Abbottsolut Vodka

With less than a month until the Australian election, I feel it's pretty important to start campaigning now. We've been working on anti-Tony Abbott posters at work, however, this one was conceived and executed solely by myself for SOYA (Qantas Spirit Of Youth Awards). I lost a lot of sleep working on this.

Here's my position - I am opposed to Tony Abbot running our country. He is a patronising, misogynistic, power hungry politician who doesn't respect women, doesn't care about refugees, believes Australia belongs under the English monarchy and won't legalise same-sex marriage. He allows his religion and personal values to cloud his political stances and his campaign relies on dragging down the other candidates, instead of demonstrating his own aptitude. I don't support the Liberals, because I think their name is misleading and so are the people who represent them.

I am also opposed to a Labor government, but to a lesser extent. I have mixed feelings about Julia Gillard. On one hand, she is free from religion, so she isn't making decisions based solely on her faith - on the other hand, she is making decisions based on her own personal views and not what is fair for Australians and in the best interest of our nation. She won't legalise same-sex marriage because she believes marriage is defined as a union between a man and a woman. And who are we to redefine things? (The irony of having a female Prime Minister who is all about 'moving forward', but doesn't want to break 'tradition'.) But separate drinking fountains just means shorter lines for everybody, right Julia?

As far as I am concerned, if you don't believe in equal rights, you aren't fit to lead a country. It runs much deeper than just denying couples a certificate. It's about basic respect and treating people on an equal level to yourself. Never mind that Julia dresses like a lesbian and is dating a hair dresser. A HAIR DRESSER. (They're clearly each other's beards.)

The reason I am less opposed to Labor, is because I can depend on them to dump her body in a ditch when her popularity fades, just like they did with Rudd's.

The one thing that politicians love to carry on about is the economy. Yes, the economy is important, but I don't think it trumps environmental and humanitarian issues. At worst, if the economy collapses, we go back to living in huts made from twigs and straw. If global warming takes over or the wars that we are involved in escalate (like they have done, twice in the last century), we're totally fucked. Like, completely. For good. No more human race. A good economy won't stop the polar ice-caps from melting. Or stop the Japanese from harpooning whales. Or stop foreigners from seeking asylum. There needs to be some compromise that neither Julia nor Tony are offering.

We're told we live in a democratic society, but here's the issue - in Australia, everyone must vote. This is problematic, because it means ignorant fuck-tards, who don't even know the names of the candidates, let alone their policies, will flock to the polling booths and essentially decide who's responsible for running our country with no prior knowledge. I'll vote for Tony because I'm Italian and I like that name. I'll vote for Julia because she has ovaries. These are usually the same people who expressed their hatred for Kevin Rudd when he introduced the alcohol tax, but loved him when he sent them some cash for a new TV and some smokes.

We're asked to (essentially) choose between two incompetent children who both just want to win - and we're told that's our freedom. It's like being a vegetarian and going to a restaurant that only offers a choice of steak or chicken.

So who am I voting for at this election? The Greens, obviously. I get a lot of shit about this. People insinuate that I am a left-wing extremist, tree hugging whale lover who wants pot legalised, but that's not the case. Well, kind of, but not entirely. I vote for them because their policies are aligned most closely with my own. (FYI - The Greens are not Greenpeace. I'm sick of people ignorantly telling me that they are.) I am also told by people that they don't want to 'waste their vote' by choosing the Greens, but if you actually know how to fill out a ballot paper, you know this isn't an issue.

I encourage you to read their policies, instead of automatically disregarding them on the basis of 'things you've heard'. You might learn a thing or two. (And really, it's not like they can mess up our country any more than the Liberals & Labor have over the years.)

www.greens.org.au/policies

(This took about 11 hours to render. All work is my own. I have a really high quality version if anyone wants to make use of it.)