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Forced voting is proof of it. Australia is by far the least free Anglo nation. I will never step foot on that god forsaken island. They have no culture, and th

Forced voting is proof of it. Australia is by far the least free Anglo nation. I will never step foot on that god forsaken island. They have no culture, and that’s the opinion of Australians: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lucky_Country https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australian_Ugliness https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australian_Ugliness

threeseed 2y ago
Australia is one of the freest countries in the world: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freest-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freest-co... Higher than UK and the US.
- wqaatwt 2y ago
  > Higher than UK Not according to https://rsf.org/en/index https://rsf.org/en/index or https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Index https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Index I assume that other indices that show “data” that fits whatever narrative one wants are easy to find… Which makes things like this meaningless in isolation.
- throwawaythekey 2y ago
  In day to day life we are fairly free but for example we have much weaker freedom of speech/opinion than the USA. For example if you raise your arm at a particular angle you can now be sent to jail [1]. We also had some of the longest/harshet COVID lockdowns in the world in my state. [1] - https://www.dw.com/en/australia-man-convicted-for-performing-outlawed-nazi-salute/a-70437601 https://www.dw.com/en/australia-man-convicted-for-performing...
  - threeseed 2y ago
    > if you raise your arm at a particular angle you can now be sent to jail Also known as doing a Nazi salute.
turbojet1321 2y ago
You have to remember, Australia as a nation is young, and has an interesting history - forced migration of convicts, high levels of immigration (IIRC 25% of the population are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants), and of course the difficulty of dealing with colonial treatment of the Aboriginal population. "No culture" is patently absurd; everywhere with people has a culture. And on mandatory voting: yes, in one way, that's a curtailment of freedom, but in another way, it's enshrining freedom.
linuxandrew 2y ago
Ha! We have compulsory voting but unlike many Anglo countries we don't require voter ID, vote registration etc. In fact you do not need to provide any ID to vote, because voting fraud is so statistically low (see https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/factlab-meta/voting-fraud-negligible https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/factlab-meta/voting-fraud-negli...). We simply provide a name and address and fill out the ballot. We have so many issues, but compulsory voting is not one of them, in my opinion. If you feel so strongly to not vote you can abstain by an informal vote like roughly 5% of the country does on any given election (https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Informal_Voting/ https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Informal_Voting/) or simply pay the AU$20 (roughly US$13) fine like apparently around 5-10% of Australians do on any given election (https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/non-voters.htm https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/non-voters.htm). In my view, and in the view of many Australians, people encouraging further "freedom" to not vote are attempting to suppress votes, a major issue in the United States and other countries with optional voting.
- scripturial 2y ago
  In Australia they ask to see your ID but you can say you don’t have it on you. I think they mostly just ask for ID so it’s easier to look up your name with the correct spelling.
  - jiggawatts 2y ago
    They don't. Source: Australian citizen that has voted many times.
    - rob74 2y ago
      ...in the same election? Seriously, if they don't ask for any id, how do they prevent fraud?
      - Hawxy 2y ago
        You get your name + address marked off the roll when you go to vote. If you get your name marked off multiple times it would indicate fraud.
liammclennan 2y ago
Compulsory voting seems to push against the current trend of political polarization. Also, not sure Australia is, or wants to be, an "Anglo nation".
- ern 2y ago
  It’s not polarised, but it is quite sclerotic.
ern 2y ago
Compulsory voting means that a large part of the electorate that doesn’t pay attention to politics is easily frightened by scare campaigns. An example of this is that Australia is sorely in need of tax reform, but any party that pushes for it at state or federal level is damaged at the polls, often fatally.
- jiggawatts 2y ago
  Then how did John Howard get the GST passed?
  - ern 2y ago
    He lost a lot of seats in the 1998 election and suffered a big swing against him.
stubish 2y ago
You won't win any arguments with Australians on forced voting. The major parties would love to kill it, but it is something the (forced) voters will refuse to give up. It may not be 'free', but it helps keep things free. If you are going to cite sources about 1960's Australian culture, back in the oppressive dark ages of 'White Australia', make sure you compare it with other 1960's cultures. Or try some sources from this millennium that have come to terms with not being part of the British Empire.
Hawxy 2y ago
> Forced voting is proof of it. Forced voting is a net benefit, the biggest being that it forces parties to the center rather than having to say/promise stupid stuff to appeal to the fringes that have firm political positions (see: USA). Mandatory voting + preferential voting, alongside a well-run independent election commission has resulted in very high trust in our democratic process.

