
  •  Fund organisations that promote healthy relationships in schools; (Greens)
  •       Give AHRC powers to investigate systemic discrimination and harassment;(Greens)
  •  Fund Working Women’s Centres in all States and Territories.(Greens)
  •           Close Gender Pay Gap(Greens)
  •           Paid Parental Leave(Greens)
  •           Free childhood Education and Childcare(Greens)
  • Supports the rights of parents, grandparents (when parents’ relationship sour) and children. (PHON)

 

Socio-economic Issues

  • Implement $100/week pension via the WorkBonus Scheme (One Nation) 
  • Freedom from COVID alarmism (Liberal Democratic Party)
  • Tackle inequalities to reduce poverty rates. (Greens)
  • Helping the Robodebt victims. (RPT)
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First Nations

    • Treaty and Justice for First Nations people (Australian Greens) 
    •  Create a unified national identity that celebrates and protects First Nations people and culture. (Greens)
    • Create a commission that investigates and reveals historic and ongoing human rights abuses, wrongdoing, and provide recommendations on how to heal the wrongdoing; develop a treaty or treaties to lay the foundations of what Australia will be along with raising awareness (Greens)
    • Implement community led First Nations services to increase their ability to care for their own communities; build First Nations owned healing places and ensure early access to preventative programs; expand gold card access to First Nations elders over 60; grow First Nations health and wellbeing workforce. (Greens)
    • Compensation for Stolen Generations Survivors: Provide each survivor with a $200,000 payment to help support them and their families as they age and continue to heal; provide families with $7000 for funeral expenses; provide services to support emotional and mental health needs of survivors and their families. (Greens)
    • Care for Country: Strong laws to protect First Nations cultural heritage, knowledge and intellectual property; expand the First Nations ranger program and Indigenous Protected Areas to heal; return land to First Nations management and provide sustainable jobs. (Greens)
    •           Fixing our Justice System: Raise legal age of responsibility to minimum 14 years; double the funding for legal assistance services; establish a First Nations legal defence fund so communities can access independent legal advice to protect heritage; establish police ombudsman as well as police and prison oversight to investigate police complaints. (Greens)
    • Empower Indigenous Australians (Centre Alliance) 
    • Centre Alliance believes to be the first Australians and acknowledge and respect their ongoing relationship with the land.(Centre Alliance) 
    • Consult Aboriginal people when developing Indigenous Affairs policy. This is in efforts to meet their needs.(Centre Alliance) 
    • Provide funding to “close the gap” between Aboriginals and non-indigenous Australians.(Centre Alliance) 
    • Provide funding to protect Indigenous and non-indigenous land.(Centre Alliance) 
  •  Working in genuine partnership for better outcomes (Labor)
  • Support First people of Australia by allowing better title rights for land and an alcohol management plan (Katter’s Australia Party) 
  • Increase funding to Indigenous ranger programs (Greens)
  • Strengthen early learning for First Nations children through support for First Nations community-controlled services; (Greens)

Youth

  • Provide a voice for younger Australians (Labor)
  • Prevent cyberbullying in schools (Centre Alliance)

Corruption

Policies

  • Restore Australian people’s trust in the government (Labor) 
  • Ending corruption through scrutiny (JLN)
  • Clear and open communication of policies. (JLN)
  • Politics should be transparent, particularly in funding.(JLN)
  • Change competition laws to allow for the break-up of companies that abuse their market power in their dealings with farmers (Centre Alliance)
  • Take on Murdoch media and strengthen media diversity; (Greens)
  • Stop spread of misinformation and hate by strengthening powers of The Australian Communications and Media Authority;(Greens)
  •  Protect rights of journalists.(Greens)
  • Getting coal and gas money out of politics (Greens)
  • Establish anti-corruption commission and whistleblower legislations that protects informants (Centre Alliance, Greens)
  • End corruption of grants being co-opted by politicians. (Greens)
  • Establishing an anti-corruption body for the Federal Government called “Federal Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC)”.
  • Strengthening Australia’s Freedom of Information (FOI) system to ensure transparency and accountability. (RPT)
  • Disclosure of the political donations in a political party regardless of the amount of donations.(RPT)
  • Making background checks for incoming ministers mandatory to combat foreign espionage and political interference.(RPT)
  • Full Parliamentary oversight over intelligence operations.(RPT)

Public Sector

  • Protect ABC and SBS (Labor) 
  • Re-building an effective public sector (Labor)
  • Restore number of public service jobs; (Greens)
  •  Lift public wages by 4%; (Greens)
  •  Limit outsourcing to labour hire firms; (Greens)
  •  Allow public servants to run in election and participate in public debates; (Greens)
  •  Move away from private sectors and towards public sectors. (Greens)
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Citizen Power

  • Politics for people (Australian Greens, JLN) 
  • Make parliament referenda citizen-initiated (One Nation) 
  • Available politicians and representatives. (JLN)
  • Supporting citizen access to and participation in political decisions (JLN)
  • Allow citizens timely access to government information and the ability to criticise the government and demand change (Centre Alliance) 
  • Enhance Freedom of Information laws (Centre Alliance) 
  • Increase citizen participation in environmental decisions (Animal Justice Party)
  • Fight for the people of SA (Rex Patrick Team) 
  • Make recall elections available (Liberal Democratic Party) 
  • Free speech (Liberal Democratic Party, UAP) 
  • Reinstate Section 92 of the Australian Constitution that provides “absolutely free” movement. This will end lockdowns to save businesses, save mental and physical health (UAP)
  • Emphasis on: Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom of association (UAP)
  • Supports responsible gun ownership. (PHON)
  • Reduce vegetation management laws. The primary foundation of a free democracy is property rights, and private ownership of property is the fundamental part of those rights.(Katter)
  • Allow farmers to have access to category H firearms. (Katter)
  • Introduce a real time licensing system to save resources and crack down on illegal weapons. (Katter)
  • Make recall elections available (LDP)
  • Enable a citizens’ veto of any legislation(LDP)
  • Make voting voluntary(LDP)
  • A free speech constitutional amendment:  “Parliament shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (LDP)
  • Abolish Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, and all similar legislation(LDP)
  • Stop internet censorship(LDP)
  • Encourage a free and open internet.(LDP)
  • No digital identity laws(LDP)
  • Abolish mass surveillance laws(LDP)
  • Stop government hacking and seizure(LDP)
  • Devolution of surveillance laws to states and territories(LDP)
  • Stop the collection of metadata(LDP)
  • Require warrants for targeted surveillance of individual Australians(LDP)
  • No cash bans(LDP)
  • Stop attacks on encryption(LDP)
  • Focus government on improving its own cyber security(LDP)
  • Free Julian Assange(LDP)
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Government Power/Laws

  • End lockdowns (United Australia Party, LDP)
  • Immediate end of all government enforced COVID restrictions (LDP)
  • Abolish the National Cabinet (United Australia Party) 
  • Respect the Australian Constitution and Rule of Law (United Australia Party) 
  • Run public education campaigns highlighting the social and environmental harm caused by gun use (Animal Justice Party)
  • Fair and efficient delivery of government services (Centre Alliance)
  • Open and accessible policies (  Jacqui Lambie Network ) 
  • Policies that always benefit citizens (Jacqui Lambie Network) 
  • Greater accountability (Jacqui Lambie Network, Rex Patrick Team) 
  • Freedom from Surveillance ( Liberal Democratic Party) 
  •  Abolish the National Cabinet as it is unconstitutional and has no legal basis. (UAP)
  •  Implement laws to prevent foreign interference regarding censorship and Australian political debate on social media platforms

National Security

Policies

In terms of military defence, the LNP wants to expand the defence workforce by 30%,with  bigger investment in cyber defence and offence. Labor supports aerial surveillance, economic self-reliance, and a stronger defence force with better cybersecurity. The centre alliance also would strengthen defence. The United Australia Party Would like to separate the defence budget from political whims. They want to purchase submarines from the US.

Regarding internal security for crime, gun control and domestic terrorists, only independents had clear policies.  

One Nation supports responsible gun ownership. This means tougher sentences for gun crimes, and stricter border security to screen for guns and drugs.

The Centre Alliance wants to reduce crime. Their strategy for preventing domestic terrorism is to fund counter radicalisation strategies, imprison extremists trying to groom people, and locking terrorists in Australia rather than deportation.

The Animal Justice Party would maintain or create further restrictions on current gun laws and firearm import restriction (Animal Justice Party)

Katter’s Australia Party would introduce a real time licensing system to crack down on illegal weapons.

  Prisoners 

  • Create an opportunity for offenders to move to a remote, approved property to work and become society members (Katter’s Australia Party) 
  •  Build a more secure, resilient Australia (Labor)
  • Create more peace (Australian Greens) 
  • Reduce refugee intake (One Nation) 
  • Develop foreign aid budget that represent 0.7% of Gross National Income to continue the attainment of UNs SDGs (Centre Alliance)
  • Continue to have Australia attain international standards as a developed country (Centre Alliance) 
  • Taking action against the genocide happening to Uyghur peoples in re-education camps in China.  (RPT)
  • Fighting to ban goods produced by Uyghur forced labour.(RPT)
  • Standing with the Uyghur community in Australia.(RPT)

Immigrants/Refugees

  • Introduce a zero-net immigration policy (One Nation) 
  • Treat genuine asylum seekers with compassion and dignity (Centre Alliance) 
  • Develop assessment and depending on outcomes, individuals must return to their country of origin if safe or settle in another country with cooperation from UNHCR (Centre Alliance);
  •  protect whistleblowers in this area (Centre Alliance) 
  • Bring refugees to safety in Australia; (Greens)
  •  Increase Australia’s humanitarian intake; (Greens)
  • Abolish Temporary Protection Visas for refugees and introduce Permanent Protection Visas so they can rebuild their lives.(Greens)
  • Reduce refugee intake for 5 years and redirect funding to Australian services.(PHON)
  • Withdraw Australia from the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. The principle of this convention is customary to international law where no refugee should return to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedoms.(PHON)

Economical Policies

Jobs

Policies

  •  create 1.3 million jobs over the next five years,(LNP) 
  • Create jobs (Labor)
  •  backing Australian apprentices, (LNP) 
  • skilling Australians,(LNP) 
  •  supporting women into work including in non-traditional trades, (LNP) 
  • employment programs, (LNP) 
  • regional skills,(LNP) 
  •  skilled migrants. (LNP) 
  • More secure and well-paid jobs for Australians (LNP, Labor, Australian Greens) 
  • Better working rights (Australian Greens) 
  • Expand National Apprenticeship Scheme (One Nation) 
  • Support Unions (Centre Alliance)
  • To provide assistance to enable animal farmers and slaughterhouse workers to transition to plant based industries (Animal Justice Party)  
  • Implement a Jobs Guarantee and Universal Basic Income programs to create secure, ethical and meaningful employment and reduce poverty (Animal Justice Party)
  • Respect the role of unions in reducing the exploitation of workers and improving work conditions (Animal Justice Party)
  • Offer support to people and businesses that want to transition away from exploiting animals and the environment (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Offer educational opportunities for workers currently employed by animal industries through subsidised programs where necessary and traineeships (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Promote growth in sustainable animal friendly industries across the board such as eco-tourism, plant-based food products and technologies, and upcycled and recycled design (Animal Justice Party) 
  • To ensure that workers compensation schemes cater for the unique physical and psychological risks faced by slaughterhouse workers (Animal Justice Party)
  • To conduct regular psychological examinations of workers for signs of stress and psychological harm that could raise the risk of family or social violence (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Review employment and workplace relations system on a regular basis(Centre Alliance) 
  • Create government policies to facilitate job creating energy industries (Centre Alliance) 
  • Continue to allow Fair Work Commission to determine pay and conditions (Centre Alliance) 
  •  Tackling job insecurity and low wages (Labor)
  •  Rebuilding our proud manufacturing industry (Labor)
  •  Prevent loss of employment to mining workers by creating sustainable industries; (Greens)
  • Aid communities and workers to find industries that provide meaningful, sustainable work as the economy shifts; (Australian Greens) 
  • Create sustainable jobs, reskilling workers into similar industries; (Australian Greens) 
  • Creating local forestry jobs via tree planting and restoration of damaged forests and habitats; (Greens)
  • Reduce government debt and deficit ( Liberal Democratic Party) 
  • Make superannuation voluntary (Liberal Democratic Party) 
  • Create direct and indirect jobs in construction and the broader economy. (Greens)
  • Plan to rewrite labour laws to give working people more power, outlaw insecure work and increase wages.(Australian Greens)
  •  End the insecure work crisis;(Australian Greens)
  •  Give casual and contract workers access to protections and entitlements to protect rights of all workers(Australian Greens)
  • Ensure labour laws reduce inequalities in society;(Australian Greens)
  •  Ensure workers are treated equally; (Australian Greens)
  • Give workers more bargaining power to increase wages and improve conditions; (Australian Greens)
  • Stop migration laws and free trade deals that undercut local labour laws;(Australian Greens)
  •  End government attacks on working people and unions.(Australian Greens)
  • Increase minimum wage to 60% of median wage so no one is below the poverty line.(Australian Greens)
  •  Boost paid parental leave; (Australian Greens)
  • Increase women’s workforce participation through free childcare and flexible work arrangements;(Australian Greens)
  •  close gender pay gap by increasing wages; (Australian Greens)
  • Implement public work sector workforce strategies to boost employment of women, First Nations and CALD people, and people with disabilities;(Australian Greens)
  •  Support women led businesses through low interest loans.(Australian Greens)
  • Support recovery of art industry from the pandemic; (Greens)
  • Increase national apprenticeship schemes to increase tradesmen and women. This provides 75% wage subsidy in year 1, 50% in year 2, and 25% in year 3. (PHON)
  • Preventing the shift of 700 SA Collins Class submarine full cycle docking (deep level maintenance) jobs to WA. (RPT)
  • Putting $25 million of seed funding towards the Cape Hardy Port project on the Eyre Peninsula.(RPT)
  • Restoring the Whyalla wheel industry. (RPT)
  • Taking action on the advanced automotive industry, on energy transition, critical infrastructure and fuel security (RPT)

Thrivable Analysis

The 1.3 million jobs generation is the coalition’s already-announced policy agenda. Tens of billions dedicated towards skills and training, manufacturing, the digital economy and infrastructure, as well as the stage three tax cuts. The 1.3 million jobs is an average of 260,000 a year whereas the budget, based on known policies, forecasts annual jobs growth of about 205,000 a year. Working-age households receiving welfare payments – primarily JobSeeker – are under much more financial stress than those receiving other welfare payments. Increasing incomes at the very bottom of the distribution would probably improve economic outcomes by helping recipients to look for a job.  Even with a further $75 increase, JobSeeker would still be only about half (51.4 per cent) of the full-time minimum wage, meaning that an unemployed person would still have a substantial financial incentive to move into full-time work.

