A lot has been said to defend this tax, one of the reasons I’ve heard is because the youth of Australia want this tax. The people against this tax have been portrayed as a bunch of old people who are only worried about their power bills and don’t care about the future of the planet. We have been told that we should support this tax because it will leave the earth in a better place for future generations. Well I am here today to say I am a young person I am against this tax. This tax will not save the planet and it will hurt the youth of this country the most. Already young people face an uphill battle to make a living for themselves, home ownership is slowly becoming a distant dream, food, fuel, electricity and water are constantly rising and this is all before the carbon tax. This is tax will result in cost of living becoming even more expensive, pushing many Australians to the poverty line and threatens our economic prosperity and therefore our standard of living that we have worked so hard for.

One thing that needs to be said is that the taxes must stop. This government’s taxing is out of control, it’s time we stood up and said we are not going to bear the burden of all this taxing. So far we have seen the government introduce the flood tax, the mining tax, the luxury car tax, and the increases in tobacco and alcohol tax. Worst of all the Australian people have not benefited from any of these taxes, all we have seen is the government spend our taxes on wasteful projects like the school halls, the pink bats and the ever growing list of failed green schemes. So far all these taxes have done is increased the cost of various goods and services without achieving any of the supposed changes in behaviour that these taxes are designed for.

This brings me on to my next point; his tax is also being sold as the almighty solution to global warming, that if we don’t have this tax the planet will be doomed. This mindset ignores the very nature of how this tax will operate, it will not change people’s energy’s uses and will hurt those who least can afford it. The end result of this tax will the carbon tax will be passed on by electricity companies and business to consumers who will pay the tax through already expensive electricity and everyday goods and services. The alleged clean energy alternatives that people are meant to switch to when electricity gets too expensive are in no way ready to be rolled out in mass supply to consumers, wind and solar have not yet proven themselves as affordable alternatives. So what choices are households left with? If we do need to switch our energy sources then it should be left to private industry to make it affordable to the market place, if climate change is such a grave threat to us then we should wait for the free market forces to provide a solution. We should not proceed with an ill-though out destructive tax which will only hurt society.

It is important for us to keep up the fight against this tax and stay united as a movement. Whether you are against this tax because it won’t work, because you don’t believe in climate change, or because of the deceptive way it’s being introduced our strength is our unity. No matter who you are or where you come from we need to keep on fighting this tax until we defeat it. It will be hard to defeat this tax but we can, so far we have been smeared by the mainstream media as a bunch of right wing nutters who want to bring about a dramatic overthrow of the government. But what is so nutty about exercising our democratic right to protest our disagreement against an action a government has taken. The anti war protesters were allowed to express this right, so were the anti work choices protesters, and so are we. We were not given a right to vote on this tax, and we will continue our opposition until a chance to vote on this tax is given and we will defeat it. This only the beginning and with the strength of democracy behind us we can win this fight.

The only group which is comprehensively and philosophically liberal is the Liberal Democratic Party, which has a platform of major tax reform and embraces the free movement of people and capital as well as acceptance of recreational drug taking, extreme sports and sex work, taking the policy position “if we prohibited everything we disapproved of, nobody would be free”. The LDP has failed to elect a single candidate and at the recent election in NSW ran as the Outdoor Recreation Party which probably indicates there are more votes in four-wheel-driving than the free exchange of labour and capital.

Let us not take our freedoms for granted.

A free society means a stronger economy, more jobs and greater prosperity for all.

The Liberal Democrats did vastly improved their result in this election. While we did not win a seat our vote went from 0.1% to 1.67% share of the vote (this translates from 3,000 votes to 55,000 votes). This may have something to do with the fact that our name changed from “Liberty and Democracy Party” to the “Liberal Democratic Party.” Or it could be some people a slowly learning about the party and our message on freedom, low taxes and small government. We can’t be certain.

Here are the results across the nation for the LDP:

NSW: 2.06%

VIC: 1.67%

QLD: 2.07%

WA: 1.22%

SA: 0.52%

TAS: N/A

Effect on How To Vote Flyers

Printing How to Vote Flyers is can get expensive. Thus, it is an interesting exercise to see if it is actually worth, spending time and money on handing out these on election day.

