#decent preference

[axvoter]

Index to the Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews, 2025 federal edition

This Saturday, 3 May 2025, is federal election day in Australia. If you are unsure who all these parties are on your ballot, I’m here for you. I’ve reviewed all parties registered with the Australian Electoral Commission except for the most widely known ones: Labor, Greens, and the Liberal/National coalition parties. I have also reviewed the teal independents, a couple of unregistered parties who are endorsing independent candidacies, and two independent Senate candidates in Western Australia.

What you will find below: an index to all my reviews, a classification of parties by broad categories of recommendation, recommendations of other sites reviewing the parties, and some voting tips and advice. It should be obvious but these are my personal views and should not be construed as reflecting those of my employer or anyone else. I write from a left-wing perspective sympathetic to democratic socialism and green politics, mixed economies and urbanism. If you have even halfway similar political perspectives to me, I hope this might be useful. Please feel free to share with anybody whom you think will also be interested.

Index to all my reviews for 2025

Read the list below as: party name (ideology / where running). For the locations, a plain state abbreviation means the party is running a Senate ticket in this state; check with the AEC here to see if they also have a candidate in your electorate of the House of Representatives. A state abbreviation with an asterisk (*) indicates that in this state, the party is running only for an electorate or electorates in the House of Representatives; again, check the AEC here to see if it is yours. In some instances, though, I have listed the specific seat.

Animal Justice Party (animal rights / all states + ACT)

Australia First, who are unregistered (neo-Nazi scum / Division of Lindsay)

Australian Christians (Christian fundamentalism / NSW, WA)

Australian Citizens Party (conspiracy theorists / all states + NT)

Australian Democrats (centre-left / NSW*, QLD, VIC, WA)

Australia’s Voice (centre-left / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA)

Centre Alliance (centrism / Division of Mayo)

Dai Le and Frank Carbone W.S.C. (centre-right / Division of Fowler)

David Pocock (green social liberalism / ACT)

Family First (Christian fundamentalism / ACT*, NSW, QLD, SA, VIC)

FUSION | Planet Rescue | Whistleblower Protection | Innovation (centre-left-ish hodgepodge / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA)

Gerard Rennick People First (far-right cult of personality / NSW, QLD, SA, VIC, WA)

Good Party, who are unregistered (centre-left / Divisions of Kingsford-Smith and Page)

Great Australian Party (sovereign citizens / QLD, WA)

Health Environment Accountability Rights Transparency (HEART) (antivax far-right woo / ACT, NSW, QLD, VIC)

Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia (Indigenous rights / NSW, NT*, QLD, VIC, WA*)

Jacqui Lambie Network (centre-right cult of personality / NSW, QLD, SA, TAS)

Katter’s Australian Party (right-wing cult of personality / QLD)

Legalise Cannabis Australia (single issue / all states + NT)

Libertarian Party (far-right libertarianism / all states and territories)

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (xenophobic far-right populism / all states + NT)

Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers (anti-environmentalist gun nuts / NSW*, TAS, VIC)

Socialist Alliance (socialism / NSW, QLD, VIC*, WA)

Socialist Equality Party, who are unregistered (antisocial socialism for cantankerous people / NSW as Group B, VIC as Group G, and indies in seats of Calwell, Newcastle, Oxley)

Sustainable Australia–Universal Basic Income (anti-immigration NIMBYs / all states and territories)

Teal independents (centrism / assortment of lower-house seats in all states and territories)

Trumpet of Patriots (lunar right / all states)

Ungrouped independent candidates for the Senate in WA (right-wing or plain odd personalities who should receive a low preference)

Victorian Socialists (socialism / VIC)

Classification of all parties by broad category of recommendation

At the end of each review is a recommendation of how positively or negatively you should preference each party. Let’s see how all the parties have shaken out. Within each category, I am presenting parties alphabetically rather than suggesting an order for your preferences. I have written a separate entry on how I decide the ranking of unpalatable parties.

Good preference: David Pocock, Indigenous–Aboriginal Party of Australia, Socialist Alliance, Victorian Socialists

The parties above have a positive overall platform that has few or no significant flaws for the left-wing voter.

