You Choose the Policies you want
 

Mathew Clarke - Independent

 

I am here because I want something better for Victoria and Australia.
I don't matter, and I am not important. Political parties and politicians don't matter. The above are supposed to work for you. That's what I want to fix.
 

We have been running politics wrong since the first time a politician became popular.

Since we began celebrating popularity, politicians have begun doing what is most popular and not what is best for us.

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Victoria Chooses the Policies It Wants - Phase 1

I am not asking people to vote for a fixed list of my personal policies. I am proposing a different way for an elected representative to work: give the people a much stronger and more direct say in which policy ideas their representative should pursue.

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The idea in five steps

1. A policy or policy idea is submitted. It could come from a resident, an MP, a political party or another source.

2. The proposal is published without identifying who submitted it. The aim is to judge the idea rather than the name or party behind it.

3. Voters can read a short summary, more detail and, where available, the full proposal. Information about likely costs, benefits, risks, feasibility and consequences should be included.

4. Registered voters in the electorate can indicate YES, NO or MORE INFORMATION REQUIRED. Individual responses remain private, and live totals should not influence later voters.

5. After the consultation closes, the result is published. I would use that result to guide what I advocate for, support, or seek to develop as your representative.

 

Why keep the author anonymous?

Because I want people to consider the proposal before deciding whether they like the person, party or organisation behind it. A useful idea should not automatically become popular because a popular politician proposed it, or be dismissed because an unpopular person did.

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Do I have personal opinions?

Of course. But being elected would not make my personal opinion more valuable than everybody else’s. My proposal is to give constituents a structured way to influence the positions I take as their representative.

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Does a public vote automatically become law?

No. One MP cannot make Victorian law alone. Parliament debates and votes on legislation. My commitment would be to use the electorate’s results to guide my work in Parliament, pursue the preferred outcome where possible, and report back honestly when Parliament, the law, cost, evidence or practical constraints prevent it from being achieved as proposed.

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What if the answer is not simple?

Some decisions will involve conflicting priorities, close results, low participation, legal limits, budget constraints or urgent parliamentary votes. Those situations need clear rules rather than pretending every question can be solved by a simple YES or NO. I want those rules to be transparent and developed with public input.

 

Why no conventional policy list?

Because the point of this campaign is not to ask everyone to adopt my personal package of policies. It is to test a different model: judge individual ideas on their merits, give people useful information about the consequences, and give the electorate a stronger role in deciding what its representative pursues.

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Is it possible to change?
Sure, but change is hard not just for politics but for people who already love hating politics. The angry people will be unhappy if politics finally (mostly) works. However, don't worry, politics will never be perfect, so there will always be something for people to hate. 

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Victoria Chooses the Policies It Wants - Phase 2

Below explains the proposal in more depth, including how policies could be submitted, how information could be presented, and I explain further why I believe the author should initially remain anonymous. I also explain how this proposal could be used across all electorates in Victoria, and hopefully one day it will be across the whole of Australia

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Who will set it up?

I am one person with a regular job. If I am voted in, I can begin work on it and try to get others motivated to want it as well. Most people who are in it for themselves and their party will block the idea, so it will be hard unless all people are alerted to it. Then, after some time, it should be easier to get traction. To start with, I would have to set it up myself on my own Member of Parliament website and run it only for the Bayswater electorate.

 

Can we do this in my electorate as well so I can get a say?

Yes, and I will help you as best I can. However, it will be up to the people within your electorate to email the person you voted in to force them into implementing this idea. 

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It sounds good, but we want someone running this that we can trust.

Eventually, it would be best if a separate department ran this proposed idea. A department that is not influenced by politicians or political parties. Similar to how the Reserve Bank is run (love them or hate them). Once an independent department is allowed to run it, only then could it be used properly throughout Victoria/Australia. However, the people would need to pressure the person they elected into their electorate to make this happen. The other good thing about this idea is that once it is implemented, it won't matter which government is in charge; you will still get a say, and you will always get a say.

 

Can policies be trusted?
We still need policies. They will need to remain boring so that they are created correctly and will actually help people in Victoria and Australia. We do not need more drama in politics. Everyone will be given the opportunity to create policies that are important to them and the suburb they live in. These will not be vote-grabbing tools or money-extortion attempts that are currently being pitched to us. To ensure this is the case, policies will be listed anonymously. That would mean a politician's policy would be right up alongside a regular person's policy. Also, if you click on a policy to 'like' that policy, no one else will see that you liked it. 

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That's mostly fine, but the policy might be rubbish.

