when sally rooney said “I think we’re at that weird age where life can change a lot from small decisions.” and “now I can never go back there again. I mean, those friendships are gone. Rob is gone, I can never see him again. I can never get that life back.” when lorde said “Couldn’t wait to turn fifteen, Then you blink and it’s been ten years” and “It drives you crazy getting old” when taylor swift said “Nothing’s ever left you scarred, and even though you want to just try to never grow up” and “How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?” and when phoebe bridgers said “And when I grow up, I’m gonna look up from my phone and see my life” and when mitski said “And I was so young when I behaved twenty five yet now I find I’ve grown into a tall child” and when-
it’s like the ground beneath my feet has shifted so suddenly I can’t find my balance. After having lived under a right wing government for the entirety of my adolescent and adult life I don’t understand how to process hope. Hope that we will have climate action. Hope that we will get treaty. Hope that our public services will be funded. That our social security will increase. Hope.
Watching the election last night had me cheering and now I’m left in tears. I had no idea how terribly the stress had been effecting my mental health until it was gone.
i’m screaming at how many voters have swung away from the major australian parties like. nothing could better encapsulate the disillusionment with the political status quo, how out of touch australian politicians are with the actual population, how people are sick of climate inaction, how people WILL leave behind parties that refuse to modernise.. this is all so satisfying to watch
Things other countries might not know about Australian elections:
Voting is compulsory. The punishment for not voting is a $20 fine. There is no punishment for vandalising your vote, handing in a blank ballot, or just showing up , having you name crossed off and leaving again.
However, if you don’t enrol to vote when you turn 18, our data systems aren’t sophisticated enough to catch you.
The Liberal Party is right wing and the Labor Party is left wing.
Because we have compulsory voting, the major parties tend to aim to appeal to undecided centrallist voters. People with fixed political beliefs (most people) are kind of taken for granted. This is very boring but it keeps our politics from getting as polarised as other countries where parties aren’t just trying to win over voters but also to motivate their bases to come out and vote.
Voting happens mostly at schools and community centres.
Parties send volunteers to hang out at polling places and try convince people to vote their way. But things stay pretty polite because Australians find enthusiasm to be suspect.
Once you cross a certain line to enter the poling place those people have to leave you alone.
Schools and charities will sell things like homemade cakes and BBQ sausages in bread as a fundraiser.
The sausages are called ‘democracy sausages’ and taste just slightly of democracy.
You can also do a postal vote and vote in the days before election day at certain places.
Vandalised billboard in Sydney of the United Australia Party, a minor right-wing party controlled by mining billionaire Clive Palmer.
Palmer pumps tens of millions of dollars into advertising his party, paying for billboards all over the country. The party stands little chance of actually getting any candidates elected, but that isn’t really the point anyway. The true purpose of the party is to funnel voting preferences to the ruling conservative Liberal Party.