Taxes

Policies

  • Lower taxes for working class families (Labor) 
  • Maintain opposition to the reintroduction of death duties and pursue a tax regime that ensures multinational businesses pay their fair share of tax  (One Nation) 
  • Oppose GST increase (One Nation) 
  • To bring back trillions of dollars for Australian Super (United Australia Party) 
  • Implement a fossil fuel tax on agriculture industries (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Change taxation to be fairer and more efficient, and to reflect the costs to society and address ‘negative externalities’. For example, end subsidies to products derived from animal exploitation and/or environmentally destructive practices (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Impose a deterrent tax on processed meat (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Re-calibrate tax-breaks for superannuation so the greatest benefit is directed at those with the least savings while a reduced benefit is enjoyed by those with high savings (Centre Alliance) 
  • Indefinitely freeze the escalation of transitional tariffs ( Katter’s Australia Party) 
  • Lower taxes (Rex Patrick Team) 
  • Some of the possible tax reforms put forward are: broadening the GST base and/or increasing the rate, investigating wholesale changes to Australia’s corporate income tax system,  reforming income taxes by packaging headline tax cuts with a redesign of tax concessions that are not meeting their economic aims – the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, negative gearing, and super tax concessions, winding back the Seniors and Pensioners Tax Offset so that it is available only to pensioners, and so that those who do not qualify for a full Age Pension pay some income tax, no longer subsidising inheritances, scaling back unsustainable superannuation tax breaks that are inconsistent with the stated purposes of superannuation and supporting state governments to replace stamp duties with broad-based land taxes. 
  • A $40,000 tax-free threshold and a flat-rate 20% income tax for individuals and businesses above $40,000. (LDP)
  • Make superannuation voluntary(LDP)
  • No more increases to default superannuation rates(LDP)
  • Simplify the superannuation industry(LDP)

Cost of Living

Policies

  • Improve quality of living in Western Australia (LNP) 
  • Affordable energy (One Nation) 
  • Affordable quality of living (One Nation)
  • Set a term of 3 years for unemployment benefits (One Nation) 
  •  Abolish poverty by introducing liveable income guarantee (Greens)
  • Cut power bills (Labor)
  • Cheaper child care (Labor)
  • Ensure that public transport is affordable, reliable, accessible and safe for all people and companion animals (Animal Justice Party) 
  • To oppose “planned obsolescence” and barriers to repairing or upgrading consumer goods. (Animal Justice Party)
  • Provide financial support to households to move away from gas and move towards electric alternatives (greens)
  • Provide financial support for households to install batteries to maximise renewable energy (Australian Greens) 
  • Create a non-profit retailer to lower power bills and increase green energy. (Australian Greens) 
  • Help car owners buy their first EV by reducing cost by$15,000 and provide cheap financing; (Greens)
  •  Lower pension age and increase rate of pension (Greens)
  • Implement $100/week via the Work Bonus scheme that allow pensioners to earn up to $13000 a year without reducing pension.(PHON)
  • Must live and work in Australia for 15 years before accessing pension entitlements.(PHON)
  • Oppose increase of age entitlement to 70 years of age.(PHON, Centre Alliance, Greens)
  •  Lower pension age and increase rate of pension (Greens)
  • Raise income support payments to $88/day (Greens)
  •  increase the ethanol mandate by 10 per cent by 2025. (Katter)
  • Cap utility costs at CPI (Centre Alliance) 

Thrivable Analysis

  • Australian dwelling prices have grown much faster than incomes, particularly since the mid-1990s. Prices have risen rapidly in all cities, and most regions. Median prices have increased from about four times median incomes in the 1980s and early-1990s to more than eight times today. Of course, not all Australians own their own homes – nearly one in three households rent privately. More than half of low-income Australians in the private rental market suffer rental stress, especially those in the capital cities.
  • There are now two challenges facing natural gas. Firstly, the sector must reduce emissions to help meet our commitment to reach net zero by 2050. Secondly, the good old days of low-priced east coast gas are gone, making gas an increasingly expensive energy source.
  • Meeting rising electricity demand requires new transmission and distribution networks as well as new generation. While the transmission and distribution networks are currently owned by a mix of government and private companies, decisions on investment and revenue are made largely through regulated processes. The timing of transmission build really matters for investment in new generation to replace existing coal, and for keeping electricity prices low. But getting this right requires a good deal of coordination.
  • The next federal government should embrace opportunities to support major economic reforms by the states, especially in swapping stamp duty for a broad-based property tax and relaxing Australia’s overly stringent land-use planning rules. The principle of federal financial support for state-level reform is well-established. Under the National Competition Policy, the federal government paid the states nearly $6 billion over 10 years in exchange for much-needed regulatory and competition reform. The Productivity Commission later concluded that the program boosted Australians’ incomes by 2.5 per cent. A new national reform agenda, working with the states, could provide a similar boost to Australians’ living standards today.

Infrastructure

Policies

 Build publicly owned EV fast charging networks (Greens)

 Increase funding into rail, bus services, cycling and pedestrian roads; (Greens)

 Make public transport green with new electric buses; (Greens)

Build high speed rail from Brisbane to Melbourne; (Greens)

Reduce air pollution by investing in getting freight onto rail and cleaning up truck fleets.(Greens)

Encourage Townsville Mt Isa rail to be usage (Katter’s Australia Party)

Upgrade key roads to increase cattle industry value (Katter’s Australia Party)

Incorporate cattle yards and rodeo grounds across the Cape and Gulf regions (Katter’s Australia Party)

Seal the Hann highway to create a more direct and efficient route (Katter’s Australia Party)

Encourage Australia to own the Galilee Rail Line (Katter’s Australia Party) 

Build compostable processing schemes; (Greens)

Build new low-emission coal-fired power stations to guarantee low-cost, reliable, dispatchable power. (PHON)

Invest in infrastructure and programs to reboot recycling (Greens)

  • Cut 10% to all federal departments (besides Defence) (LDP)
  • Cut a further 1% per year to all federal departments (besides Defence) until the Commonwealth debt is paid(LDP)
  • Abolish duplicate departments(LDP)
  • Defund the ABC & SBS(LDP)
  • Abolish all nanny state advertising(LDP)
  • Abolish subsidies for renewable energy(LDP)
  • Remove the tax/welfare churn(LDP)
  • Reduce politicians pay by 10%(LDP)
  • Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties(LDP)
  • Reduce animal deaths and injuries on roads by modifying vehicles and existing roads, including wildlife infrastructure (Animal Justice Party)
  • Fix NBN by Boosting fibre and fast-tracking NBN repair  (Labor) 
  • Ensure community is at the centre of project planning; (Greens)
  • Building the necessary infrastructure, encouraging businesses to be part of the global EV supply chain, and ensure Australia is not just a consumer but also a producer. (RPT)
  • The development of local and micro grids, with localised generation, storage and distribution systems.(RPT)

Business

Policies

  • Support small businesses (Labor, Liberal Democratic Party) 
  • Support Australian businesses to create a flow-on effect (Centre Alliance) 
  • Rebuild the public sector (Labor) 
  • More public ownership (Australian Greens) 
  • Encourage Australians to develop their own niche and/or nurture their enterprises (Centre Alliance)
  • Create tax breaks for small businesses during the first 2 years of operation. This includes payroll tax exemption for up to 15 full-time employees (Centre Alliance) 
  • Report on insolvency in the construction industry via the Senate Economics Committee’s recommendations (Centre Alliance) 
  • Create national legislation to secure payment regimes and rapid adjudication processes (Centre Alliance) 
  • a world-leading supplier of minerals and energy,(LNP)
  •  growing our critical mineral sector,(LNP)
  •  investing in our mining regions and communities,(LNP)
  •  ensuring affordable and reliable gas supply,(LNP)
  •  frontier skills,(LNP)
  •  research and technology for the future, (LNP)
  • exploring for future prosperity, (LNP)
  • streamlining regulation to get the project moving,(LNP)
  • Provide financial support to small businesses to move away from gas and move towards electric alternatives (Greens)
  • Provide grants to help new employers start anew. (Australian Greens) 
  • : Make fossil fuel companies pay for previous damage done to the environment and communities, reinvest this money into adaptable infrastructure for future climate change prevention; (Greens)
  •  Rebuild manufacturing industry using green energy (Greens)
  • Support new green export industries and bring back jobs that have gone overseas;(Australian Greens) 
  •  Transition to 100% renewables and create jobs, industries and innovation throughout the process; (Australian Greens) 
  • Create Manufacturing Australia Fund to aid manufacturers recover from the pandemic, and move away from coal and gas; (Australian Greens) 
  • Ensure Australia becomes a renewable superpower by investing in new export industries in green hydrogen and mineral processing;(Australian Greens) 
  • Introduce the Fair Milk Logo Scheme (Katter’s Australian Party) 
  • Level the playing field so rideshare operators comply with safe safety standards and service levels that exist for taxis( Katter’s Australian Party) 
  • Support SA’s Manufacturing Industry (Rex Patrick Team) 
  • Support South Australian Made Products (Rex Patrick Team) 
  •  Set up downstream processing in South Australia and Victoria (not resource rich) to lead enormous revenue injections and better hospitals and schools (UAP)
  • Reducing the number of regulations for businesses(LDP)
  • Remove retail trading hour restrictions(LDP)
  • Freeze and decentralise the minimum wage(LDP)
  • Relax occupational licensing and certification(LDP)
  • Cut Green Tape: The Renewable Energy Target should be abolished, and all associated regulations scrapped. (LDP)
  • Constrain the excess of government agencies(LDP)
  • Make it easier to start a business(LDP)
  • Reform employment law(LDP)
  • Removal of the implicit government guarantee of financial institutions.(LDP)
  • Classifying cryptocurrency as a currency(LDP)

Thrivable Analysis

  • The next federal government should explore wholesale reform of Australia’s corporate tax system, such as a destination-based cash flow tax or an allowance for corporate equity. The government should consider charging more for the use of non-renewable resources such as coal and iron ore, as recommended by the Henry Tax Review. A well-designed rent tax would significantly improve the budget position while maintaining the economic benefits of any company tax cut.
  • The key to ensuring Australia captures the opportunities presented by green steel is building local skills and capability in low-emissions steelmaking in the next decade.
  • The incoming federal government should make funding available for a steel ‘flagship’ project to build these skills and capabilities. This could involve gas instead of hydrogen in the interim, providing a lower-cost and commercially proven path to green steel. Western Australia, with its low-cost gas, could play an important role. And moving towards lower-emissions steel could help sustain existing steel-making jobs in Port Kembla in NSW or Whyalla in South Australia.

International Trade

Policies

  • Abolish Free Trade Agreements and reimplement import tariffs on select countries (One Nation) 
  • Reform Australia’s Foreign Investment Rules (One Nation) 
  • Stop sale of homes to non-citizens and non-residents (One Nation) 
  • Strengthen foreign aid (Centre Alliance) 
  • Enhance foreign investment (Centre Alliance) 
  • Implement a licensing scheme for the export of iron ore ( United Australia Party) 
  • To review all international treaties to determine any agreements which adversely affect animals (Animal Justice Party)
  • To prohibit the import and export of animal trophies (Animal Justice Party)
  • To strengthen policing of illegal wildlife trade bans (Animal Justice Party) 
  • Adapt New Zealand’s foreign investment laws – lowers threshold for foreign investment approval and sets clear definition of national interest (Centre Alliance)
  • Promote transparency via a foreign investment register (Centre Alliance) 
  • To stop foreign investment in the Australian housing market (Centre Alliance) 
  • Create a new visa to encourage investors to settle in areas of low population and economic growth (Centre Alliance) 
  •  Prevent foreign interference regarding censorship and Australian political debate on social media platforms (United Australia Party) 
  • Introduce a zero-net immigration policy, only high-skilled migrants (One Nation) 
  • Increase overseas aid, especially including programs for the education of women and girls (Animal Justice Party)
  •  Ensure the government is buying local, clean, and green products.(Australian Greens) 
  •  Stop giving public money to corporate weapons makers and build cooperative relationships with our friends and neighbours. (Australian Greens) 
  • No More Weapon Exporting (Australian Greens) 
  •  Introduce 15% export licence on the export of Australian iron ore. The licence can aid in repaying national debt (UAP)
  • Legislate full disclosure of water ownership and ban sale of water to foreign investors. (PHON)
  • Reduce refugee intake for 5 years and redirect funding to Australian services. (PHON)
  • Withdraw Australia from the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. The principle of this convention is customary to international law where no refugee should return to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedoms[2].(PHON)
  • The abundance of Australia’s resources should be for Australia only – not global competitors.(PHON)
  • The Australian Constitution is to trump United Nations forums and 193 member states. Furthermore, One Nation does not support the World Economic Forum’s ‘Great Reset’.(PHON)
  • Abolish any Free Trade Agreements that do not benefit Australia’s interests.(PHON)
  • Reimplement import tariffs on select countries. This is to protect Australia’s remaining industry and manufacturing as well as homegrown jobs and wage levels.(PHON)
  • Legislate a clear definition of ‘National Interest” based on security, competition, tax, a character test, and any other impacts to Australia. This is in attempt to reform Australia’s foreign investment rules.(PHON)
  • Stop sale of houses to non-residents as well as non-citizens.(PHON)
  • Reducing the dependency on foreign supply chains and boosting onshore resilience. (RPT)
  • Strengthening Australia’s anti-dumping regime to prevent cheap, poor-quality imported goods flooding the market. (RPT)
  • Demanding the Australian Government use Australian steel on all taxpayer-funded projects, including projects funded by Federal grants to the states and territories. (RPT)
  • Requiring Federal and State governments to always take full account of the economic and social benefits of selecting Australian providers when they purchase goods and services. (RPT)
  • Banning the importation of dangerous, poor quality cladding and supporting Australian building material manufacturers. (RPT)
  • Encouraging value-add activities in Australia. By stopping exporting rocks. Rather than exporting all our iron ore, making steel in Australia. Rather than exporting all the lithium, making batteries. (RPT)

Parties and Policies

This section does not contain all currently registered parties registered in Australia. The AEC lists a total of 38 registered political parties in Australia. However, only 10 of these are parliamentary parties, meaning they have members elected to either the House of Representatives or the Senate. In the interest of providing the most relevant information, this report will exclude any parties who received less than 0.5% of the popular vote in the 2019 federal election and are not currently represented in the federal parliament. These parties are listed in order of total votes received at the last election.

