As we reach the "pointy end" of the campaign and I allow myself to contemplate (fleetingly!) a full night's sleep... I am already thinking about what I'll miss. I've particularly enjoyed the various forums I've attended - reflecting the huge & diverse array of passions and concerns in Australian society - from equal marriage to the Murray Darling Basin to mental health and climate change... There are many things about this democratic process of ours that hearten me but the tried-and-true chance to meet and try to convince constitutents with a finely (or sometimes not so finely) honed presentation is one of my favourites. The good news is that - yesterday - I participated in a forum run by SACOSS (the South Australian embodiment of ACOSS) on issues of fairness and inclusion - and the GREENS WON the popular vote!!
I will - rather immodestly :-) - draw on the SACOSS Press Release issued yesterday:
Media Release For Immediate Release Tuesday 17August 2010
Greens Clear Winners for Community Services & Health Sector
An exit poll today of people attending a pre-election community services and health forum revealed huge support for the Greens policy positions. The forum was jointly hosted by South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) & the Association of Major Community Organisations (AMCO).
AMCO spokesperson Simon Schrapel said after the forum: “We asked each of the candidates from the four major parties to respond to three key questions:
- How their party would contribute to building a fair and just Australia?
- How they would seek to increase the standard of living for the poorest people in our community?
- We asked them to consider the staffing crisis the sector faces, and the attitude of the parties to the need for better wages and conditions for the people who serve some of our most marginalised and vulnerable community members”
Schrapel went on to say, “The exit poll we conducted was extremely revealing. It is clear that people overwhelmingly felt the Greens, represented by lead senate candidate Penny Wright, had by far the best responses to all three of these key questions. The Labor party, represented by Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency & Water Penny Wong, ranked second on all counts. Both of these rated well ahead of the two other parities — Family First, represented by Senate candidate Bob Day, scored a narrow victory over Senator Mary Jo Fisher, the Liberal representative today”
(I'd like to insert the stunning graph in here - which basically says it all - but can't work out how to do the technical things necessary. If interested you could always go to the SACOSS website and see if they've put up the Press Release yet.) Basically, in nice coloured pillars, it showed that the Greens won on all responses... :-)
http://www.sacoss.org.au/media/2010/100817-SACOSS-AMCO-pre-election-foru...
An exit poll today of people attending a pre-election community services and health forum revealed huge support for the Greens policy positions. The forum was jointly hosted by South Australian Council of Social Service (SACOSS) & the Association of Major Community Organisations (AMCO).