:: penelly ::

GetUp! are running a campaign to encourage Senator Steven Fielding to vote for a Bill that will reverse the stupid changes the Howard government made to the electoral system. Basically, they changed it so that once an election is called, Australians eligible to vote have only until 8pm that day to enrol/register to vote. It used to be 7 days. And the current bill is proposing it go back to that system.

Some of you may know about this already but I think it's an important campaign. It only takes a couple of moments to bash out a quick email to Steve Fielding, via the GetUp! site, or you could email or phone him directly. His vote is crucial on this issue.

From the GetUp site:

Here are some talking points you may find helpful for your phone call:
# This Wednesday, Steven Fielding has the deciding vote on whether Australians will have a week to get on the electoral roll, or just hours after an election is called.

# Hundreds of thousands of Australians may miss their chance to vote this year - over 5 electorates worth!

# The AEC tells us that in 2007 only 17,208 Australians enroled or updated their details by 8pm on the day election writs were issued (which could be the deadline this year) - compared to 423,975 in the old 7 day period in 2004.

# Those most affected by this are Australians who move house often, or don’t have drivers’ licenses: young families, Indigenous, migrant and poorer Australians.

# The Australian Electoral Commission have argued that these changes will better allow them to do their job of maintaining the electoral roll.

I don't really understand the reasons the Howard government had for changing it in the first place. I can only think that they wanted to deliberately exclude those mostly likely to be affected by this. What other reason could there be?

The details about the bill:
Tonight the Senate will debate the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Close of Rolls and Other Measures) Bill 2010. There are 6 schedules in the bill, but the most controversial and important is Schedule 1. Schedule 1 will allow Australians to enrol to vote, or change their enrolment details (address etc.) 7 days after the election writs are issued (usually the day the election is called), rather than by 8pm on that day. The Opposition is against Schedule 1, but the Greens, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, and the Government are for. If Steve Fielding announces he is for schedule 1, it will be possible to amend and pass the bill - if he is against, the whole bill will almost certainly fail.

I urge you to follow this link and send a quick email to Senator Fielding.

Did you know Australia is one of only two developed countries without paid maternity leave?

I don't think that's acceptable, so I've just joined the campaign supporting a 6-12 month standard for paid parental leave. Living in the lucky country should mean that our children get the best possible start in life, and our leaders need to safeguard our nation's future prosperity by ensuring that we retain people in the workforce.

We are way behind international standards in paid parental leave, and it's high time we got with the program. The government is looking into this issue right now, so we must act quickly to make an impact for the benefit of our children, our families and our nation.

Will you join me in setting the standard?

www.getup.org.au/campaign/AllTheOtherKidsAreDoingIt

Go sign! :)


Related links:
* Time out for babies a career killer
* Tax break to get mothers working again
* Paid parental leave - what does it mean and why should we have it?