 

Liberal National Party

Policies

More Australian Jobs:

  •  create 1.3 million jobs over the next five years,
  •  backing Australian apprentices, 
  • skilling Australians,
  •  supporting women into work including in non-traditional trades, 
  • employment programs, 
  • regional skills,
  •  skilled migrants. 

Australian Forestry: 

  • Continue support and investment, 
  • research and development to unlock growth and jobs, 
  • product innovation to grow the industry, 
  • securing future supply,
  •  tackling illegal logging, 
  • permanent timber to future proof the industry 

Strengthening Australia’s world-class healthcare system: 

  • Access to the life-saving device to manage diabetes, 
  • Guaranteeing Medicare – Making it easier and more affordable to see your doctor, 
  • improving access to new medicines and vaccines, 
  • Improving women’s health,
  •  improving indigenous health, 
  • stronger rural health strategy,
  •  record investment in hospitals, 
  • simpler and more affordable private health insurance, 
  • planning for future pandemics,
  •  mental health and suicide prevention, 
  • improve preventive health,
  •  world-leading medical research

Housing and Home Ownership:

  •  expanding our home guarantee scheme for first home buyers,
  •  incentivising the supply of new homes in regional areas, 
  • doubling the number of places for single-parent families,
  •  increasing the property price for the home guarantee scheme, 
  • supporting greater investment into affordable housing, 
  • supporting indigenous homeownership. 

Resources: 

  • a world-leading supplier of minerals and energy,
  •  growing our critical mineral sector,
  •  investing in our mining regions and communities,
  •  ensuring affordable and reliable gas supply,
  •  frontier skills,
  •  research and technology for the future, 
  • exploring for future prosperity, 
  • streamlining regulation to get the project moving,
  •  Greenfields agreement, 
  • a plan for managing waste from nuclear medicine

 Western Australia: 

  • Lower taxes and cost-of-living relief for WA families and retirees,
  •  lower taxes for small businesses,
  •  building better and safe roads and rail, 
  • growing WA’s resource sector,
  •  diversifying the pilbara,
  •  guaranteeing our fairest GST deal for WA,
  •  growing WA’s defence industries,
  •  supporting more west Australians into homeownership
  • , growing WA’s Manufacturing,
  •  science and tech industries,
  •  building the square kilometre array,
  •  backing WA’s primary industries, 
  • New WA comprehensive cancer centre, 
  • guaranteeing essential health and aged care services, 
  • investing in education, skills and apprenticeships,
  •  Keep WA safe

Australian Labor Party

Policies

Strengthen Medicare:

Demand for healthcare is skyrocketing – we need more GPs, making it easier to see a doctor. 

Deliver 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics to take pressure off emergency departments

Change the rules to allow regional and outer metro communities to recruit more doctors of their choosing – both locals and overseas trained GPs.

Expand the newborn screening program, increasing the number of screened conditions from around 25 to 80.

Improve pandemic preparedness and response by establishing an Australian Centre for Disease Control.

Cut cost of medication by reducing Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme co-payment from $42.50 to a maximum of $30 per script.

Secure Australian Jobs:

Tackling job insecurity and low wages

Deliver 20 000 extra university places

Train thousands of workers by ensuring one in ten workers on major government projects is an apprentice, trainee or cadet

“Same job, same pay” law

Push to close gender pay gap.

 Cheaper Child Care:

Lift maximum child care subsidy rate to 90% for first child

Increase child care subsidy rates for every family with one child in care earning less than $530,000 in household income

Keep higher child care subsidy rates for the second and additional children in care

Extend the increased subsidy to outside school hours care

A Future Made in Australia:

 Rebuilding our proud manufacturing industry 

Expand NBN access to 1.5 million premises

Manufacture more trains, trams and ferries in Australia

Prioritise local jobs for defence contracts with our Defence Industry Development Strategy

Train thousands of workers by ensuring one in ten workers on major government projects is an apprentice, trainee or cadet

Education: 

Support TAFE 

Make childcare cheaper for families

Deliver $440 million to schools for better ventilation, building upgrades and mental health support

Offer 20 000 extra university places

Train thousands of workers ……

Invest $100 million to support 10000 New Energy Apprenticeships

Introduce a Startup Year that has the potential to create 2000 new firms and provide a platform for future job growth and economic opportunity

Powering Australia: 

Creating jobs, cutting power bills, reducing emissions and a safer climate 

Create 604000 jobs with 5 out of 6 new jobs created in rural regions 

  • This plan generates investments and cuts $275 a year for homes
  • Reduces emissions to 43%
  • Upgrade the electricity grid to fix energy transmission and drive down power prices.
  • Make electric vehicles cheaper with an electric car discount and Australia’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy.
  • Adopt the Business Council of Australia’s recommendation for facilities already covered by the Government’s Safeguard Mechanism that emissions be reduced gradually and predictably over time, to support international competitiveness and economic growth – consistent with industry’s own commitment to net zero by 2050.
  • Protect the competitiveness of Emissions Intensive Trade Exposed industries by ensuring they will not face a greater constraint than their competitors.
  • Allocate up to $3 billion from Labor’s National Reconstruction Fund to invest in green metals (steel, alumina and aluminium); clean energy component manufacturing; hydrogen electrolysers and fuel switching; agricultural methane reduction and waste reduction.
  • Provide direct financial support for measures that improve energy efficiency within existing industries and develop new industries in Regional Australia through a new Powering the Regions Fund.
  • Roll out 85 solar banks around Australia to ensure more households can benefit from rooftop solar.
  • Install 400 community batteries across the country.
  • Demonstrate Commonwealth leadership by reducing the Australian Public Service’s own emissions to net zero by 2030.
  • Invest in 10,000 New Energy Apprentices and a New Energy Skills Program.
  • Establish a real-world vehicle fuel testing program to inform consumer choice.
  • Work with large businesses to provide greater transparency on their climate related risks and opportunities.
  • Re-establish leadership by restoring the role of the Climate Change Authority, while keeping decision-making and accountability with the Government and introducing new annual Parliamentary reporting by the Minister.

Lower Taxes

Deliver lower taxes for working families 

Support cost of living relief to offset taxes by $420 for low-and-middle income

Supporting Small Business: 

Backing the engine room of the national economy

Ensure small businesses are paid on time to sustain growth across the economy

Make unfair contract terms illegal so small businesses can negotiate with large partners

Work with unions to deliver better outcomes

Reduce small business transaction costs for Covid relief

 

National Security: 

Building a more secure, resilient Australia 

Supporting a stronger Australian Defence Force

Prioritising better and smarter cybersecurity

Shoring-up our economic self-reliance

Strengthening our communities and institutions

Deepening our partnerships in the region and globally around the world

Taking action on climate change

Safer and more Affordable Housing: 

Extending the promise of homeownership to more Australians. 

Implement a “Help to Buy” scheme

  • Cut cost of buying a home by up to 40%

Aged Care: 

Treating older Australians with the respect they deserve

Ensure every aged care facility has a registered nurse 24/7

Ensure more carers to average at 215 minutes per day for every person living in aged care

Pay rise for aged care workers

Better food for residents

 Equality for Women: 

Supporting Australian Women. 

Deliver cheaper child care for working families

Close gender gap at work

Take real action to stop sexual harassment at work

Women’s Safety: 

Helping to end family, domestic and sexual violence 

Establish a Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commissioner to act as a strong voice for victim-survivors

Fund 500 new community sector workers to support women in crisis

Invest $77 million to make sure Australian school students are able to access high quality, age appropriate and respectful relationships education

Work with states and territories to strengthen laws relating to sexual assault and consent

Legislate 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave

Deliver a seperate national plan to First Nations people to end violence against women and family violence

Support justice reinvestment in First Nations communities with a $79m investment to reduce incarceration rates

First Nations:

 Working in genuine partnership for better outcomes 

Implement the Uluru Statement in full – Voice, Treaty and Truth

Work towards Closing the Gap

Abolish the punitive Community Development Program

Turn the tide on incarceration and deaths in custody through landmark justice reinvestment funding

Improve housing in remote Indigenous communities

Invest in First Nations management of land and waters

Strengthen First Nations economic and job opportunities 

Get rid of the privatised Cashless Debit Card

 

Protecting our Unique Environment: 

Caring for Australia’s cherished natural environment and our climate 

Protect Great Barrier Reef

FIx Australia’s urban rivers and catchments, and double the number of Indigneous Rangers

Double the number of Indigenous Rangers

Fighting Corruption: 

Restoring Australian people’s trust in their government 

Legislate a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission by the end of 2022

  • have broad jurisdiction to investigate Commonwealth ministers, public servants, statutory office holders, government agencies, parliamentarians, and personal staff of politicians; 
  • carry out its functions independently of government, with discretion to commence inquiries into serious and systemic corruption on its own initiative or in response to referrals, including from whistleblowers and complaints from the public. To ensure the Commission’s independence, the Commissioner and any Deputy Commissioner would serve for a single fixed term and have security of tenure comparable to that of a federal judge; 
  • be overseen by a statutory bipartisan Joint Standing Committee of the Parliament, empowered to require the Commission to provide information about its work. To ensure bipartisan support for the Commission’s work, that Committee would be responsible for confirming the Commissioners nominated by the Government; 
  • have the power to investigate allegations of serious and systemic corruption that occurred before or after its establishment; 
  • have the power to hold public hearings where the Commission determines it is in the public interest to do so; 
  • be empowered to make findings of fact, including a finding of corrupt conduct, but not to make determinations of criminal liability. Findings that could constitute criminal conduct would be referred to the Australian Federal Police or the Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions for further consideration; and 
  • operate with procedural fairness and its findings would be subject to judicial review. 

People Living with Disability:

 Protecting the NDIS and getting it back on track. 

Stop cuts to individual NDIS plans with an Expert Review that will guarantee plans are not being unfairly reduced

Review NDIS design, operation and sustainability to ensure people with disabilities are at the centre of the scheme

Improve employment outcomes with a Disability Employment Centre for Excellence

An equal and Inclusive Nation:

 All Australians have the right to live their lives free of discrimination. 

Advance equality for: 

Protect students and teachers from discrimination on any grounds

Disaster Readiness: 

Improving Australia’s disaster readiness. 

Continue to fully fund disaster recovery through the existing Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements

Cut red tape so disaster resilience funding can get out the door faster

Improve the efficiency of disaster recovery processes, to simplify and speed up payments to disaster victims and repairs to damaged infrastructure.

Assist with spiralling insurance premiums in disaster-prone regions, by reducing the risk of expensive damage to homes and businesses

A Better Funded ABC:

 Protecting the ABC and SBS 

Create five-year funding commitment to reverse the cut of $83.7 million

Bolster independence and stability of national broadcasters

Labour’s New Youth Engagement Model:

 Providing a voice for younger Australians 

Introduce a new youth engagement model to provide a voice and structure for younger Australians to directly engage with government and contribute to policy development

 

Labour’s Plan to Improve the Public Service: 

Re-building an effective public sector 

Engage in fair and genuine negotiations with employees and their representatives including  on the capacity to negotiate back pay arrangements or pay rises

Stop excessive reliance of public funds on contractors, consultants and labour hire companies

Fixing the NBN:

 Boosting fibre and fast-tracking NBN repair 

Expand high speed internet from full fibre NBN access to 1.5 million premises

Keep NBN in public hands to ensure internet costs affordable

  • Benefits regional areas with access to optical fibre
  • Create 12 000 jobs

Future-proofing Australia’s Water: 

Managing water well is crucial for Australia’s future

Establish National Water Commission to drive ongoing water reform and future-proof Australia’s water resources

Broaden National Water Grid investment policy – to allow funding for a broader range of projects. This will bring essential town water supplies in regional and remote communities within the scope of the funding, in addition to funding agricultural projects

The Australian Greens

Policies

The Greens realise the interactions between each policy.

“We will tax the billionaires & big corporations, and provide the things we all need for a better life.”

Treaty & First Nations Justice

  •              Aims to create a unified national identity that celebrates and protects First Nations people and culture.
  •           Truth and Justice Commission: Create a commission that investigates and reveals historic and ongoing human rights abuses, wrongdoing, and provide recommendations on how to heal the wrongdoing; develop a treaty or treaties to lay the foundations of what Australia will be along with raising awareness
  •           First Nations Health: Implement community led First Nations services to increase their ability to care for their own communities; build First Nations owned healing places and ensure early access to preventative programs; expand gold card access to First Nations elders over 60; grow First Nations health and wellbeing workforce.
  •           Compensation for Stolen Generations Survivors: Provide each survivor with a $200,000 payment to help support them and their families as they age and continue to heal; provide families with $7000 for funeral expenses; provide services to support emotional and mental health needs of survivors and their families.
  •           Care for Country: Strong laws to protect First Nations cultural heritage, knowledge and intellectual property; expand the First Nations ranger program and Indigenous Protected Areas to heal; return land to First Nations management and provide sustainable jobs.
  •           Fixing our Justice System: Raise legal age of responsibility to minimum 14 years; double the funding for legal assistance services; establish a First Nations legal defence fund so communities can access independent legal advice to protect heritage; establish police ombudsman as well as police and prison oversight to investigate police complaints.

Tackling the Climate Crisis

“No more dirty donations”

It’s time to ban all political donations from the fossil fuel sector and close the revolving door between politicians and the coal and gas industry.”

The Greens believe the climate crisis is caused by mining and burning coal and gas. Implement hundreds of thousands of jobs, bring electricity costs down and drive the economy into the future.

          Phasing Out Coal, Oil, and Gas: Ban construction of new coal, oil and gas infrastructure; Prevent loss of employment to mining workers by creating sustainable industries; Phase out mining, burning and export of thermal coal by 2030.

          Getting Coal and Gas Money out of Politics: Stop massive subsidies to big goal, oil and gas corporations and reinvest into clean energy; Implement carbon price to make polluters pay for damage they cause; Ban political donations from mining and resources sector, and cap other donations at $1000 a year; Stop Resource Ministers from working for the fossil fuel industry within 5 years of leaving parliament; Improve transparency to avoid dodgy deals between Ministers and mining lobbyists; Create an independent national corruption overseer that will be retrospective, can act on tip offs, and hold public hearings; deliver a Code of Conduct so fossil fuel billionaires cannot buy political outcomes that favour them.

          Renewable Homes and Businesses: Provide financial support to households and small businesses to move away from gas and move towards electric alternatives; Provide financial support for households to install batteries to maximise renewable energy; Create a non-profit retailer to lower power bills and increase green energy.

          Coal and Gas Communities: Aid communities and workers to find industries that provide meaningful, sustainable work as the economy shifts; Create sustainable jobs, reskilling workers into similar industries; Provide grants to help new employers start anew.

          Climate Impacts: Make fossil fuel companies pay for previous damage done to the environment and communities, reinvest this money into adaptable infrastructure for future climate change prevention; Increase funding for emergency services to ensure peoples safety; Provide better funding to organisations like BoM and SCIRO to aid in predicting impacts and planning.