As you may know, there are long-serving public servants who know a lot about their department. They know what works and what won't work. They know the repercussions of a policy, or at least a few likely outcomes. You may also know that academics and some journalists are quite knowledgeable in these spaces as well. They will be given the opportunity to write a few possible outcomes (and chances of success) of the policy. This will help people judge a policy not just by what it is, but by how it could be good (or bad).

 

What happens if one person decides they like a policy, but the other one hates it? How do you decide who is right, considering you work for all of us? Who is right?
As a group of registered voters within an electorate, you will all decide on what policies you like by clicking YES or NO on as many policies as you like (one vote per person per policy). There will also be a "More information required" option, due to some policies being too ambiguous.

Right, so we decide on the policy we want. You don't get a say?
Every registered voter in that electorate has a say. Everyone!
Every member of parliament will have a say because they are also registered voters. 

If policies are still going to be boring, why would anyone want to read them or write them?
It's ok. There are people who like writing policy. I work for a nonprofit that works with policy. I enjoy it, which means you think I am crazy. There are many others who like policy work as well. However, for the average person who wants to write policy but doesn't know how, there will also be a space for you to submit solid ideas. It will then be the public servant's challenge to turn it into a proper policy.

Yeah, but I'm still not going to read something that is boring.
Fair enough. So, the policy will be listed in a few ways: as a heading, a short summary, a long summary, and then the complete document. It will be up to you what you judge the policy on. Read the long version or read the short one. This may sound bad, but there are some people who just want a policy to happen, not how it will get done, which is fair enough.

We are up against old traditions that die hard.

People want slogans to cheer behind or ridicule. However, we need to change that mindset that was pushed onto us by political parties who want to get the popular vote.

Why have you not listed a single policy?
Well, again, it would be a slogan that people want to read. However, that's not the reason that no policies are listed here. As mentioned, I am not important. If I am hired to be in politics, then I will do the best job I can. I will be a public servant setting up a way to run politics that serves everyone rather than serving the political parties.

If I did list a policy or slogan on this site to try and entice voters (I have many helpful ones I am desperate to share), then what I list might become popular or unpopular just because I listed it. And that would harm an otherwise good policy.

Therefore, it needs to be listed anonymously. Not just because I should not be looked upon as important, but because all politicians are not important. Not just now, but forever. If we do this, we will have a democracy that works on what is best for us and not what meets popular criteria to get a political party the votes they need to get in.

We may even be able to get rid of some of the slimy politicians who only care about votes, and have public servants managing some of the regular processes.

We will always have politicians who manage political portfolios, of course, and diplomats to get deals overseas, etc., but the long-serving slimy politician might eventually be a thing of the past.

 

You have not said if you are left or right!

That's right. What I want is not important. I am not going to overrule the people within the Melbourne electorate. We are all in charge of the policies we want and we are all in charge of making sure the best ones are implemented. For the record, I think being left, right, centrist, or other, is too limiting. I often find that I appreciate policies from multiple different spectrums or ideologies.

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We can change the way policies are created and handled, or we can continue to circle the drain until we sink down to where our democratic Western friends have already fallen. 

 

It's worth the effort to change for something that helps people. Especially if it is us who we are helping!

 

Political parties generally have themes. They are left, or right, or support unions, or have a different theme. That theme is the political party's wants and needs. They are not your wants and needs, and often are not good for the state or country. If you vote for them, you are supporting small groups of people and their narrow ideals.

 

​Note: a proper policy is a long document including guiding details, plans, funding, stages, completion time, etc. 

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Most people don't read policies because they have never seen one. Nor would they ever want to read one. A proper policy is not a slogan. Slogans are what political parties use to try and get votes. This website does not mention a single policy, which has confused a few people and sent them away angry. The concerns page is the beginning of this movement. It shows that you and I are thinking about how to better Vic.

Author's note (which is just me) 

I was not going to add all of the above information because I assumed no one would read it. Maybe people still won't. The reason I add it now is because of feedback.

Some people did not understand why I did not list any policies. Of course, they were looking for slogans, and they obviously only breezed over the main page, otherwise, they would have seen why I was not listing policies. Regardless, it is still a lot of information, which was another person's comment: "it's very long-winded". I guess if we want big change, then it takes big paragraphs to inform people. There is likely still a lot I have left out.

 

For more information or to join as a supporter, contact me via the MEMBERSHIP FORM - Click me!

Send me your thoughts and ideas on how Victoria should be run. I really need your support, so please don't delay. I look forward to reading your emails.

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