Decent to good preference: Australian Democrats; Australia’s Voice

The parties above have a positive overall platform, but I have minor reservations.

Decent preference: Animal Justice Party, Good Party, teal independents

The parties (or independents) above have a generally positive overall platform, but I have reservations.

Middling preference: Centre Alliance, Legalise Cannabis

The parties above have a balance of positive and negative qualities, or a decent platform undermined by a notably terrible policy or characteristic.

Note on Legalise Cannabis: middling is a generalisation as candidate quality varies. In Victoria, for instance, give Fiona Patten (lead Senate candidate) a decent to good preference; in Queensland, give Belinda Jones (lead Senate candidate) a weak preference.

Weak to middling preference: Dai Le & Frank Carbone W.S.C., Fusion Party, Jacqui Lambie Network, Socialist Equality Party, Sustainable Australia

The parties above are problematic, but better than what comes below.

Weak or no preference: Australia First, Australian Christians, Australian Citizens Party, Family First, Gerard Rennick People First, Great Australian Party, HEART, Katter’s Australian Party, Libertarian Party, One Nation, Shooters, Trumpet of Patriots

The parties above have more negatives than positives (usually many more!). In the House of Representatives, where you must give full preferences, put these parties as low as possible. In the Senate, I recommend you do likewise to maximise the potential power of your vote; but I recognise that some of you prefer not to express preferences between varying gradations of undesirability or prefer not to rank the most odious parties.

Other good reviewers

For further opinions, b_auspol has reviewed parties and independents contesting NSW, Kevin Bonham has summarised those contesting Tasmania, Notionoriety has concise left-wing overviews for QLD, NSW, and VIC, Anthony Zougras has overviews of all registered parties (more concise than me, less than Notionoriety), and Something for Cate is very comprehensive, with a Victorian emphasis, continuing the tradition of much-missed Cate Speaks.

Voting tips and advice

When you go to vote, you will receive two ballots. The smaller green one is for the House of Representatives, the lower house; whichever party/ies command a majority on the floor of the House forms government. You must number EVERY SQUARE on the small green ballot for the House. Many seats have independent candidates; make sure you look into them as they vary substantially in their platforms and competence.

The larger white ballot is for the Senate, the upper house. This is the house of review. We are voting for roughly half the Senate, as state senators serve six-year terms. This means each state elects six senators, requiring 14.3% of the vote to be elected; each territory elects just two (who serve terms aligned with the House), requiring 33.3% of the vote to be elected. On the Senate ballot you can vote above the line for PARTIES or below the line for INDIVIDUALS. Above the line you must give at least six preferences; below the line you must give at least twelve; beyond this point, you can do what you like. You can stop preferencing entirely or you give as many more preferences as you want. I strongly recommend you preference as far as possible because this increases the potential power of your vote.

If you want something more visual (and humorous), Patrick Alexander has two handy cartoon explainers: you can’t waste your vote for the House of Representatives and what’s the go with voting for the Senate?

If you want to vote below the line in the Senate, you can make your own custom how-to-vote card using Cluey Voter. It is the only site of which I am aware that allows you to construct a below-the-line vote (Donkey Votie and Build a Ballot can only make above-the-line cards). Print it off and take it into the booth with you! And do you need to find your nearest democracy sausage or cake stall? This website has you covered.

Happy voting everybody, and a delicious democracy sausage or sweet treat to one and all!

[jkvjimin]

PARK JIMIN ✖ black swan ↳ BANG BANG CON The Live | cr. namuspromised

[idolomantises]

Portraying Sera’s sadness was honestly the first time I had an issue with portraying her expressions. I didn’t just want sera to look sad, i also wanted her to look tired.

One look at her face and you can tell it’s been eating her up inside for centuries.

The sketch to lineart phase was a bit of a challenge, because she looked too clean in the line-art process. So instead I had her eyes sketched in, not full of life or intensity like her usual expressions. Just exhaustion.

[theirwolfbicanthrope]

#when the boys have to stare at you as long as possible

[dykedvonte]

I think a very interesting idea and misconception within the fandom is the idea Curly himself spreads the idea about his superb leadership and status as a great idealistic person.