          Green Manufacturing: Rebuild manufacturing industry using green energy; Support new green export industries and bring back jobs that have gone overseas; Transition to 100% renewables and create jobs, industries and innovation throughout the process; Create Manufacturing Australia Fund to aid manufacturers recover from the pandemic, and move away from coal and gas; Ensure Australia becomes a renewable superpower by investing in new export industries in green hydrogen and mineral processing; Ensure the government is buying local, clean, and green products.

          100% Clean Green Electricity: Invest large amounts in renewable energy and storage to replace coal-fired power plants by 2030; Upgrade electricity transmission and distribution grid and integrate more wind and solar energy; Create non-profit power retailers to lower power prices.

          More Electric Vehicles: Help car owners buy their first EV by reducing cost by$15,000 and provide cheap financing; Build publicly owned EV fast charging networks; Promote buying second-hand vehicles; End sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030; Legislate vehicle pollution standards to lower emissions

          Public Transport and High-Speed Rail: Increase funding into rail, bus services, cycling and pedestrian roads; Make public transport green with new electric buses; Build high speed rail from Brisbane to Melbourne; Reduce air pollution by investing in getting freight onto rail and cleaning up truck fleets.

          Land Restoration and Carbon Drawdown: Stop land clearing and native forest logging; Creating local forestry jobs via tree planting and restoration of damaged forests and habitats; Work with farmers to increase carbon sequestration on land; Increase funding to Indigenous ranger programs

A Bold Build for a Strong, Clean Economy

          Manufacturing: See Green Manufacturing*

          1M New Homes: Build 1M new, affordable, accessible and sustainable new homes to clear public housing wait lists, end homelessness; Improve homes with grants to adapt to winter versus summer weather; Create direct and indirect jobs in construction and the broader economy.

          Free University and TAFE: Invest more than ever in higher education; Fully fund unlimited free TAFE university; Ensure sustainable universities via a Green Education Infrastructure Fund.

          Circular Economy: Build compostable processing schemes; Invest in infrastructure and programs to reboot recycling, and in waste avoidance and reduction research; Minimise plastic waste by phasing out single use plastics; Support the Right to Repair to minimise e-waste.

Protect the Environment and Animals

             Emphasis on protecting the environment to create a sustainable future for all. Note that First Nations People should be addressed regarding their knowledge and connection to the land.

          A Green Australia: Stop extinction crisis by 2030; Restore and rebuild wildlife habitats by planting 2B trees; End logging to reduce wildfires; Save GBR with grants; Strengthen Environmental Protection Laws; Make rivers swimmable by 2030.

          Care for Country: See Care for Country*

          Sustainable Farming: Restore Carbon Farming Futures grants; Create sustainable agriculture research centre to aid farmers seek alternatives towards green farming; Support organic certification and ensure consumers are properly informed; Build local hemp, cannabis and seaweed farming industry.

          No more Animal Cruelty: Create laws to end animal cruelty; Ban live export of livestock; End factory farming; End gambling industries promoting horse and greyhound races; Ban import/export of shark fins; Establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare.

          Plastics and Packaging: Support a Global Plastic Treaty; See Circular Economy*

          Healthy Oceans: Fight for healthy oceans and coastlines; Ban offshore exploration and seismic testing; Expand Marine Protected Areas; Fund wetlands, coastal restoration, and Sea Country Indigenous Protected Areas; Expand ban of super-trawlers to include 95m vessels.

Politics for People

             Strengthen democracy to benefit everyone. Stress that the Greens don’t take donations from big corporations and therefore put the people first.

          Clean up Politics: See Getting coal and gas money out of politics*

          Media Diversity: Take on Murdoch media and strengthen media diversity; Stop spread of misinformation and hate by strengthening powers of The Australian Communications and Media Authority; Protect rights of journalists.

Better Rights, More Pay and Secure Jobs

             Plan to rewrite labour laws to give working people more power, outlaw insecure work and increase wages.

          Secure Work: End the insecure work crisis; Give casual and contract workers access to protections and entitlements to protect rights of all workers

          Workplace Rights: Ensure labour laws reduce inequalities in society; Ensure workers are treated equally; Protect workers rights; End insecure work crisis; Give workers more bargaining power to increase wages and improve conditions; Stop migration laws and free trade deals that undercut local labour laws; End government attacks on working people and unions.

          Higher Wages: Increase minimum wage to 60% of median wage so no one is below the poverty line.

          Workplace for Women: Boost paid parental leave; Increase women’s workforce participation through free childcare and flexible work arrangements; close gender pay gap by increasing wages; Implement public work sector workforce strategies to boost employment of women, First Nations and CALD people, and people with disabilities; Support women led businesses through low interest loans.

          Arts, Entertainment and Creative Sectors: Support recovery of art industry from the pandemic; Implement an artist in every school and library across Australia to drive arts jobs; Invest in arts education while establishing new arts schools.

Public Ownership

             Move away from private sectors and towards public sectors.

          Publicly Owned Renewable Energy: See 100% clean green electricity*

          Public Housing: Build 750,000 new public and community houses; 125,000 new share ownership homes; 125,000 new public, universal access rental homes to provide low cost and secure housing.

          Public Sector Jobs: Restore number of public service jobs; Lift public wages by 4%; Limit outsourcing to labour hire firms; Allow public servants to run in election and participate in public debates; Protect whistleblowers; Require public agencies to address the gender pay gap.

          Private Health Insurance Rebate: reinvest taxpayers money to the public health system; Stop taxpayers’ money to subsidise private health insurers.

          Public Childcare, Schools, Hospitals and Aged Care: Fund public health care services, aged care and childcare so it’s accessible for everyone; End out of pocket costs for public schools and health care.

          Public Infrastructure: Ensure community is at the centre of project planning; End corruption of grants being co-opted by politicians.

Free Healthcare for All

             Make health care public to be more accessible for everyone.

          Public Health and Hospital Funding: Reinvest billions paid to private health insurance into public systems; Ensure easy accessibility to care; Include telehealth in Medicare; Fund team-based healthcare for people with chronic conditions.

          Bring Dental into Medicare

          Mental Health Care: Ensure mental health care is covered under Medicare; Aid young people impacted by mental health find work.

          Safe Drug Use: Ensure drug use is treated as a health issue not criminal issue; Regulate cannabis to minimise the black market; Fund pill tests at festivals and in communities to avoid preventable deaths; Double Commonwealth Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Funding; Invest in safe injecting facilities; Fully funded opioid substitution therapy.

          First Nations Health:  See First nations health*

          Women’s Health: Make abortion access safe, accessible and affordable across the country; Fund data collection regarding experiences of maternity care; Invest in Birthing on Country projects to improve health outcomes for parents and babies; Invest in free tampons and pads in schools; Increase workers rights relating to serious pain or debilitation associated with and vaginal issues.

          Future Pandemics: Establish a National Center for Disease Control to apply a unified health approach with emerging diseases; Invest in Covid-19 vaccine research; Ensure production of our own vaccines; Use boosted foreign aid budget to invest in COVAX to support global equitable vaccine access.

          Prioritising Prevention: Improve health care at all life stages; Dedicate funding to tackle impact of climate change on health.

          Aged Care for All: Phase out for-profit providers; Increase hours of care while increasing wages of staff; Guarantee human rights-based approach to aged care.

Free Education for All

             Emphasis on public education and to stay away from private schools. Implement enhanced and accessible early childhood education.

          Free Early Childhood Education and Care: Extend access to early childhood education; Strengthen early learning for First Nations children through support for First Nations community-controlled services; Phase out for-profit early learning.

          Public schools that Meet Everyone’s Needs: reduce funding to private schools and reinvest in public schools.

          Wipe Student Debt: See Free University and TAFE*

          Better Pay for Educators

Equality and Justice for All

             Tackle inequalities to reduce poverty rates.

          Achieving LGBTIQA+ Equality: Ensure gender-affirming healthcare is free on Medicare; Making schools safer.

          Ending Violence Against Women: Fund organizations that fight to end violence against women and children and provide services to vulnerable women; 10 days paid domestic violence leave.

          Rights for People Seeking Refuge: Bring refugees to safety in Australia; Increase Australia’s humanitarian intake; Abolish Temporary Protection Visas for refugees and introduce Permanent Protection Visas so they can rebuild their lives.

          Justice for All: Enact charter of human and Environmental Rights; See Fixing our Justice System*

          Income Support: Abolish poverty by introducing liveable income guarantee; Lower pension age and increase rate of pension; Move away from private sectors and towards public sectors.

          Renters Rights and Homelessness: See 1M New Homes*

Building an Anti-Racist Society

             Stress on racism being dangerous and providing enhanced protection for human rights of racial minorities.

          Anti-Racism Training for All Federal MPs

          National Anti-Racism Strategy: Provide grants to community organisations to tackle structural racism; Fund national anti-racism campaigns.

          Make Hate Speech Illegal

          Build a Genuinely Multicultural Country: Establish a Federal Multicultural Commission; Allow dual citizens to run for Federal office.

End Sexism

          Culture of Politics: Abolish inappropriate behaviour in parliament; Mandate that all MPs undertake regular harassment training.

          End Rape Culture: Fund organizations that promote healthy relationships in schools; Fund research to implement preventative programs to tackle gender inequality.

          Respect at Work: Give AHRC powers to investigate systemic discrimination and harassment; Fund Working Women’s Centres in all States and Territories.

          Close Gender Pay Gap

          Paid Parental Leave

          Free childhood Education and Childcare

Our Place in the World

             Wars distract from the fight against the climate crisis. Focus on peace.

          Peace, Disarmament, and Demilitarisation: Stop giving public money to corporate weapons makers and build cooperative relationships with our friends and neighbours.

          Human Rights and Foreign Aid: End greedy protection of our wealthy country; Promote and support people seeking refuge in Australia.

          People Seeking Refuge: See Rights for People Seeking Refuge*

          No More Weapon Exporting

Respond to Covid-19

          Free rapid antigen tests for everyone

          Establish a national centre for disease control

          Free and unlimited mental health care for all

          Fix our broken housing system

          Cap rents and stop “no-grounds” evictions

          Better rights, higher pay and job security

          Raise income support payments to $88/day

          Support arts industry

          Increase funding for frontline DV support services

          Improve air quality in all school

United Australia Party

Policies

Housing

          Maximum 3% interest on home loans. This is in efforts to save Australian homeownership from a potential market collapse and prevent foreign investors.

International Trade

          Introduce a 15% export licence on the export of Australian iron ore. The licence can aid in repaying national debt

Investments

“Just like when John Curtin in World War 2 brought the troops back to save Australia, the United Australia Party will bring back a trillion dollars of Australian super back to Australia, to save Australia”

 

Covid-19 Response

          Reinstate Section 92 of the Australian Constitution that provides “absolutely free” movement. This will end lockdowns to save businesses, save mental and physical health

          Ban vaccine passports

          Allow alternative forms of treatments (including anti-virals) to be available for all Australians

Parliament

          Abolish the National Cabinet as it is unconstitutional and has no legal basis.

Energy

          Explore nuclear activity using Australia’s own uranium

Australia’s Defense

          Use defence budget for defence – as opposed to political expediency

          Coordinate and purchase submarines from the United States (entails nuclear power)

Protect Free Speech

          Implement laws to prevent foreign interference regarding censorship and Australian political debate on social media platforms

Protect Australian Value

          Respect the Constitution and the rule of law

o   Emphasis on: Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom of association

Regional Communities

          Stimulate economic growth in rural areas by stimulating 20% tax concession incentive to people that live more than 200 kms from a capital city

Resources

          Set up downstream processing in South Australia and Victoria to lead enormous revenue injections and better hospitals and schools

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

Policies

Water

Build more water dams to increase water security and control and store water.

Legislate full disclosure of water ownership and ban sale of water to foreign investors.

Australian Jobs and Infrastructure

Increase national apprenticeship schemes to increase tradesmen and women. This provides 75% wage subsidy in year 1, 50% in year 2, and 25% in year 3.

Refugees

Reduce refugee intake for 5 years and redirect funding to Australian services.

Withdraw Australia from the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. The principle of this convention is customary to international law where no refugee should return to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedoms.

Affordable Energy and Cost of Living

Build new low-emission coal-fired power stations to guarantee low-cost, reliable, dispatchable power.

Secure on-shore oil reserves and capacity to refine fuels to restore the 90-day fuel security policy.

Explore nuclear power.

One Nation strongly opposes the subsidy schemes towards renewable energy projects.

The abundance of Australia’s resources should be for Australia only – not global competitors.

World Organisation and Trade Agreements

The Australian Constitution is to trump United Nations forums and 193 member states. Furthermore, One Nation does not support the World Economic Forum’s ‘Great Reset’.

Abolish any Free Trade Agreements that do not benefit Australia’s interests.

Reimplement import tariffs on select countries. This is to protect Australia’s remaining industry and manufacturing as well as homegrown jobs and wage levels.

Citizen Initiated Referenda

Allow citizens to put forward legislation or a referendum question via a Citizens Initiated Referenda. This is to prevent wait times and to allow more citizen participation.

Climate

Withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement signed in 2016. This is because the decline in carbon emissions has provided job losses thus making the economy suffer.

One Nation believes that climate change is a hoax reinforced by the media and evidence from the UN IPCC is to not be justified.

 

Family Law and Child Support

Supports the rights of parents, grandparents (when parents’ relationship sour) and children. 

Fix Australia’s Family Law system to become fairer. This will financially support the children and not the ex-partner.

Pensioners

Implement $100/week via the Work Bonus scheme that allows pensioners to earn up to $13000 a year without reducing pension.

Must live and work in Australia for 15 years before accessing pension entitlements.

Oppose increase of age entitlement to 70 years of age.

Farming

Ban further sale of freehold farmland to foreign investors and limit the sale of leasehold farmland to foreign investors. Apply a 25-year tenure to farmland.

Reimplement Foreign Investment Review Board applications on all Agriculture Land from expiring Free Trade Agreements.

Support Australian farmers through drought and other natural weather events.

Foreign Ownership

Legislate a clear definition of ‘National Interest” based on security, competition, tax, a character test, and any other impacts to Australia. This is in an attempt to reform Australia’s foreign investment rules.

Stop sale of houses to non-residents as well as non-citizens.

Education

There should be no room for Western, white, gender, guilt shaming in any classroom and instead children should be taught the benefits of a merit-based, free-thinking society”

Restore critical thinking in the classroom and reinstate the cornerstone of education with reading, writing, arithmetic, and discipline.

Immigration

Extend zero-net migration policy and focus on permitting only high skilled migrants from culturally cohesive countries into Australia.

