It might help if the media didn't continuously frame this like a two horse race
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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The alternative vote strikes again!
Vote greens??
Indeed, i have for about 20 years, this is the year boys ! (and girls)
It's like Linux on the desktop.. :) this os the year!
Anyhoo, Greens 1 , then Independent 2 then the lesser shit stains after that.
Support the small parties/independents and read independent news as much as possible.
A significant degree of policy is, for better or worse, dictated by whoever of the big 2 forms majority or majority-of-minority government. So of course, people can/should vote for parties that are stronger on policies that they care about like climate, but movement in the platforms of the big two matters a lot as well.
OK, so how can we create movement in the platforms of the big two parties? Here are some approaches I'm aware of, what do you think?
- preferencing The Greens and independents/ minor parties that prioritise the environment will put more pressure on major parties to change their policies
- asking your local candidates to commit to environmental issues you care about: e.g. more limits on fossil fuel expansion, more support for renewables, committing to the Great Forest National Park, more funding for endangered species monitoring and protections, protecting our forests and better enforcing laws against landclearing and pollution, putting a real price on carbon, making polluting industries pay through better taxes that foreground environmental impacts.
What else?
what do you think?
Hah, I think I appreciate your constructive optimism
Those are the two easy ones that come to mind; there's also "visibility-raising" actions like joining in on marches / protests, though I've never been quite sure what the marginal benefit of those are
Well yeah but we also need to prioritise global trade, the economy, jobs and growth, health, education, cost of living, home ownership, and so on and so forth.
ALP's policy is to achieve 82% renewable energy by 2030.
The Liberal's policy is to pivot to nuclear which is just another way of saying "keep burning coal indefinitely".
The reason no one is talking about these things is because it's not a priority for the electorate.
That said, Liberal's nuclear policy seems like a weak point to me and I suspect Labor are holding it in reserve in case they need to regain the narrative at some point or to roll it out in the final week of the campaign.
"it’s not a priority for the electorate." - it's worth diving deeper here, rather than stopping at this surface level of thinking.
For example:
- Why is concern about climate change and the environment less of priority in Australia than other highly educated, OECD countries?
- What is the role of our media environment; in particular, the narratives from dominant NewsCorp and Sky News?
- How has the Overton Window shaped what people pay attention to in terms of public policy and possible futures?
- Acknowledging that mining and extraction have played a large part in the history of Australia's economic development but we now need to transition to renewables and cleaner industries, what changes do we need to make to policies, public discourse, science education, jobs-ready training, systems and structures?
- What narratives, systems and structures are favouring short termism and limiting our ability as a nation to address long term issues? Experts and government agencies are fully aware that the climate crisis already impacting (and will have massive effects on) global trade, the economy, jobs and growth, health, education, cost of living, home ownership. The Insurance industry is sounding the alarm already.. Impacts on communities worldwide through bushfire, flood and other natural disasters are just the starting point. So, thinking broadly, how might we improve our systems so that we don't just keep throwing money at short-term fixes, and start to make change that will could massively change the future for Australians?
These are complex issues that need layers of analysis. Systems Thinking is a useful approach, rather than thinking about just the citizens, politicians, and industry in isolation
More about Aus attitudes to climate issues:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-05/australia-attitudes-climate-change-action-morrison-government/11878510--- tps://interactives.lowyinstitute.org/features/australian-attitudes-to-climate-change/
Systems thinking and climate change:
"In the context of climate change, a systems thinking approach refers to understanding and predicting people’s response to the crisis by exploring the factors and vulnerabilities that influence them. It involves simultaneously seeing the overall climate picture and how it intersects with health, gender, livelihoods, and other sectors–this helps achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the issue." https://idronline.org/article/climate-emergency/connecting-the-dots-systems-thinking-for-climate-solutions/
Short online course: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/using-systems-thinking-to-tackle-the-climate-and-biodiversity-crisis
Really? I think people are too busy being terrified about the US descent into fascism and tearing down global trade. That has ultimately had a much stronger impact on this election than either parties climate change policies.
Yes, and systems thinking would encourage us to explore why that is: Starting with understanding the patterns, systems and structures, mental models that cause ppl (especially in Aus) to treat Climate Change like a less important problem than the rise of fascism.
I mean as someone who is deeply concerned about climate change... our main military ally becoming a Fat poorly run Nazi state with nukes is kind of a big deal...
Both are problems one is like a fire on a cooktop the other is like a more like a leaking pipe in a wall both will ruin your home... But you put out the fire before you call the plumber
Agreed, we must direct a lot of attention to what's happening in the US. But we have multiple government departments to work on concurrent crises (not one person with one phone).
Amazing.