I visited four booths on election day: 3 in the seat of Bruce; 1 in the La Trobe. In this analysis, I needed a baseline for comparision, so I decided on using two:

1. State vote (1.67%)

2. Seat vote (Mount View, Silverton, Mulgrave were in Bruce = 1.94%, Berwick South was in La Trobe = 1.24%)

As you can see, our best swing was in Mount View and Silverton. I visited these in the morning during the early rush. In particular, Silverton had long queues and people were more receptive in receiving the flyers. Berwick South was interesting. While we didn’t have a swing compared to the state vote, we did improve compared to the seat vote. Mulgrave was the worst performing, probably because it was at the end of the day, was cold and rainy and voter volume was very low. Overall, I do think that handing out flyers does make a small difference to the overall vote and next time will try to engage in more volunteers to man more booths in the future.

Great Experience

All in all, it was a great experience running for the senate. I learnt a lot, met some great people and was pushed out of my comfort zone (which is a good thing). I am pleased that the LDP have improved their share of the vote and will give us good momentum into the future. Thank you to all that helped with the campaign, especially my family.

Australia is a great country. Built on the frontier spirit and on the back of a hard working and “have a go” mentality. It is a nation of people with dreams of achieving the best life possible for their family and friends.
Over the last decade, I believe, we have forgotten what has made Australia a prosperous, confident nation. We take for granted the reason for the wealth and standard of living that is the envy of the world. That reason is freedom.

• The freedom to live your life as you see fit, provided you do not harm or stop others from doing the same.
• The freedom to work, to earn and enjoy the fruits of your labour.
• The freedom to take risks and bear its consequences.
• The freedom to create your destiny.

For every dollar spent by government, it is one less dollar we get to choose how to spend ourselves. For every rule and regulation imposed on business, means more time business owners grapple with paperwork and less time building and expanding their enterprises. For every draconian law and tax designed to “shape our behaviour”, another fleck of freedom shaved off our souls.
I believe we need to have free markets, free speech, low taxes and free enterprise with low levels of government intervention if we want to Australia to continue to be a prosperous and confident nation.

If elected to the senate, I will vote for any proposal that:

a) Increases citizen’s individual liberties
b) Decreases the burden of taxation for citizens and business.

The Liberal Democratic Party

It was my honour to accept the endorsement from the Liberal Democratic Party to run for the senate seat in the great state of Victoria for the upcoming 2010 Federal Election.
The Liberal Democratic Party is the political party that is most aligned with my life’s philosophies of freedom and personal responsibility. You can read more about their policies and philosophy on their website (www.ldp.org.au).

How to Vote for Me (if you live in Victoria)
Below the Line: You will need to fill in all boxes (eg. 1, 2, 3 until all boxes have been filled). Put a “1” where my name (Graeme Michael Klass) and fill in the rest of the boxes.

How to Vote for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)

Above the Line: If you do not want to fill out all of the boxes below the line you will see on the above the line “Liberal Democratic Party”. Place a “1” in the box.

Ways to keep in touch with my campaign

1. Twitter: www.twitter.com/graemeklass
2. Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Graeme-Klass-for-Senate-2010/118764688171204
3. Blog: www.graemeklass.com and click the link “Graeme Klass for Senate 2010”.
4. Email: senator@graemeklass.com

Ways you can help

There are a number of ways you can help:

1. Campaign donations can be done via the Liberal Democratic Party website (www.ldp.org.au, then click Get Involved, Then Donate). Please put in Graeme Klass Senate Campaign as the purpose of your donation. Donations less than $1,500 are tax deductible.
2. Volunteers at polling booths. If you would like to hand out election material on Election Day, let me know.
3. Any in-kind donation, eg. printing, advertising space etc.
4. Forward this email on to your friends, family and colleagues if you think it will they will be interested in our policies.

Politics, Family and Friends

My family and friends are very important in my life. It would be naïve for me to assume that you will agree with my philosophies and the LDP’s policies. I sincerely hope that my decision to run will not harm our relationship and we can continue to share a meal, a beer or a coffee no matter what our political leanings.