Medical Cannabis

Advocate to lower costs of medicinal cannabis.

Illicit Drugs Epidemic

Fund the increase of scanning and inspection of containers through seizure of assets and money from the proceeds of drug crimes.

Implement a Federal Police Drug Bus to provide an educational roadshow for parents and students.

Stop the Rorts

Reduce the number of fraudulent schemes by implementing photo I.D. on medicare cards.

Stop funding of NDIS to pay for sex worker services.

Set term of unemployment benefits to 3 years in any given 5-year period. This is in efforts to end long-term unemployment payments.

Multinational Tax

Oppose increase in GST.

Maintain opposition to the reintroduction of death duties and pursue a tax regime that ensures multinational businesses pay their fair share of tax while operating within Australia.

Firearms Ownership

Supports responsible gun ownership.

Enforce stricter border security and tougher sentencing for gun crimes and traffickers.

Health

Introduce 3-year contracts for newly qualified medical professionals and pay their HESC-HELP loans in full.

Covid-19 Response

Oppose vaccine mandates.

Pro-Life

Create more strict abortion laws. One Nation believes that abortion laws are some of the most extreme in the Western World.

Animal Justice Party

Policies

Climate Change:

  1. To prohibit any fossil fuel expansion and rapidly transform to a carbon-free energy infrastructure.
  2. To rapidly transform Australian agriculture to allow reforestation by reducing grazing.
  3. Implement a carbon tax on both the fossil fuel and animal agriculture industries.
  4. Direct carbon tax income into clean energy solutions, sustainable plant-based food agriculture systems and education.
  5. Protect existing forests and marine habitats from further destruction.

Energy:

  1. Including the impact on animals and the environment in the selection criteria for all energy sources.
  2. Rapid transition to a carbon free energy infrastructure, using known clean technologies in the most ecologically and animal friendly mix. Rapidly in this case means 15 to 20 years.
  3. Investing in development of new clean animal friendly energy technologies.
  4. Implementing a climate tax on both the fossil fuels and animal agriculture industries, using the principle that the polluter pays.

Environmental Law:

  1. Introduce new federal environmental laws which adequately deal with climate change, land clearing and other crucial issues.
  2. Establish a Commonwealth Environment Commission (CEC) with the power to implement bioregional plans, programs, strategies and environmental standards.
  3. Establish a Commonwealth Environmental Protection Agency (CEPA) with adequate resources to monitor, enforce and prosecute offenders.
  4. Increase citizen participation in environmental decisions, especially community groups and environmental protection organisations, and enshrine their ability to litigate on behalf of nature.
  5. Legally recognise the inherent Rights of Nature, including the right to survive and be restored, and pursue the most appropriate means of protecting these rights (for the rights of individual animals, see our Animal Law policy).
  6. Challenge the cultural, economic and legal conceptions of nature and animals as property to be owned by humans and educate the public to live within our ecological limits.

Great Barrier Reef:

  1. To phase out the cattle industry, starting with bans on further land clearing and the fertilisation of pasture; prioritising those regions closest to the most vulnerable parts of the reef.
  2. To ban any new coal and natural gas operations; this is part of our general climate change policy.
  3. Similarly, the phasing out of all fossil fuel production and export would see a reduction in bulk carriers passing through the reef.
  4. To set clear enforceable regulations on any other industry likely to adversely affect the reef; for example sugar, which is also a sediment and fertiliser culprit.

Land Clearing:

  1. An immediate cessation of all land clearing associated with animal agriculture.
  2. To introduce habitat protection as a fundamental and consistent planning principle in all regions and sectors.
  3. Amend state-based animal welfare legislation to include an enforceable duty of care towards animals on a landholder’s property during all land use changes.
  4. Labelling on products containing palm oil so that consumers can avoid them.

 

Natural Gas:

  1. AJP recommends that there should be no expansion of natural gas use, whether from coal seam or other sources.
  2. AJP recommends that current natural gas use be rapidly phased out in favour of clean energy technologies. Rapidly, in this case means 15 to 20 years.

Waste:

  1. To invest in further development of biodegradable products and work toward the banning of harmful plastics
  2. To encourage and enable recycling and composting programs in businesses and public institutions and educate the public about waste issues.
  3. To stop the dumping of clothing and edible food by retailers and to ensure these products are sent to people in need.
  4. To invest in innovative enterprises which are reducing and reusing waste.
  5. To oppose “planned obsolescence” and barriers to repairing or upgrading consumer goods.

Corruption

The AJP supports the efforts of integrity and accountability agencies that oversee our democratic processes including our electoral commissions and anti-corruption agencies. The AJP supports all efforts to improve equity, transparency, integrity and accountability in local, state and federal government

elections and decision-making. Specifically, we encourage the strengthening of state-based anti-corruption watchdogs and the introduction of a federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Democracy

The AJP also supports measures to prevent elected politicians from serving as paid lobbyists within five years of ending their political career, as this creates a clear conflict of interest.

 

The AJP supports Compulsory preferential voting (CPV) in all Lower House elections, and advocates for more to be done to educate voters on our electoral system. For Upper Houses or “houses of review”, like the Federal Senate or a Legislative Council, the AJP supports preferential, proportional representation by single transferable vote (STV).

 

The AJP supports legislation to stamp out misleading and deceptive political advertising, as it interferes with voters’ ability to make informed decisions. 

 

The AJP supports lowering the voting age to 16, and investigating ways of further engaging young people in democracy. 

 

More radical, transformative reforms should be considered. The AJP supports trials of citizen panels or juries to decide complex and divisive issues.

Equality

  1. building an inclusive society with strong awareness of historical, systemic and institutional privilege, disadvantage and inequality;

 

  1. advancing equality of opportunity for all in educational, work, recreational, housing and administrative settings, and restitution measures for those affected by historical injustices;

 

  1. protecting the human, political and socio-economic rights of all individuals;

 

  1. prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, vilification and/or victimisation of anyone on the basis of any of the above attributes

Gambling

The AJP supports measures to address:

 

minimising harm

sponsorship by gambling industries of sporting events

consumer protection

anti-corruption

funding to political parties, including real-time transparency of political donors

influence of political parties, including visibility of lobbyists who have access to Ministers, Members of Parliament and Local Government Councillors

direct and indirect exposure of gambling and promotion of gambling to minors

funding to gambling industries

Gender Equality

gender equality is a fundamental human right and that the health, safety and wellbeing of women, girls and gender-diverse persons is paramount;

reforms are essential to address the causes of gender inequality and to protect people against gender-based violence;

women and gender-diverse persons must be supported, encouraged and empowered to be present and/or prominent in all areas of society, including politics;

everyone must be supported in informed decision-making with respect to gender and sexual identity;

there must be zero tolerance of sexism, misogyny and all types of violence (including gender-based violence) and we must work toward gender equality and respect in all areas of society;

we must recognise how sexism intersects with other kinds of oppression and discrimination, such as racism and speciesism;

We support the use of gender-inclusive language.

 

Homelessness

AJP supports prevention and intervention measures advocated by ACOSS in 2020 to combat homelessness, including a proactive national housing strategy, sustained investment in affordable housing, and tax reform. 

 

We will support any further inquiries or trials that aim to look at the underlying economics and effectiveness of interventions that prevent homelessness.

 

Vaccinations

 To achieve a high vaccination rate, the AJP advocates for education and incentives (for example, subsidised vaccines or paid time off work to get vaccinated) as a first course of action. In some high-risk settings such as aged-care facilities, schools, hospitals or airports, it may be necessary to make vaccinations a condition of entry or employment to lower the risk of community transmission and serious illnesses. The difficult balance between the greater good and individual choice must be carefully considered and managed equitably.

Voluntary Euthanasia

The AJP supports voluntary euthanasia with appropriate safeguards to ensure that the choice is free and well informed. This choice should only be available when a person is diagnosed with a disease, illness or medical condition that is incurable, advanced, progressive and will cause death; and is experiencing suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner that the person considers tolerable. 

Biosecurity

  1. To establish programs to inform the public about the inherent biosecurity risks associated with intensive animal industries.
  2. To establish programs to inform the public about the inherent biosecurity risks associated with reductions in wildlife habitat that can create conflict which brings risk.
  3. To support research into bat habitat protection with a goal of reducing conflicts which can be dangerous to both us and bats.
  4. To roll back and actively oppose all ‘ag-gag’ laws that use bio-security as a justification for attempts to silence activists and whistle blowers attempting to prevent or expose poor treatment of animals.

 

Cultured Meat

  1. To ask the NHMRC to report on the state and potential for cultured meat, dairy and egg products.

 

Decent Work

  1. To establish a Federal Government inquiry into the connection between slaughterhouse work and family and social violence.
  2. To ensure that workers compensation schemes cater for the unique physical and psychological risks faced by slaughterhouse workers.
  3. To conduct regular psychological examinations of workers for signs of stress and psychological harm that could raise the risk of family or social violence.
  4. To provide assistance to enable animal farmers and slaughterhouse workers to transition to plant based industries.

 

An Ethical Economy

  1. Introduce broader measures of economic assessment which recognise the intrinsic value and wellbeing of animals, nature and people.   
  2. Change taxation to be fairer and more efficient, and to reflect the costs to society and address ‘negative externalities’. For example, end subsidies to products derived from animal exploitation and/or environmentally destructive practices.
  3. Reduce the occurrence of zoonotic diseases by ending animal exploitation and environmental destruction. A reduction in these diseases would also mean a reduction in corresponding lockdowns and job losses.
  4. Fund a 21st century version of the ‘New Deal’; meaning significant investment in new eco-friendly infrastructure and industry, turning current environmental and social crises into opportunities, while also transitioning away from animal agriculture and environmentally-destructive practices such as burning fossil fuels.
  5. Implement a Jobs Guarantee and Universal Basic Income programs to create secure, ethical and meaningful employment and reduce poverty.
  6. Respect the role of unions in reducing the exploitation of workers and improving work conditions.
  7. Offer support to people and businesses that want to transition away from exploiting animals and the environment.
  8. Appoint a Future Generations Commissioner and legislate for the rights of future generations of animals and people to be taken into account in decisions that have long-term economic, social and environmental impacts.
  9. Ensure that banking, superannuation and other investment products offer options that promote environmental sustainability and animal protection.

 

Education

  1. To implement programs that increase and support positive interactions between students and wildlife, rescued farmed and companion animals such as volunteer days and placements at shelters and sanctuaries.
  2. To place more focus on critical thinking and experiential learning, such as through charity and community service work, reducing the focus on standardised testing and providing teachers with the autonomy to plan according to the needs of their students.
  3. To teach students nutritional science and convey the discoveries of recent years about the welfare, nutritional and environmental benefits of plant based eating.
  4. To ensure that all students have a good understanding of environmental science, including climate science.
  5. To facilitate plant based foods in all school, university and TAFE cafeterias, accompanied by research into impacts on student health and behaviour.
  6. To explain the realities of modern intensive and extensive farming systems and remove education programs provided by industry organisations. Education must be free of financial conflicts of interest.
  7. To increase awareness of the links between domestic violence and animal cruelty and to teach the social and emotional skills required to promote non-violence. Access to helplines and information must be readily available.
  8. To teach students how politics, law and ethics operate to guide our society including an operational understanding of our voting systems.
  9. To replace animal dissection with virtual or physical model alternatives.

 

Employment

  1. Offer educational opportunities for workers currently employed by animal industries through subsidised programs where necessary and traineeships.
  2. Promote growth in sustainable animal friendly industries across the board such as eco-tourism, plant-based food products and technologies, and upcycled and recycled design.

Genetic Manipulation

GM has the potential to bring both benefit and harm. The Animal Justice Party (AJP) will therefore create policy regarding genetic manipulation on a case-by-case basis, drawing on the value base of kindness, equality, rationality and non-violence to assess the merits of each case. We seek regulation that prevents misuse and promotes social advancements. We will not hesitate to condemn GM when used in ways that harm animals. We will support GM where it removes existing forms of animal exploitation, improves human health, creates nutritious and sustainable crops, or helps protect our environment.

 

Family or Domestic Violence

  1. Increase the coverage of domestic and family violence refuges, especially those that also shelter dependent children and animals, and provide secure funding.
  2. Strengthen legislation relating to animal cruelty and ensure consistent and adequate sentencing and rehabilitation for perpetrators of violence .
  3. Facilitate information sharing, collaboration and cross-training between police, other government departments, veterinarians and the Independent Animal Protection Agency to stamp out all forms of violence 
  4. Create a single national register for convicted perpetrators of domestic and family violence and animal cruelty to forewarn potential victims and convey societal values of non-violence.
  5. Reform the family law system to consider the animal’s wellbeing during divorce proceedings and make it easier for victims to amend animal registration and microchipping details without alerting the perpetrator as to their whereabouts.
  6. Introduce compulsory reporting mechanisms for veterinarians who reasonably suspect animal abuse or domestic and family violence to be occurring.
  7. Include age-appropriate lessons for school children to identify and respond to animal abuse and domestic and family violence situations.

Gun Control

  1. Run public education campaigns highlighting the social and environmental harm caused by gun use.
  2. Oppose the use of guns for the lethal control of animals 
  3. Prohibit recreational shooting and hunting in National Parks and State Reserves.
  4. Maintain the NFA’s effective gun laws and firearm import restrictions; and
  5. Impose further restrictions to prevent guns being used for violent crime and in domestic violence situations

 

Health

  1. To educate all health care professionals on the benefits of plant based diets.
  2. To expand and refocus programs teaching people how to improve their diet and exercise habits.
  3. To phase out subsidies to intensive animal industries because they are both cruel and provide a breeding ground for new diseases which pose large public health risks.
  4. To end all subsidies to the red and processed meat industries. Eating large amounts of red and processed meats (which includes pig meat) can have serious health impacts, particularly in relation to cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
  5. To improve food labelling to clearly indicate any components of animal origin.
  6. To end unnecessary public funding of research on drugs that address diseases best managed by simple lifestyle choices.
  7. To end the inappropriate use of antibiotics because of the risks of creating antibiotic resistant bacteria.
  8. To ensure funding of health services is provided at the state level, with an end to vertical fiscal imbalances that cause a lack of accountability at all levels.

 

Human Diet and Animals

The AJP advocates a plant based diet free of all products derived from animals.

International Affairs

  1. To review all international treaties to determine any agreements which adversely affect animals.
  2. To prohibit the import and export of animal trophies.
  3. To strengthen policing of illegal wildlife trade bans.