threeseed 2y ago

Australia is one of the freest countries in the world: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freest-countries https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freest-co... Higher than UK and the US.

wqaatwt 2y ago
> Higher than UK Not according to https://rsf.org/en/index https://rsf.org/en/index or https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Index https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Press_Freedom_Index I assume that other indices that show “data” that fits whatever narrative one wants are easy to find… Which makes things like this meaningless in isolation.
throwawaythekey 2y ago
In day to day life we are fairly free but for example we have much weaker freedom of speech/opinion than the USA. For example if you raise your arm at a particular angle you can now be sent to jail [1]. We also had some of the longest/harshet COVID lockdowns in the world in my state. [1] - https://www.dw.com/en/australia-man-convicted-for-performing-outlawed-nazi-salute/a-70437601 https://www.dw.com/en/australia-man-convicted-for-performing...
- threeseed 2y ago
  > if you raise your arm at a particular angle you can now be sent to jail Also known as doing a Nazi salute.

turbojet1321 2y ago

You have to remember, Australia as a nation is young, and has an interesting history - forced migration of convicts, high levels of immigration (IIRC 25% of the population are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants), and of course the difficulty of dealing with colonial treatment of the Aboriginal population. "No culture" is patently absurd; everywhere with people has a culture. And on mandatory voting: yes, in one way, that's a curtailment of freedom, but in another way, it's enshrining freedom.

linuxandrew 2y ago

Ha! We have compulsory voting but unlike many Anglo countries we don't require voter ID, vote registration etc. In fact you do not need to provide any ID to vote, because voting fraud is so statistically low (see https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/factlab-meta/voting-fraud-negligible https://www.rmit.edu.au/news/factlab-meta/voting-fraud-negli...). We simply provide a name and address and fill out the ballot. We have so many issues, but compulsory voting is not one of them, in my opinion. If you feel so strongly to not vote you can abstain by an informal vote like roughly 5% of the country does on any given election (https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Informal_Voting/ https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Informal_Voting/) or simply pay the AU$20 (roughly US$13) fine like apparently around 5-10% of Australians do on any given election (https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/non-voters.htm https://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/non-voters.htm). In my view, and in the view of many Australians, people encouraging further "freedom" to not vote are attempting to suppress votes, a major issue in the United States and other countries with optional voting.

scripturial 2y ago
In Australia they ask to see your ID but you can say you don’t have it on you. I think they mostly just ask for ID so it’s easier to look up your name with the correct spelling.
- jiggawatts 2y ago
  They don't. Source: Australian citizen that has voted many times.
  - rob74 2y ago
    ...in the same election? Seriously, if they don't ask for any id, how do they prevent fraud?
    - Hawxy 2y ago
      You get your name + address marked off the roll when you go to vote. If you get your name marked off multiple times it would indicate fraud.

liammclennan 2y ago

Compulsory voting seems to push against the current trend of political polarization. Also, not sure Australia is, or wants to be, an "Anglo nation".

ern 2y ago
It’s not polarised, but it is quite sclerotic.

ern 2y ago

Compulsory voting means that a large part of the electorate that doesn’t pay attention to politics is easily frightened by scare campaigns. An example of this is that Australia is sorely in need of tax reform, but any party that pushes for it at state or federal level is damaged at the polls, often fatally.

jiggawatts 2y ago
Then how did John Howard get the GST passed?
- ern 2y ago
  He lost a lot of seats in the 1998 election and suffered a big swing against him.

stubish 2y ago

You won't win any arguments with Australians on forced voting. The major parties would love to kill it, but it is something the (forced) voters will refuse to give up. It may not be 'free', but it helps keep things free. If you are going to cite sources about 1960's Australian culture, back in the oppressive dark ages of 'White Australia', make sure you compare it with other 1960's cultures. Or try some sources from this millennium that have come to terms with not being part of the British Empire.

Hawxy 2y ago

> Forced voting is proof of it. Forced voting is a net benefit, the biggest being that it forces parties to the center rather than having to say/promise stupid stuff to appeal to the fringes that have firm political positions (see: USA). Mandatory voting + preferential voting, alongside a well-run independent election commission has resulted in very high trust in our democratic process.