A big personal issue with him is the very idea that he doesn’t think he embodies much of either. Or rather doesn’t think it was meant for him. The status is placed onto him from people like Jimmy, the rest of the crew to an extent and Pony Express themselves. He is never exactly excited or eager to hear praise on those fronts as he’s grappling with the existential woe of imposter syndrome and feeling like he’s done nothing despite moving up in those roles.

We buy into Jimmy’s belief that Curly holds himself up on the same pedestal and cares when he’s placed up there and scared of coming down, not that he doesn’t want to. He also just sees himself as some guy. A guy with a lot on his plate. A guy with a lot of responsibilities he doesn’t want. But still just a normal guy. Good and bad. Average. He’s very honest with himself about his own faults, very aware of the the thoughts plaguing him, both by his dialogue in the HFIM DLC and the awareness he shows to Jimmy before he’s shit down. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s good at expressing it to other people but it is the stuff he actually believes about himself.

The reason he keeps up the facade is for others, the necessity of his job for the Captain to be put together but oddly enough he never tries to reinforce it himself. He falters at the praise and bristles at personal concerns to himself. If you outright asked him if he thought he was a good person or even a good captain, there’s of course the objective answer and then the one he’d have…

[fidgetspringer-art]

Finally got the boots of my dreams. These are Czech M60 boots. They arrived crusty and stiff after years in storage, but after a few hours of work, an ungodly amount of leather conditioner and a good polish, they've still got plenty of life left in them!

[redlenai]

... Freakywashing AU where nothing bad happened. Anya used her knowledge in psychology and turned Curly and Jimmy into her loyal dogs, keeping them in a short leash and basically gaslighting gatekeeping girlbossing through all that year in the Tulpar.

During Game Night, whenever Anya starts getting frustrated that Daisuke keeps on winning, Grant and Jim start focusing their game strategies to make him lose first

Swansea keeps his mouth shut, as he is aware his wife has him wrapped around her finger, tho, he knows there is definetly something wrong between those three.

Post returning to Earth

Anya, Grant and Jim don't "date", but they all live together for financial reasons, also its more convenient

Anya's "dogs" wear turtle necks to cover their collars / They have a more subtle necklace with their nameplates for when they go out or its summer

Anya considers Grant is a golden retriever while Jim is a doberman

Jim has a praise kink, Grant a degradation kink

They take turns bringing Anya to Med School and acting like bodyguards/private taxi drivers whenever she wants to go somewhere

People have asked her if she is dating either of them, she laughs it off but they eat every crumb of affection she gives them

They both love her, she doesn't... or maybe?

Jim's put on a muzzle most of the time (No real reason, Anya just thinks he looks cute like that)

Grant whines if she yanks his leash too hard

The irony is that Jim is a sweet and obedient lap dog, Grant is the perfect guardian dog who is quick to take action if needed

Anya dresses them fancy or literally whatever she feels like, her friends tell her she looks like a celebrity

You wish you were Jim & Grant

They are so loyal to her they would completely and utterly destroy their canon counterparts <3

They do have normal lives, go to the gym, have decent jobs tho they leave everything in a heartbeat if Anya tells them to do so.

Uncropped WIP version

[pixiecactus]

okay last post i'm going to make about the whole debacle, but i think it could be important to highlight that those people that think that arya is ugly also can't seem to understand that arya and brienne are different characters in their own right.

and i don't understand really how you can see brienne's chapters dealing with how the world unjustly treats her for being ugly; literally, brienne can't chill for a second and just take a breather without a person calling her ugly.

and then see arya's chapters (let's be real though; fuckers don't read arya's chapters) and think that arya deals with the same thing. arya herself has a warped sense of her own image, thanks to being bullied and the low self-esteem she developed because of it.

what i get is that for them, since both brienne and arya are gender nonconforming girls/women, they should be put in the same box, no matter how vastly different their life experiences are.

do they even understand how heartbreaking it is that arya thinks that jon is the only person in the whole world who will love her no matter what? how unwanted has she been made to feel, just because she has a difficult time trying to conform to a society that hates women and little girls the most?

no, because they don't care about arya as a character at all; they only care to prove that arya's bullies were correct, so those girls were in the right to call arya names and pick on her.