 

Land Transport

  1. Encourage the growth of efficient, low carbon transport and steep reductions in private vehicles, particularly in urban areas.
  2. Rapid transition away from the internal combustion engine towards hydrogen, electric vehicles and other clean technology with better emissions standards (possibly including offsets) in the interim.
  3. Provide financial incentives to both producers and consumers to switch to more eco-friendly land transport solutions.
  4. Ensure that public transport is affordable, reliable, accessible and safe for all people and companion animals.
  5. Prioritise walkability, active transport and public transport in town planning while minimising travel time.
  6. Support the technologies and practices that will allow for remote work where appropriate.
  7. Reduce animal deaths and injuries on roads by modifying vehicles and existing roads, including wildlife infrastructure.
  8. Cease the expansion and widening of road networks that destroy ecosystems and encourage urban sprawl and car-dependent communities.
  9. Reduce inner-city traffic by reallocating road and car park space for native habitats, cyclists, pedestrians and social connectivity and connections with nature.
  10. Ensure the adoption of automated, self-driving vehicles provides a net benefit for animals and nature and does not lead to heavier road use and urban sprawl.

Law and Social Justice

  1. To continually raise awareness of animal interests in Parliament.
  2. To ensure that consideration is given to animals in the drafting of all legislation.
  3. To invest in further research on relations between animals and people, exploring and highlighting the ways in which positive interactions between them can improve society.
  4. To work towards a definition of personhood to replace the current property status of animals.

 

Mental Health

  1. To expand opportunities for human-animal interaction in ways that benefit both.
  2. To expand funding for sanctuaries and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation projects.
  3. To fund mental health programs to service the needs of those suffering trauma from their work in animal rescue, rehabilitation or advocacy.
  4. To rapidly phase out violent industries exploiting animals which negatively impact mental health.

 

Processed Meat

  1. Publicly fund education campaigns about the harms of processed meat to human health,
  2. Mandate health warnings on all processed meat products,
  3. Ban the sale of processed meat in school cafeterias,
  4. Ban processed meat in hospitals, and
  5. Impose a deterrent tax on processed meat.

Human Population and Planning

  1. Significantly reduce the Australian population’s climate and ecological impact by rapidly phasing out animal agriculture and fossil fuels, among other initiatives addressing harmful consumption.
  2. Educate the public about ecological ‘overshoot’ and the negative impacts of unsustainable population growth on animals, the environment and humans.
  3. Create human settlements in harmony with wildlife and nature through biodiversity-sensitive urban design (BSUD), transport and infrastructure, while stopping urban sprawl
  4. Implement the Half-Earth Project by reserving at least half of all land and sea for nature, and keep this habitat free from human interference.
  5. Support everyone’s right to an informed choice by providing age-appropriate sex education and access to free fertility control methods (e.g., contraceptives, contragestives, vasectomies).
  6. Increase overseas aid, especially including programs for the education of women and girls.
  7. Promote a kind and culturally-diverse human community through tolerance, social connectivity and inclusion, and especially welcoming those in need 

Abortion

The AJP thinks that the government has a responsibility to provide safe, affordable and accessible contraception and abortion services, and that no woman seeking those services should be subject to criminal charges.

Asylum Seekers

Australia has a moral and a legal obligation to comply with the international treaties we have ratified. Australia has a right to apply domestic laws that establish border integrity, but this must be done in such a way that persons fleeing persecution for legitimate reasons will be protected under Australian law.

 

Refugees must not be prevented from accessing their rights as asylum seekers. In particular, the AJP condemns the removal and processing of those seeking asylum to countries other than those approved by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

 

We also believe that citizens, journalists and NGOs must be able to observe the conditions provided for asylum seekers and displaced persons by this government and its agencies.

Animal Protections 

  1. Value and respect all animals, regardless of their species or stage of development, whether they are currently understood to be simple or complex, sentient or non-sentient, and whether they are native or introduced, exploited by humans or living freely.
  2. As a party, prioritise activities and advocacy towards species for which there is evidence or likelihood of sentience, intelligence, cognition, self-awareness, interests or when animals lack the above but are, or are proposed to be, exploited for recreational or commercial purposes.
  3. Refer to science and apply the precautionary principle to identify the above characteristics in various species of animals, especially invertebrates, recognising that science is imperfect and in a perpetual state of development.
  4. Support changes to animal protection legislation to recognise animal sentience and its rich complexity, and to incorporate the Animal Sentience Precautionary Principle as a new guiding principle to afford protection for more animals.
  5. Ensure that the definition of ‘animal’ in animal protection legislation is consistent across all jurisdictions in Australia (for more, see our Animal Law policy).
  6. Ensure that this definition includes, at the minimum, animals who are capable of suffering pain, regardless of the species, stage of development, or the animals’ relationship with humans. The definition should therefore include at least:
    • mammals, birds and reptiles, including prenatal or pre hatch stages past mid-point gestation/incubation;
    • fish and amphibians;
    • cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish);
    • malacostraca (crabs, lobsters, crayfish and prawns);
    • and any other species or life stage that has the capacity to suffer pain, based on emerging scientific evidence and the animal sentience precautionary principle.
  7. Support the quest for relevant scientific evidence through observational studies which do not involve causing distress, pain or suffering to animals in a bid to prove their sentience.

Ban all use and sale of 1080.

Support and promote alternative, non-lethal control measures 

To address misinformation focusing on bats as dangerous pests to be culled or relocated. A positive image should be promoted focusing on bats’ irreplaceable ecological benefits.

To outlaw the killing of flying foxes including by landholders for damage mitigation (whether deliberately by shooting and electrocution or from being entangled in nets).

To increase flying fox habitat.

To require the use of wildlife friendly netting or other non-harmful alternatives to protect orchards where flying foxes are a problem.

To ban the use of barbed wire and electrified fencing in rural residential areas where they are a hazard to flying foxes and bats as well as to birds, kangaroos, gliders, possums, wallabies and people.

Give brumbies full legal protection. In particular aerial shooting of brumbies must cease; it is unjustified and inhumane.

Support programs that educate the public on the cruel and environmentally negative impacts of killing brumbies. Brumbies digestive processes do not destroy seeds and can spread them over large distances and encourage revegetation. Their droppings make good fertiliser. Education should focus on their beauty and historic significance.

To elevate dingoes from Vulnerable to Protected Native Dog status and remove any pest status.

To legislate giving dingoes full protection and use non-lethal controls where required.

To minimise the threat of continued hybridisation by controlling wild dog populations through non-lethal methods. in order to protect dingoes’ genetic integrity.

To inform Australians, especially rural landowners, of the ecological benefits of dingoes.

To increase penalties for killing dingoes.

To develop a program for schools teaching children how to act around wild animals, helping them understand the difference between wild dingoes and domestic dogs.

That recreational duck and quail shooting will be immediately banned.

That an enquiry be established to consider the cruelty aspects of any use of shotguns in killing animals. We are confident that the scientific evidence will lead such an inquiry to recommend a ban on the use of shotguns for the killing of any animal.

Ban the farming of fur, and all other methods used to take fur from animals, in Australia

Ban the sale of products containing animal fur in Australia

Ensure accurate labelling and testing on all faux fur products so that consumers can shop with confidence.

Recognise that humans are responsible for introducing non-native species to Australia and that these animals are just trying to survive in their new environment.

Stop the use of vilifying language to refer to introduced species.

Accept that the removal or depopulation of an introduced species, which may have been established for hundreds of years, is complex and difficult, if not impossible, and can have negative impacts on the local ecosystem, including native wildlife.

Immediately ban the use of lethal control methods.

Ensure that methods used to control introduced species or mitigate their damage are non-lethal, humane, effective and species-specific – for instance, deterrence (e.g. small scale, wildlife-friendly fencing of crops; repellents), fertility control, and prevention of further deliberate or accidental breeding, importation and releases.

Invest in research for new humane fertility and biological population control methods.

Promote responsible animal guardianship including keeping companion animals safe in their homes (e.g. in cat enclosures), and preventing abandonment and accidental breeding. This will prevent the animals from causing environmental damage and reduce the predation of native animals

Reduce the impact of introduced animals by rewilding and restoring ecosystems.

Educate people about the nature and ecological role of invertebrates, their sentience and cognitive abilities, and the impact human activities have on them.

Include invertebrate species that are known to suffer pain such as crabs, crayfish, lobsters and cephalopods, as well as those that are likely to do so (such as other complex invertebrates), under the definition of ‘animal’ in animal protection laws in all states and territories (see the Definition of Animal policy).

Mandate the humane treatment of invertebrates under state and territory animal protection laws without exceptions.

Encourage the use of non-lethal alternatives to control invertebrates such as insects, spiders and snails, both in large-scale agricultural settings and in domestic and small-scale settings.

Ban the lethal collection of insects (*e.g.* butterflies) for recreational or display purposes.

Oppose the emerging commercial breeding of insects and other sentient invertebrates for human consumption (*e.g.* crickets).

To rapidly phase out the commercial killing of kangaroos and wallabies and close down processing industries.

To change negative attitudes to kangaroos and wallabies through widespread education about their considerable ecological benefits.

To reform relevant legislation, policies and the agencies that administer them to prohibit the killing or brutalising of kangaroos and wallabies.

To increase and enforce penalties for deliberate wildlife cruelty.

To encourage increased growth in and support for kangaroo friendly wildlife-based tourism in Australia.

To review the policies for licensing and the operational practices of wildlife caring and rehabilitation groups and individuals.

To prohibit the use of barbed wire fencing in rural residential areas where it is a hazard to macropods as well as birds and bats.

To ensure adequate kangaroo corridors are implemented during all relevant development projects.

To better estimate koala populations and their locations and review the status of the species as appropriate. The range of current population estimates seem too wide.

To determine koala roadkill hotspots and incorporate overpasses/underpasses and exclusion fences and to encourage koala corridors in fragmented habitat.

To prohibit new developments, including housing, forestry and mining on land inhabited by koalas.

To abolish large public events such as car rallies and festivals in occupied koala habitat.

To educate the public about the ecosystem services koalas render.

To encourage increased growth in and support for koala friendly eco-tourism.

To place an immediate ban on logging in native forests with koala populations and to ensure no harm is caused to koalas who have moved into timber plantations

To protect all marine animals and their environment as a matter of urgency from adverse commercial industries including, but not limited to, fishing (wild and farmed), gas exploration (including seismic testing), land based agricultural runoff and harmful dredging.

To invest in further development of biodegradable products and work toward the banning of harmful plastics.

To invest in research and development to clean up our oceans.

To reduce harmful anthropogenic noise in the ocean and waterways, regardless of source.

As interim measures, some changes are required urgently:

To conduct an audit of nutrition advice from the Government and other bodies to ensure it is evidenced based. The background to all nutritional advice should first make it clear that eating fish or any other marine animal isn’t required for good health.

To establish guidelines for nutrition advice from Government agencies recommending that nutritional characteristics can’t be separated from environmental and suffering costs.

To ensure fish are included in all animal welfare legislation.

To implement better labelling of all marine animal products to include details of production methods and, where appropriate, bycatch levels and that any bycatch estimates be verified by independent observers.

To fund research via industry levy into less painful fishing methods.

Oppose the use of poisons and other lethal methods against mice.

Work with the grain industry and researchers to predict and prevent future population booms in mice.

Invest in research into non-lethal fertility control measures.

To immediately ban duck and quail shooting.

To reduce human appropriation of native bird habitat.

To expand education about the value of native birds and their interactions within ecosystems.

To increase support for long term monitoring of the health of native bird populations.

To expand research into potential bacterial, viral or any other biological threats to the wellbeing of native bird populations and into the transmission of diseases to humans and other animal species.

To work towards a phase out of firewood collection and use other than from plantations or essential removal of sick and potentially dangerous trees.

To further support initiatives aimed at identifying and proposing sites for inclusion on the list of Wetlands of International Importance under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, 1971), for the implementation of international treaties that relate to the protection of migratory birds, such as the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, the China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement, and the Republic of Korea-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement.

 Establish school education programs to explain the threats to platypus and what to do about them.

 An immediate ban on yabby traps. In particular, this implies a ban on the sale (not just the setting) of any type of trap that has the potential to kill platypus.

To ban the importation of all shark parts including fins through amending the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 (Cth) for imports (Import Regulations).

To give total protection to sharks in Australian waters.

To create school-level programs that teach the significance and importance of sharks.

To create school-level programs that teach safe behaviour around sharks.

To invest in non-lethal deterrence in beaches.

To expand research into shark populations and movements.

To educate people on the mercury risks associated with shark consumption where applicable.

Replace lethal population control methods currently used by city councils with humane methods centred on deterrence, care, contraception and relocation – whichever are most appropriate to a specific population.

Implement city council schemes that reduce human food waste and eliminate unintentional or unhealthy food sources for animals.

Educate residents on the needs of liminal animals to promote positive human-animal interactions and deter unwanted or detrimental interactions. Liminal animals are a valuable educational link between urban areas and nature.

Promote urban biodiversity and healthy, inter-species competition by planting native flora and re-establishing local ecosystems.

Introduce city council design and building standards that cater for the needs of liminal animals while preventing human animal conflict (for example, integrated nesting/housing where appropriate).

Structure our cities and transport systems to cause minimum impact to resident animals.

Regrow greenbelts between human settlements and wildlife habitat and cease urban sprawl which forces surviving wildlife into urban areas (see also our Land Clearing policy).

Legalise and fund the rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured liminal animals regardless of species.

Amend any legislation and policy which fails to consider the differences between urban and other populations of species, including their unique needs and impacts.

Reduce the impact of human noise and light on liminal animals, which will depend on the source and local environment

Prohibit the keeping, selling and slaughtering of live animals in Australian wet markets.

Apply international pressure to oppose overseas wet markets that sell live farmed and wild animals.

Raise awareness of the risk of zoonoses associated with wet markets and the enormous social, economic and health consequences for the global population (see our Biosecurity Policy).

Raise awareness of the connection between wet markets and the global trade in wildlife and its impacts on wildlife conservation.

Take proactive measures to mitigate human impacts on wildlife (See Wildlife Protection policy) and to therefore reduce the number of animals that need rescuing.

Recognise the importance of wildlife and wildlife care in our environment and society, and support wildlife carers by providing funding, resources and training.

Introduce a legal duty of care to assist native animals injured, orphaned or displaced, whether by one’s own actions or not, and whether found in private or public areas. At the minimum, this duty would require the finder to contact a wildlife carer/organisation who can give advice or assist with taking the animal to a vet or qualified carer.

Review the policies for licensing, and the operational practices of wildlife care groups and individuals. This might include inspections of facilities and a review of training required to care for wildlife.

Centrally coordinate and oversee the activities of wildlife carers in all jurisdictions through state-based Wildlife Rescue Committees. During natural disasters, such committees would coordinate urgent intervention of trained carers and collaboration with emergency services.

