So, it’s political season again, and here in Queensland we made the rather foolhardy decision to run our State election roughly a month or so away from the US Federal election.

Foolhardy because the media is too busy guffawing over the allegation of cats and dogs being “eaten” in a debate for an election that people like myself have no say over (and should not have any say over), to properly cover the election that is actually mandatory for people like myself to participate in.

But I digress… in amongst all the comments, there was a post made just recently by Taylor Swift. Now, I know she’s a very successful singer, not that I can name any of her songs (my tastes are for older fare). But, in a recent post, she made a very valid point. Here’s the post (transcribed from a screenshot) in full:

Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.

Recently I was made aware that AI of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.

I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are lead by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.

I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially for first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.

With love and hope,

Taylor Swift
Childless Cat Lady

Now, I’ll set aside her endorsement for the US Democrats party. As she points out, she personally looked into the policies of the parties, and came to that conclusion. It’s the approach here that I want to highlight, and it’s as valid in the US with its esoteric election system as it is here in Australia with our (admittedly partially flawed, but generally highly regarded) preferential system.

I won’t be sharing who I’ll be voting for in the Queensland state election, as to be perfectly honest, I haven’t actually done my homework on that matter yet. Same goes for next year’s federal election.

The take-away I observe is the remark: “If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most.“

She’s not saying “vote blue because I did”, she’s saying to go do your homework, and figure out how you will vote. “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make.“

Here in Queensland, where I am falls under the seat of “Cooper” (formerly “Ashgrove”). We currently have a Labor candidate, Jonty Bush. From what I understand, she’s done a reasonable job and I don’t have a problem with her being voted back in, but I really need to figure out where she’ll sit in my ballot paper. Probably not the top, I usually like to reserve the top spaces for smaller parties, but as I say, I haven’t researched the matter much at all right now, so this is all subject to change, and nothing actually requires me to publish what I’m going to do in any case.

Labor recently started a trial of 50c public transport fares… with a view of encouraging their use. I note that the Greens have a policy that goes further: abolishing fares altogether long before the trial began, so I think we see where Labor’s policy came from. Polling seems to suggest Labor may be on the way out anyway. (And I remember the mess that the LNP made last time! We wound up with Campbell Newman as our local member.)

I’ll have to dig around and see what other policies the parties have, but this is an example of just one issue that one might consider. I strongly urge people to consider more than one issue! You might not care about public transport, but care greatly about mining activities: maybe you’re a voter who has lots of shares in mines, LNP seems to be cosying up with the miners too. That’s up to you.

My approach has been to start with all parties with a score of 0; and awarding points or deducting points, depending on how I feel about each policy they publish. I then use those “scores” to figure out my preferences. Try to ignore “who” made the policy, and just consider the policy’s content directly. (It’s a pity they don’t offer the policy docs in just plain text instead of a PDF or office suite file.) You can decide for yourself if you do this, or something completely different.

Crucially, there might be some hot-button issue where none of the parties agree on your position. The Israel-Palestine war is a good example, where I’ve heard people in the US say (effectively): “I’m going to vote Republican because the Democrats won’t stop arming Israel!” I’ve got bad news for you, the other side isn’t about to stop the flow of weapons either (quite the opposite in fact), it may be prudent to put that issue aside and focus on everything else for now. Get the “least worst” candidate in, then work with them on the issues that you had to set aside. Some will listen, some won’t.

Anyway, this is just my thoughts on the matter. No matter what part of the world you’re in, the next few years are going to be “interesting” to say the least. We’re already seeing what happens when someone can summon up a supercomputing data-centre to conjure up synthetic photos from text prompts, and I’d be living in a fantasy land if I were to try and make out all users of such systems were benevolent. Thus it’s incumbent on us to seek the source for policy research, go to the party’s website and look there. Don’t believe everything you see on social media, cats and dogs are not being served up on Ohio dinner tables, and not every “policy” published there will be authentic.

For us in Queensland, the Electoral Commission Queensland website would be a good starting point. The ABC will also publish details on their Elections page closer to the date.