because a post claiming how people shouldn't care about arya's looks and how it is so totally cool that arya is ugly when there is no evidence of this being true in all five books of the series will never be about empowering arya. the post is actually about trying to defend other characters questionable actions (even more when the op is a sansa fan and most of the people agreeing are also sansa fans)

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review I (federal 2025): Animal Justice Party

Running where: Senate in every state and the ACT, plus a smattering of House divisions in the ACT and five states (none in WA)

Prior reviews: federal 2013, VIC 2014, federal 2016, VIC 2018, NSW 2019, federal 2019, federal 2022, VIC 2022, NSW 2023, WA 2025

What I said before: “I’ll make this simple because nothing has changed. The Animal Justice Party promotes policies that support veganism and which oppose harm to all animals, including invasive species that wreak havoc on Australia’s ecosystem.” (WA 2025)

What I think this year: AJP’s placement in the alphabet means that I usually get to start my series of reviews in a very straightforward manner. They’re a stable part of the micro-party landscape with representation in the upper houses of the NSW and Victorian state parliaments, and at the time of writing they are in contention for the yet-to-be-declared 37th and final seat in WA’s upper house. (This entry will be edited once the WAEC announces the results sometime this week)

Indeed, the question this time around is whether I can highlight something about AJP that I have not noted before. My friend at b_auspol guided my attention to their housing policy, which has a classic left-wing slant in promoting more public housing and which speaks to a common YIMBY demand to “make zoning laws more flexible to allow for higher-density housing developments, and infill (the replacement of houses with higher density dwellings), near public transport and essential services”. As someone who is a big fan of dense, walkable cities that prioritise a choice of active and public transport modes, this goes down well for me.

This election, “The Animal Justice Party stands for Animals, People and the Planet” and they offer a 10-pillar platform that embodies their main priorities. Some pillars will be familiar to long-term micro-party enthusiasts. AJP retains their policy for “Veticare” to provide support for vet bills akin to Medicare, and their policies on animal cruelty are what you would expect (with my usual caveat that their promotion of only “non-lethal” forms of pest control is naïve, but other aspects are more reasonable). How much you like their proposals to “fix the food system” will depend on how much you support vegan/vegetarian diets and whether you think governments should promote a major reduction in meat consumption. It is, though, a bit more moderately phrased a dietary policy than in previous years, with the emphasis on increasing the daily intake of fruit and vegetables for the average Australian.

Other policies are conventional left-wing stuff, such as increasing taxation on big business, promoting a transition to clean energy, and more funding to prevent domestic violence and support victims. Honestly, some of the policies to reduce tax on ordinary people while making sure big business pays their way and can’t exploit loopholes could be bolder! And although the AJP’s policy about supporting victims of domestic violence to keep their pets might seem an extremely niche concern, the b_auspol review makes an important point: “one of the biggest predictors of danger to humans is if the abusive person threatens, injures or kills the family pets, and a lot of shelters don’t allow people to bring pets with them”. I have personal experience here to know how important this is, in what I saw when multiple friends' parents split acrimoniously while we were at school.

As an aside, I am mildly surprised AJP is not running any candidates for divisions of the House of Representatives in WA. I had an AJP candidate in my lower-house seat at last month’s state election, and they stood in ten other state seats.

Recommendation: Give the Animal Justice Party a middling to decent preference. Calibrate this recommendation in accordance with your views on eating meat and consuming other animal products. I am leaning decent this year; beyond my reservations about some aspects of their special interests, they are not a bad left-wing option.

Website: https://www.animaljusticeparty.org/

[crystallizsch]

well my evening has been an Event

-> tries to microwave cup noodles in my apartment for dinner (bc i was too lazy to cook/go outside to get anything)

-> something zaps inside the microwave and i smell smoke (it has never done this before)

-> shamefully sets aside the shitty cup noodles.

-> still hungry. finds out the nearby dining hall is serving (filipino-style) chicken curry for tonight (and it’s been forever since i’ve had it)

me: …..

me: okay fine jamil you win

[marzipanandminutiae]

Did you manage to go to the sewfisticated sale before it closed? They had some interesting silks I haven't seen there before, made me think of your gowns

Oh my god. No, I just got home from traveling for Christmas.