Establish a national wildlife care database to help identify wildlife hotspots and species at risk; assess outcomes for animals rescued; best practice for rescue, treatment, rehabilitation and release; and identification of suitable wildlife release areas.

Consult with wildlife carers/organisations regarding activities that may have a detrimental impact on wildlife, such as urban development, logging, mining and land clearing.

Support the creation and operation of mobile wildlife hospitals for emergency situations.

Halt further wildlife habitat destruction and fragmentation by prohibiting native forest logging and land clearing for agriculture (especially animal agriculture).

Take proactive measures, including provision of financial incentives, to restore and preserve functional ecosystems through rewilding.

Ensure that adequate and secure funding is provided to government agencies in all jurisdictions to properly enforce wildlife protection laws and take proactive, effective and prompt measures to protect threatened species and ecological communities.

Amend wildlife protection legislation to remove exemptions that currently allow the killing and injuring of wild animals for damage mitigation and fund research into the development of wildlife-friendly methods of crop protection.

Remove other exemptions that allow harm to be caused to native wildlife for commercial activities (*e.g.* forestry, kangaroo killing, development and animal agriculture) as well as research and recreation, and include an enforceable duty of care towards animals on a landholder’s property during all land use changes. 

Reduce the alarming mortality rate of native species killed on roads by reducing speed limits; avoid the building of roads through wildlife habitat; invest in the research and development of appropriate technologies to separate wildlife from traffic; impose severe penalties for intentional collisions; introduce wildlife-sensitive components in driver education and training programs; and create a legal duty of care to assist wild animals injured, orphaned or displaced (see Wildlife Care policy).

Introduce standards for built environments and infrastructure to make them safe for wildlife (*e.g.* wildlife-friendly fencing and netting, wildlife bridges and tunnels) and to prohibit structures, equipment, substances and practices that are known to pose risks to wildlife (*e.g. *barbed wire and cluster fencing).

Introduce comprehensive education programs in order to foster an appreciation of and respect for wildlife, and address animal cruelty, exploitation, ignorance and short-sighted government policies.

Support and fund wildlife care organisations as a means to mitigate harm (see Wildlife Care policy).

Encourage and support sustainable, ethical and respectful wildlife-based tourism in Australia.

o change farming and forestry practices to prevent harm to wombats or their burrows.

To ensure only non-lethal methods of wombat management are used.

To harmonise laws protecting wombats throughout Australia and to ensure effective enforcement and penalties.

To require that all development proposals take into account the presence of wombats with environmental assessment being undertaken by experts. Where infrastructure is at risk from wombats, then wombat friendly fencing and barriers should be used as required.

Wombat corridors across roads need to be monitored and research undertaken to find methods to mitigate harm.

To provide guidance and support to farmers suffering financial loss due to wombat damage to fences and/or infrastructure.

Farmers need to be prevented from using riparian zones as areas of economic activity. This will prevent conflict with wombats and preserve natural riparian processes and wildlife corridors.

To ensure that all properties claiming problems with wombats must be inspected by qualified experts. Any wombats harmed or reported to be in danger must be examined by these experts, who can provide advice and education on wombat behaviour and needs.

To support the training of community and landholder/landcare groups to observe, monitor and treat wombats suffering from mange. Wombats have a right to be free of this introduced disease.

To establish a federal Animal Rights Commission to investigate commercial animal exploitation and promote animal rights.

To abolish the property status of animals and introduce uniform legislation protecting animals from human interference or harm.

Until AJP’s uniform legislation is in place, we will also campaign to remove exemptions from existing animal welfare laws (e.g. industry codes of practice). No one should be above the law.

To introduce a publicly-funded Independent Animal Protection Agency (IAPA) in each state to enforce the new legislation.

To facilitate information sharing between law enforcement agencies to stamp out animal abuse and interpersonal violence.

To assert Australian sovereignty over all laws protecting animals, regardless of international trade treaties, until trading nations sign a Universal Convention of Non-Human Animal Rights.

To review ARC and NHMRC funding to ensure suitable support is being provided for non-animal experimentation.

To implement educational programs at all levels that replace current animal models with new and effective technologies; many of which already exist.

To review project funding priorities of the Federal Government’s Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation to ensure there is no support for animals used as resources.

To ensure that commercial chemical products, including cleaning agents and toiletries are clearly labelled to indicate whether they have or have not been tested on animals.

To immediately ban the use of stray dogs and cats in animal research.

To phase-out ARC and NHMRC funding towards experiments that involve the use of animals, except where there are net benefits to the animals concerned.

To work towards ending all animal racing, beginning with greyhound and jumps racing.

To immediately ban recreational hunting, game fishing, rodeos and horse-drawn carriage rides.

To immediately ban animals in circuses and marine theme parks.

To fund programs to ensure all animals involved in the above industries can be safely rehomed.

To redirect government funding and subsidies away from any industries that use animals for entertainment. Instead these subsidies should flow to education programs which raise awareness about the cruel realities in these industries. Our ultimate goal is to eliminate them.

To create government funded educational initiatives that promote alternative cruelty-free forms of entertainment and allow deductible gift recipient status (DGR) for approved not-for-profit organisations working in this area.

Educate the public on the serious harm to aquatic animals and the environment caused by animal aquaculture, and on the latest science revealing the sentience and the emotional and cognitive abilities of aquatic animals.

Ensure that aquatic animals are protected under the law in all states and territories

Transition away from animal aquaculture (including aquaponics), with economic incentives.

Enhance regulation and monitoring around the environmental impacts of animal aquaculture, including through the use of satellite imagery.

Develop seaweed and other algae products and promotional marketing strategies to broaden the appeal of such aquatic foods to Australian consumers

To reframe companion animals as individuals rather than as commodities and promote the benefits of a beloved companion animal (e.g. lower stress levels).

To promote animal adoption ahead of commercialised breeding and to provide shelters with adequate funding to cater to lost and unwanted animals, and prevent euthanasia other than for medical necessity.

To provide education on the proper care of animals to prevent cruelty and neglect while also increasing resources to investigate and prosecute animal cruelty (see our Animal Law policy).

To ensure that all companion animals are housed in appropriate environments without undue confinement and are given appropriate care, enrichment, exercise and stimulation according to their individual and species-specific needs.

To increase desexing levels through targeted government subsidies and community education programs, while investigating other options proven to work in reducing the oversupply of unwanted animals.

To outlaw puppy farms and kitten farms (see our Puppy Farm policy) and to introduce a nationally consistent Breeder Permit system to stop dodgy breeders and reduce the number of animals born without loving homes available.

To phase out the breeding of animals with inherent genetic problems.

To repeal breed-specific legislation throughout Australia.

To stop unnecessary discrimination against tenants with companion animals and increase the availability of homes, including retirement homes, where they are allowed, balancing the rights of landlords, tenants and companion animals.

To ensure our cities are suitable for companion animals with suitable toilet options, recreational spaces and better companion-friendly transport.

To include companion animals in probate and guardianship laws so that they are adequately cared for after the death or incapacitation of a human guardian.

The withdrawal of Government financial support for animal product industries except for research into welfare improvements.

A prohibition on the advertising of animal products and where applicable for health warnings on animal products.

Increased funding for research into effective ethical, environmental and health advertising. This should be followed by active Government support for advertising campaigns based around the ethical, environmental and health advantages of plant based diets.

To provide financial support and education opportunities where required that will encourage farmers to transition to plant based farming.

To introduce a tax on animal products commensurate with their adverse environmental and health impacts.

To allow deductible gift recipient status (DGR) for approved not-for-profit animal protection organisations.

The rapid phase out of live export and the slaughter of animals without pre-stunning for any reason; including religious beliefs.

The rapid phase out of all farm animal mutilations, including tail docking, castration, branding, ear marking, teeth clipping, dehorning and mulesing.

The rapid adoption of an 8 hour upper limit on any journey, and restrictions on the climatic conditions under which animals can be transported. Where animals must be transported over longer distances, then as an interim measure, each leg must not exceed 8 hours and the animals must be unloaded, watered and cooled.

As the uptake of plant based diets increases, we will work towards laws that abolish breeding and rearing for slaughter or other exploitation.

End greyhound racing in every state and the Northern Territory.

Until the industry is phased out, fund non-profit volunteer run greyhound rescue groups who undertake rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of greyhounds while educating the public about the horrors of racing.

Redirect government funding and subsidies into transitioning those employed by the industry into non-exploitative jobs and careers.

Legislate a ban on the commercial live export of greyhounds.

As the industry cannot be regulated, rather than push for an integrity commission, the AJP seeks to ban horse racing, including jumps and harness racing.

Until then, interim measures include –

Prohibit the carrying and use of the whip and prohibit the use of tongue ties, spurs and twitches.

Prohibit the slaughter of racehorses registered under the Australian Rules of Racing (Racing Australia) and representative state and territory racing Acts. 

Prohibit the racing of horses under three years of age. 

Increase penalty units/ imprisonment terms for the illegal use of jiggers and doping. 

Publish racehorses’ birth-to-death records in a transparent, publicly accessible database.

Legislate the rehabilitation and rehoming of retired racehorses. 

Decrease the number of race meetings. 

Redirect government bailouts and subsidies to other sectors such as human and environmental health and education. Also use funds to assist those who work within the industry to retrain into new, non-exploitative employment.

Impose an immediate ban on commercial live animal export.

Transition live export workers into industries that are humane, ethical and both environmentally and economically sustainable.

End the intensive breeding of companion animals.

Promote adoption and rescue as the best way to bring a companion animal into your family.

Require “pet” shops to keep only rescue animals for adoption, as they are currently a major outlet for puppy and kitten “farmers” (refer to our Companion Animals Policy).

Implement traceability for companion animals by integrating all state/territory systems into a national online register which documents the history of every animal from birth.

Ensure that people cannot use the Internet or other media to deceive the public regarding the origin of listed animals, and hold publishers accountable for advertisements that do not comply with legislation.

Allocate sufficient resources to enforce animal protection laws in each state (see our Animal Law policy), including annual inspections and audits of breeders and breeding facilities.

Introduce a cap on the number of breeding dogs/cats held at any one property and a cap on the number of litters a breeding dog/cat can have per year and over their lifetime.

Ensure that when puppy and kitten factories close, the animals are rehomed through appropriate rescue groups, and not killed.

Prevent businesses from calling themselves “registered breeders” simply because they have a local government permit.

An immediate ban on “rope and tie”

A rapid phase out of all rodeos

Increase funding for cruelty-free community sporting events in rural Queensland

To review existing legislation to ensure that all facilities holding animals meet high standards.

To steadily phase-out government funding of all facilities holding animals that do not exist in the service of the animals involved.

To ensure existing animal residents are appropriately cared for and not negatively impacted by funding phase-out.

To invest in independent studies that assess the quality of life of all animals in captivity to ensure breeding programs, even for threatened species, still provide a worthwhile quality of life for the animals involved.

To redirect government funds to sanctuaries and conservation parks which exist solely in the service of animals.

For existing facilities that do not aim to transition, adequate funds must be provided to ensure relocation of all animals to safe and appropriate homes.

To develop programs to educate on the intrinsic value of animals in their natural habitat rather than in captivity.

To provide funding into threatened species programs abroad where the animals relocation to Australia will have negative impacts on the animals involved.

Katter's Australian Party

Policies

Core Values and Principles

          Based on Christian values

          Protection of the Australian people and independence of Australian nation

          Governments should develop policies that maintain and advance mixed economic growth, full employment, rising living standards, prosperity, opportunity and equality for all Australians

“What we stand for”

Highest priority of Rural Australia – “sick of seeing capital cities get more than their fair share with regional Australia is expected to contribute but gets little to nothing in return”

The right for property owners to enjoy their property.

Protect Australia’s sovereignty and independence (have a defence force strong enough to deter invasion) – put Australia’s interests first in respect to agricultural land, corporations, resources and utilities.

Support those in genuine need while that need exists.

Agriculture

Reduce vegetation management laws. The primary foundation of a free democracy is property rights, and private ownership of property is the fundamental part of those rights.

Fight for Australian Dairy Industry by introducing the Fair Milk Logo Scheme – a voluntary scheme where milk processors who bottle milk could put a ‘fair milk’ logo on bottles where they paid farmers a fair price for the milk.

Economy + Industry

Support Regional Queensland and Rural Australia.

Create incentives for new projects, allocated supplies and royalties to mining and agriculture.

Support regional Australia.

Energy

Reduce energy prices by banning Optimised Replacement Cost valuation methodology and use Powerlink, Ergon and Energex. Also, by indefinitely freezing escalation of transitional tariffs.

Supply Queensland gas to Queensland first.

Reinstate the CopperString project[1].

Aid primary producers install solar pumps.

Environment

Practically non-existent with climate change.

3 policies: Make waterways safe from crocodiles, manage flying foxes and increase the ethanol mandate by 10 per cent by 2025. Make way for biofuels.

Firearms

Allow farmers to have access to category H firearms.

Introduce a real time licensing system to save resources and crack down on illegal weapons.

First Australians

KAP supports the first people of Australia, with plans to allow better title rights for land and an alcohol management plan.

Health

Increase organ donation.

Transition away from tobacco products and towards vapes.

Infrastructure

Encourage Townsville Mt Isa rail to be used.

Upgrade key roads to increase cattle industry value.

Incorporate cattle yards and rodeo grounds across the Cape and Gulf regions.

Seal the Hann highway to create a more direct and efficient route.

Encourage Australia to own the Galilee Rail Line.

Justice

Create an opportunity for offenders to move to a remote, approved property to work and become society members.

Rural and Regional

Create North Queensland as a separate state to unleash its full potential.

Decrease liquor licensing prices for pubs in rural areas.

Ensure regional councils are given a greater share via the Local Government Financial Assistance Grants.

Transport

Level the playing field so rideshare operators comply with safe safety standards and service levels that exist for taxis.

Water

Support and develop Hells Gate dam.

Construct dams in the North Burnett region to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity.

Develop irrigation in North West Queensland.

Centre Alliance

Policies

Aborignal and Torres Strait Islanders

Centre Alliance believes to be the first Australians and acknowledge and respect their ongoing relationship with the land.

Consult Aboriginal people when developing Indigenous Affairs policy. This is in efforts to meet their needs.

Provide funding to “close the gap” between Aboriginals and non-indigenous Australians.

Provide funding to protect Indigenous and non-indigenous land.

Ageing Population

Oppose the increase in the pension age while simultaneously increasing encouragement to be involved in paid or community service workforce.

Cap the utility costs of living no greater than CPI.

Encourage and deliver affordable, comfortable, well-maintained retirement and aged care accommodations.

Agriculture

Invest in agriculture research and development organisations to improve profitability of Australian agriculture.