(This was an email I sent to friends and family)

I’m going to be brutally honest. When I was first invited to the Australian Christian Lobby’s forum I wasn’t sure I should even come. After all, I’m a gay, I’m an atheist and the Liberal Democrats support legalising same-sex marriage and voluntary euthanasia. I wasn’t sure what I’d really have to offer Christian voters. I was raised in a strict Christian faith, though. So I thought back to my childhood and the kinds of things that I was taught back then. I came to realise the Liberal Democrats actually have a lot to offer Christian voters despite how different my personal beliefs are to the beliefs of those here.

You see, the Liberal Democrats believe first and foremost in freedom for individuals from government intervention. We don’t believe it is the role of government to try and legislate morality. Individuals should follow their own conscience, their own beliefs and make their own moral judgements. I believe this free agency and freedom of choice is essential in a healthy society. And in my Christian upbringing this free choice seemed to underpin a lot of teachings, too. Humans are granted the freedom to sin, or to follow God’s teachings, as they will. God does not prevent us from sin; He lets us make our own choices. And since even God doesn’t try and stop us from being immoral, why should government try to?

That said there is a big role for government to play in preventing crime- for example: stopping murders, assaults and theft. These are violent and coercive acts that have a significant impact on others. But while most Christians I know are morally opposed to lying, none support a law against lying. And that is how the Liberal Democrats believe should it be for other moral questions such as homosexuality, fornication, voluntary euthanasia and abortion. A good Christian will never agree with such things- but I do think it’s possible for Christians tolerate those things being legal.

Turning to the issue of marriage, though. The Liberal Democrats understand that many Christian faiths have strongly held opinions about traditional marriage. We would never seek to undermine those views by forcing a church to marry two men together. But we do believe gay couples should have the right to determine what level of commitment they want in a relationship and government should keep a legal register of those relationships. We also understand, however, that some Christians want a stronger form of legal commitment such as a covenant marriage so they can protect the traditional idea of marriage as being for time and all eternity. People who want to enter into stronger forms of marriage that exclude “no-fault divorce”, etc should have that right and the government should provide them with legal recognition. We believe it is the right of individuals to determine what form their relationships take and government’s only duty is to keep a register of these relationships.

You see- unlike the Greens, Sex Party or other groups that support same-sex marriage we aren’t anti-Christian, we’re just not pro-Christian either. We aren’t in favour of gay marriage itself, we’re in favour of freedom. And that includes the freedom for Christian churches and schools to have all-Christian staff. That includes the freedom to wear religious symbols in public. That includes the freedom of elected officials to pray in parliament. And that includes the freedom for schools to make decisions about staffing and curriculum and for parents to make choices about their children’s own education.

The Liberal Democrats’ schools policy specifically seeks to empower parents and principals. We seek to decentralise authority for school curriculum, staffing and class sizes from bureaucrats in Canberra down to the local level. Schools- even public schools- should be able to have scripture class, employ school chaplains and teach creationism if that is what parents wish. We also believe that education funding should follow the students, not the schools, and should exist across the public and private school sectors. Parents, especially those on low incomes, shouldn’t be penalised for choosing a religious, special-needs or selective school environment for their kids. Parents that choose to home school their children shouldn’t be penalised, either.

The Liberal Democrats also support a stronger role for private charity in providing for the needs of people. Charities such as the Salvation Army and Anglicare do a great job of helping those in need. As a result, the Liberal Democrats would never seek to remove tax-exempt status from Christian charities. We’d also try to shift the burden of welfare away from government organisations like Centrelink and more towards private charities.

So you see- it shouldn’t matter to Christians that I’m a gay atheist or that my party supports gay marriage and voluntary euthanasia. We have different beliefs and I’m not even going to try and convince you that my beliefs are right. But I hope I’ve shown that the Liberal Democrats do have something to offer Christians. Not you because you are Christians but because you are individuals.

We believe individuals should be free to pursue their own lives to the best of their abilities and should be free to make their own moral judgements, regardless of their beliefs. If you share that belief then perhaps you’ll consider voting for this gay atheist on Election Day this Saturday.

When: Monday 16 August, 2010, 7:30pm.

Beaconsfield Baptist Church,

7 Desmond Court, Beaconsfield 3807

(Melway 214 A1)