I didn't know and I'm honestly heartbroken. Apparently the Dorchester location is staying, but the Somerville one (more accessible to me) is gone.

This feels like another good thing is gone from the world. I mean, how much longer will the store stay open? Will I end up in the same position as most people- unable to buy natural-fiber fabrics at all unless I spend a ton of money online?

Why does everything related to clothing suck now, and keep getting worse?

I'm on the verge of tears here.

[humandisastersquad]

Hey aussies, here’s a really great resource to help figure who and how you’ll vote for this election

[incandescentflower]

I think the On1y One has spoiled me and now these 25 min First Note of Love eps feel waayy too short. Give me twice as long or two times a week, I am not patient enough for 25 minutes once a week anymore.

[moeblob]

Ohiwe

After Oh is split into two, their power is halved/divided. But! Other traits are not necessarily divided evenly. So she holds all the romantic love (unrequited) for Ymber. She also has the rhythm/ability to dance while the other half cannot keep a beat for the life of him.

[ambrosiagourmet]

So theres probably something that is obvious to everyone else but me, but what exactly do you think the Lion meant by "How does it feel to have all the things you've done inflicted on you?" in chapter 91? I know the ways that Laios has killed and eaten the monsters along with his party, but it feels somewhat out of place for him to say that knowing that he lures victims to eat their desires.

And I know why the Lion was able to create clones to begin with, but with the dialogue mentioned alongside Laios being stabbed by what is kinda himself, do you think that torment was more personal and some sort of consequence to his actions?

Fun question! Personally, my interpretation of that line/scene in general is that it's more about the Lion than Laios. I have more thoughts about Laios' actions and motivations in this scene, but with regards to the Lion...

Honestly, I think he's kind of gloating. Or maybe, more... savoring his meal? He does a similar thing to Thistle, when eating his desires in chapter 72:

This is also a thing that Laios specifically predicts as one (perhaps the only) potential weakness of the Lion.

He taunts Laios numerous times during chapter 91 -- insinuating that Laios is going to eat his friends, calling him a mindless monster, and seeming to take a great deal of pleasure in torturing and eating him.

Interestingly, he even makes fun of Laios for liking animals so much, saying that he would have been better off as a spirit, which wouldn't suffer in the same way.

But, ya know, Dunmeshi is all ABOUT the importance of living, of eating, of being flesh & blood. It's a very animalistic will to survive that Laios calls upon, when he does finally defeat the Lion.

And even more importantly, like. The Lion doesn't even want to be a ball of light. Like dude, you literally WERE that you you decided it was way cooler and more interesting to be a beast. You fashioned yourself as a beast. So that you could continue to eat. Because you liked it so much.

This is all, I guess, a winding way to say: it's kind of funny that the Lion is so hypocritical in the ways he torments Laios.

He criticizes Laios for being a simple beast, but it is simple hunger that drives the Lion himself to become More Real, more bestial and more human at the same time, and is what gives Laios a way to kill him. He claims to be doing to Laios what Laios has done to other things, but like -- Laios and the party killed and ate things to survive. The Lion does not need to hurt Laios. He already "won." He doesn't gain anything by eating a huge monster, or even by eating desires. He doesn't do it because he has to. He does it because he wants to.

As Laios points out, an infinite being craving the taste of a finite world is a dangerous thing.

And, fittingly, at the exact time that the Lion is gloating about turning the tables on Laios, Laios is the one really doing just that.

The Lion hurting Monster Laios for fun, and then eating him alive, is not the same thing as Laios killing & eating monsters in the dungeon. Laios eating the Lion's desires, however? Now that's what I call "[having] all the things you've done inflicted on you."

Maybe he should have stuck to a form that's harder to kill. Like a glowing ball of light ;)

[chirpsythismorning]

When the interviewer asked when we should expect s5 to be coming out, that’s when Shawn mentioned that a little bit of an answer to that might be out there soon.

He actually mentions that this answer could be out by the time the video for this interview comes out, and since this interview was filmed mid-May and it’s now mid-June, I’m assuming we could be getting something soon or within the next couple months, potentially about a release date aka possibly a small teaser with 2025 stamped at the end…