Create more transparency between agriculture companies and consumers via labels, source and ingredient lists.

Australian Made

Support Australian businesses to create a flow-on effect.

Aviation

Create impartial watchdog over all aviation regulators.

Implement recommendations from Senate reports on aviation and safety.

Childhood Education and Care

Enhance Early Childhood Education and provide federal funding.

Crime

Address substance abuse as a major contributor to violence and theft.

Allow victims to have a greater say in plea bargaining.

Increase and enhance rehabilitation programs.

Cyber Safety

Develop emphasis on prevention of cyber bullying in schools.

Defence

First and foremost, Australia needs to be self-sufficient in defence resources.

Allow Parliament to be involved when troops enter conflict zones to best Australia’s needs.

Disabilities

Carefully evaluate NDIS to ensure maximum benefit for clients.

Education

Support school transformation to drive a new era of development and growth across the full range of expectations for 21st century learning.

Employment and Workplace Relations

Respect and acknowledge unions in the workplace to give a voice to workers.

Review employment and workplace relations systems on a regular basis.

Energy

Swift and quick transition to renewable energy sources.

Allow easier access to taxpayer funded research towards renewable energy and climate change.

Create government policies to facilitate job creating energy industries.

Environment

Preserve and protect Australia’s best agricultural land. Protect key environmental assets. As well as protect groundwater from mining and coal seam gas exploration.

Vague, only protects “key and best??”

Family Violence

Create federal bodies, laws, education and funding to protect families that suffer from family violence.

Food Security

Create incentives to invest in agriculture.

Change competition laws to allow for the break-up of companies that abuse their market power in their dealings with farmers.

Foreign Aid

Develop foreign aid budget that represents 0.7% of Gross National Income to continue the attainment of UNs SDGs.

Continue to have Australia attain international standards as a developed country.

Foreign Investment

Adapt New Zealand’s foreign investment laws – lowers threshold for foreign investment approval and sets clear definition of national interest.

Promote transparency via a foreign investment register.

Genetically Modified Organisms

Ensure labelling of GMOs to ensure transparency for consumers.

Impose stricter regulations to protect farmers who want their crops to remain GMO free.

Fund research of long-term health and environmental effects of GMOs.

Government Accountability and Transparency

Centre Alliance believes that the public has a right to expect governments will deliver services efficiently and fairly without unnecessary waste and duplication.

Establish anti-corruption commission and whistleblower legislation that protects informants.

Allow citizens timely access to government information and the ability to criticise the government and demand change.

Enhance Freedom of Information laws.

Government Procurement

Place importance on ‘value’ over ‘price’.

Ensure Australian standards are met, and the procurement is carried out to meet said standards.

Health

Implement a new approach to health care that focuses on prevention.

Enhance healthcare standards by reducing quantity and increasing quality.

Reinstate 30% private health insurance to take pressure off the public hospital system.

Housing Affordability

Create a housing affordability taskforce to tackle the dilemma by reducing red tape and taxes and highlighting innovative and cost-effective building and housing concepts.

Stop foreign investors from investing in the housing market.

Immigrants

Centre Alliance realise immigrants have played a key role in Australia’s development. Create a new visa to encourage investors to settle in areas of low population and economic growth.

Innovation, Technology, R&D

Increase funding in universities, government agencies and companies to undertake research and development to align with other countries. Meanwhile reaching specific target goals.

Live Animal Exports

Ensure animals are treated according to Australian animal welfare standards while also processing and exporting chilled meat.

Substance Abuse & Rehabilitation

Treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal issue.

Explore and research ways to disrupt and minimise illicit drug business models.

Increase funding to assure better access to rehabilitation clinics.

Mental Health

Increase funding for preventative mental health measures.

Penalty Rates

Continue to allow the Fair Work Commission to determine pay and conditions. Thus being said – not lowering pay of workers in a time of low wage growth.

Predatory Gambling

Ensure Productivity Commission regularly updates gambling research.

End micro-betting on sports events as well as sports betting ads during games. Remove ATMs from venues with poker machines.

Regional Australia

Encourage investing, tourism and immigration to regional Australia via incentives.

Boost renewable energy in regional areas to increase manufacturing.

Population

Again, encourage people to move to regional areas with low population.

See Regional Australia* and Immigrants*

Refugee/Asylum Seekers

Treat genuine asylum seekers with compassion and dignity.

Develop assessment and depending on outcomes, individuals must return to their country of origin if safe or settle in another country with cooperation from UNHCR.

Protect whistleblowers in this area.

Small Business

Encourage Australians to develop their own niche and/or nurture their enterprises.

Create tax breaks for small businesses during the first 2 years of operation. This includes payroll tax exemption for up to 15 full-time employees.

Subcontractors

Report on insolvency in the construction industry via the Senate Economics Committee’s recommendations.

Create national legislation to secure payment regimes and rapid adjudication processes.

Superannuation

Re-calibrate tax-breaks for superannuation so the greatest benefit is directed at those with the least savings while a reduced benefit is enjoyed by those with high savings.

Terrorism

Provide resources into counter radicalisation strategies to prevent brainwashing.

Extremists that groom susceptible people for acts of violence need to be put away.

Hold terrorists to be locked up for community safety in Australia instead of sending them away to country of origin to retaliate overseas.

Utilities

Transition essential utilities (electricity, water, gas and NBN) to be owned by the public.

Cap utility costs at CPI.

Water Security

Fast-track storm water harvesting as opposed to desalination.

Acknowledge states that were early adopters of water-efficiency schemes.

Address wasteful practices to ensure fair distribution of water across the entire system.

Jacqui Lambie Network

Policies

The JLN does not have predetermined party policies, voting on each policy legislation as it comes. Instead, they have core values that they use to determine how to vote. 

Open and Accessible Politics

Supporting citizen access to and participation in political decisions. 

Clear and open communication of policies.

Available politicians and representatives.

Politics should be transparent, particularly in funding.

Helping “regular” citizens to become active in politics.

Policies that benefit citizens

Turning politics into a tool for the people, rather than the elite. Promoting citizens above donors. Helping regular people and advocating on their behalf.

Accountability

JLN strongly believes in ending corruption through scrutiny

All policies should be subject to high levels of review and scrutiny before being voted on

Rex Patrick Team

Policies

Rex Patrick is currently a Senator and he is running to keep his seat in the Senate. He is focused on the South Australia Region and claims that “SA needs to keep a strong and independent voice in the Senate.” 

 

Keeping Jobs in SA

  • Preventing the shift of 700 SA Collins Class submarine full cycle docking (deep level maintenance) jobs to WA. 
  • Putting $25 million of seed funding towards the Cape Hardy Port project on the Eyre Peninsula.

Protecting Our Environment

  • Protecting the Murray-Darling river.
  • Protecting the fishing and tourism industries by stopping drilling in the Great Australian Bight.
  • Investing in renewables and electric vehicles.

Standing for Regional SA

  • Reconsideration of the location of national radioactive waste management facility at Kimba and Hawker with properly considering and assessing the Indigenous cultural and heritage at the nominated sites.

Supporting SA’s Manufacturing Industry

  • Restoring the Whyalla wheel industry.
  • Taking action on the advanced automotive industry, on energy transition, critical infrastructure and fuel security

Fighting For the People of SA

  • Taking action against the genocide happening to Uyghur peoples in re-education camps in China.
  • Fighting to ban goods produced by Uyghur forced labour.
  • Standing with the Uyghur community in Australia.
  • Helping the Robodebt victims.

Keeping Government Accountable

  • Establishing an anti-corruption body for the Federal Government called “Federal Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC)”.
  • Strengthening Australia’s Freedom of Information (FOI) system to ensure transparency and accountability.
  • Disclosure of the political donations in a political party regardless of the amount of donations.
  • Making background checks for incoming ministers mandatory to combat foreign espionage and political interference.
  • Full Parliamentary oversight over intelligence operations.

Supporting South Australian Made Products

  • Reducing the dependency on foreign supply chains and boosting onshore resilience.
  • Strengthening Australia’s anti-dumping regime to prevent cheap, poor-quality imported goods flooding the market.
  • Demanding the Australian Government use Australian steel on all taxpayer-funded projects, including projects funded by Federal grants to the states and territories.
  • Requiring Federal and State governments to always take full account of the economic and social benefits of selecting Australian providers when they purchase goods and services.
  • Banning the importation of dangerous, poor quality cladding and supporting Australian building material manufacturers.
  • Encouraging value-add activities in Australia. By stopping exporting rocks. Rather than exporting all our iron ore, making steel in Australia. Rather than exporting all the lithium, making batteries.

Climate Change Action

  • Improve the Bushfire Preparedness
  • Preparing a plan and committing to “Net zero by 2050”
  • Greater investment in renewable energy systems, generation and storage
  • Building the necessary infrastructure, encouraging businesses to be part of the global EV supply chain, and ensure Australia is not just a consumer but also a producer. 
  • The development of local and micro grids, with localised generation, storage and distribution systems.
  • Overhauling the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and developing new binding and enforceable National Environmental Standards.
  • Encouraging investment in clean and renewable energy.

Liberal Democrats Party

Policies

“Low Taxes. Small Government. Individual Responsibility.”

Freedom From Covid Alarmism

Immediate end of all government enforced COVID restrictions:

  • Open the schools and keep them open
  • Never lockdown again
  • Peaceful protests must be allowed
  • Vaccines should be available and voluntary.
  • End the mask mandate
  • Ensure Australians can get home
  • Remove the border closures & travel restrictions 
  • Remove contact tracing and QR codes
  • Remove social distancing & mandatory self-isolation
  • Investigation of Australia’s COVID response
  • End the “emergency powers”.

Recall Elections

  • Make recall elections available
  • Enable a citizens’ veto of any legislation
  • Make voting voluntary

Debt&Deficit

  • Cut 10% to all federal departments (besides Defence)
  • Cut a further 1% per year to all federal departments (besides Defence) until the Commonwealth debt is paid
  • Abolish duplicate departments
  • Defund the ABC & SBS
  • Abolish all nanny state advertising
  • Abolish subsidies for renewable energy
  • Remove the tax/welfare churn
  • Reduce politicians pay by 10%
  • Abolish taxpayer funding of political parties

Low Taxes

  • A $40,000 tax-free threshold and a flat-rate 20% income tax for individuals and businesses above $40,000. 

Voluntary Superannuation

  • Make superannuation voluntary
  • No more increases to default superannuation rates
  • Simplify the superannuation industry

Small Business

  • Reducing the number of regulations for businesses
  • Remove retail trading hour restrictions
  • Freeze and decentralise the minimum wage
  • Relax occupational licensing and certification
  • Cut Green Tape: The Renewable Energy Target should be abolished, and all associated regulations scrapped. 
  • Constrain the excess of government agencies
  • Make it easier to start a business
  • Reform employment law
  • Removal of the implicit government guarantee of financial institutions.
  • Classifying cryptocurrency as a currency

Cheap and Reliable Energy

  • Free market energy: Government funding, ownership and regulation of energy sources should be abolished
  • Certainty for the energy industry
  • No net-zero emissions target
  • Abolish the renewable energy target (RET)
  • Repeal the blanket ban on nuclear energy in Australia
  • Lift state government bans on uranium mining
  • Make regulations on nuclear energy fair and consistent
  • Creation of safe nuclear waste storage industry

Decentralised Education

  • Allow schools to opt out of the National Curriculum
  • Abolish centralised testing such as NAPLAN
  • Fund students not institutions
  • Allow new and innovative business models
  • Allow home education co-ops
  • University reform: there should be competition among universities and HECS-style delayed payment system

Free Speech

  • A free speech constitutional amendment:  “Parliament shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
  • Abolish Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, and all similar legislation
  • Stop internet censorship
  • Encourage a free and open internet.

Freedom from Surveillance

  • No digital identity laws
  • Abolish mass surveillance laws
  • Stop government hacking and seizure
  • Devolution of surveillance laws to states and territories
  • Stop the collection of metadata
  • Require warrants for targeted surveillance of individual Australians
  • No cash bans
  • Stop attacks on encryption
  • Focus government on improving its own cyber security
  • Free Julian Assange

Using THRIVE Framework to compare Australian party policies for the 2022 Federal Election

If you’ve reached this far, you probably want to know more about the THRIVE framework and our methodology.

The THRIVE Framework Systemic Holistic Model covers the factors that we consider when performing this evaluation. There are 12 Foundational Focus Factors, divided into four areas.  

Our policy evaluation thus examines the key policies in relation to these areas. 

 

Significance

What is the issue and what does it impact? Focus factors to consider for this section include:

Materiality – The material impacts of economical, environmental, social, and governance issues on stakeholders. 

Multi capital – Consider financial, plant and equipment, intellectual property, human capital, social relationships with community and primary stakeholders, and renewable and non-renewable natural environmental resources.

Integrated reporting Measure how it creates value by bringing together the strategy, governance, performance, and prospects to reflect the profit-making, social, and environmental context within which an entity operates. 

 

Scale 

How do we measure it? What kind of data is relevant and available? Focus factors include:

Finite Resources – Our resources are finite/limited, thus it’s important to measure how much is being used in relation to how much exists. Gauge the impact of how limited resources impact the proposed changes. 

Science-Based – All of our work must be evidence-based, following the best available scientific knowledge and methodologies. We use peer-reviewed research and other theoretical data.

 

Context-Based  Consider factual, practical data gathered from local, regional, cultural, and other non-theoretical standpoints. 

 

Scope 

How big is the issue? Where does it fit into the bigger picture? Focus factors include:

Boundary/Entity ·         Select the trajectory of change by having a clear, concise understanding of the relevant limits and exclusions.

Strong Sustainability Emphasise transformations that protect, maintain, or enhance natural resources.

Complex Wicked Problems – Focus fearlessly on problems or symptoms with multiple clear or hidden causes that are also difficult or impossible to solve; expect to fine-tune solutions as some problems are apt to become worse as solutions are implemented.

 Shift

The changes that need to happen to bring us into the thrivable zone. Focus factors include:

Values based Our thrivable zone is based on our core values. : Shift from an economical approach to creating products or services in consideration of a moral and ethical responsibility to maximise economic, ecological, and social impacts.

Linear to CircularChanging behavioural patterns to reuse materials and reduce waste. Shift from traditionally linear (take, make, waste) to circular (reduce, reuse, recycle) economic concepts.  

Trans-DisciplinaryFactoring in the different disciplines that relate to the issue. ·         Collaborate with people from all relevant specialties to achieve universal goals.

What is Thrive?

Sustainability matters! THRIVE is The Holistic Regenerative Innovative Value Entity. THRIVE consists of a framework, platform and Sustainability Performance Scorecard to help people and organisations analyse and improve their strategies for a Thriveable Future.