Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party / Lobby Group

[stooy]

G'day All,

Last Wednesday night I attended the first meeting of the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party (AMEP) in Victoria. The purpose of the meeting was to officially establish the AMEP in Victoria and have some general discussion.

The two guys who will be running for the election in Victoria are realistic about their prospects of getting elected - not likely. In reality the AMEP will become a lobby group for motoring enthusiasts. (hopefully as strong as the motorbike lobby) and perhaps get elected next federal election.

The idea of the AMEP is to provide a united voice for all motoring enthusiasts, cars, bikes, boats etc. They spent 2.5 hours having a general discussion with everyone in the room (about 60 people from everywhere 4wd's street machines, retro rod club etc etc ) about issues that face our community from engineering to police harassment to public perception etc.

The guys running it seem to really have what I would call "the right" attitudes in regard to having cars as a hobby and making sure that legislation does not take our hobby away.

Whether you want to vote for them or not, I would recommend you consider spending $20 and joining the party so that you can be party of the lobby group and get all the updates etc. If you feel so inclined point all you other motoring mates to their website, the more of us there are the better.

http://www.australianmotoringenthusiastparty.org.au/

Cheers

Stewart

[mik]

I wonder if they may have been better off leaving "Enthusiast" out of the name, if it was just the motoring party they have gotten commercial drivers and drivers in general as well as enthusiast's ??

[Lotte]

Originally Posted by mik

I wonder if they may have been better off leaving "Enthusiast" out of the name, if it was just the motoring party they have gotten commercial drivers and drivers in general as well as enthusiast's ??

Because the AMP already exists.

[Road Games]

Nice work, i am a financial memeber and had their link in my signature to join up but someone removed it ...

[mik]

Originally Posted by Lotte

Because the AMP already exists.

Excellent reply , Dankeschön, Merci,Thanks y'all,...... thanks .

[Spinner77]

Congratulations on having the globes to do this.

Be aware that the established players will not like it. I assume none of you is thin-skinned.

With that in mind, I hope the criticism that now follows here does not upset anyone unduly.

Positioning
Look up positioning as a marketing issue. Your problem is that you have none. You are acting as if you are a major player. You're not. Forget the list of principles. They are just motherhood statements. Nobody could give a rat's.

If you are serious, you have to be very specific, as a single-issue party. Try three specific things and leave it at that. A starter could be to move from 110 to 120 speed limits. The voting punter will know exactly what he is buying. On bigger issues, like confidence and supply, the easiest route is to promise to support the elected government of the day.

Single issue parties have been known to have success in Australia. That's the reason we dumped death duties. A WA senate candidate once stood on just that issue. Nothing else. And won. The Shooters and Fishers in NSW are worth close study.

Junk the slogan. It's just preaching to the converted. And there are not just enough of them.

The Senate, or a marginal?
I know you don't expect to win a seat. What you want is leverage with the Libs and Labor. But you seem to underestimate the logistics in running a State-wide, let alone a nation-wide campaign.

A better bet is to stand in a marginal seat, and ask the main candidates who will support your - very specific - policies. Chances are that both will suggest a place to you where you can ram your policies.

Fine. Just tell them you will give your preferences in the marginal to the party that lost last time. In other words, you will seek to just churn the pollies, until one comes across.

If you are determined to run in an upper house, here is a list from the easiest to the hardest. The number in brackets is the percentage of votes needed to win a seat (the quota).
1. NSW Legislative Council (4.55%)
2. Senate (Double dissolution) (7.69%)
3. Senate (Half Senate) (14.29%)
4. Victoria Legislative Council (16.67%)
Your preferences are also likely to be sought the most where the quota is the lowest.

[stooy]

Thanks Mate,

These issues were discussed with the guys running the party at the meeting, they are a bit over my head, but I have passed on to the guys running the show.

Cheers

Stewart

[Starlightblue]

I know **** all about politics but id rather give my vote to someone that is into cars and is more likelly to be coming from where im coming from.

Good luck Australian motoring Enthusist Party

Proud to be a member

[iCat]

i'm a member too, they seem to have their heads screwed on right, not running all over the place and not being red-necked about their ideas. Small steps for now ...

[karj]

If people intend to vote above the line on the senate ballot paper, can you please at least do your due diligence and make sure you first check out preference flows (group voting tickets) to make sure you are actually voting in accordance with your own values.

AMEP are not a one-policy party dedicated solely to representing motoring enthusiasts (which they make perfectly clear on their website). They are a conservative, right wing party and are preferencing One Nation 10, 11 & 12 out of 110 candiatdes in NSW and 11 & 12 out of the 82 candiates in Queensland.

If that is a representation of your views, that's fine... but it sure as hell isn't a representation of my views as a motoring enthusiast.

Preference flows are available on the AEC website for people who may be interested.

I really do question whether or not threads like this, which exist solely to promote a political party during an election, are appropriate on AFF. By allowing AFF to be used as a platform for election campaigning by one political party, it could very easily be seen as an endorsement of that particular party by AFF, and this has the potential to reflect very badly on the forum community.

[Road Games]

^^^ Get a grip


"G'day Darren
Thank you for volunteering to help the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party.
Our Volunteers play a very important role on Election Day – Saturday, 7 September.
You are recieving this message as you have advised you can help on Election Day at a Polling Booth distributing “How to Vote” cards to voters.

We are currently organising our volunteer teams and need all the help we can gather if we are to save our lifestyle. All volunteers will be given an AMEP badge so that they can be easily identified as AMEP representatives. The badges will be given to volunteers only, so consider them a limited edition AMEP item you can keep.
Let us know by replying to this email if you can help with the above (or in any other way), so we can finalise our strategy and provide you with more information.
Together we will send a strong message to Government this coming Election.


VOTE 1 – AUSTRALIAN MOTORING ENTHUSIAST PARTY – in the Senate
Protecting our culture not only for ourselves, but for future generations.

Kind regards
Tony Standfield

Chairman
Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party"


http://www.australianmotoringenthusiastparty.org.au/






Cars are my passion , reading forums is a passion of mine as well ...



If the pollies want to instruct the popo to remove all modified vehicles off the rd by any means neccessary then guess what ?


Forums like this will have no purpose being here and they wont have any automotive sponsors because they all will have gone bust from the decisions made up here in the nanny state !!


It's time to stand up and be counted, i dont care left wing/ right wing this means nothing to me, this is Australia and we deserve to be treated equally?

And if you have a modified car right now you are public enemy No1 thanks to can't do campbell...

[karj]

Originally Posted by 9sec Menace

^^^ Get a grip


Cars are my passion , reading forums is a passion of mine as well ...



If the pollies want to instruct the popo to remove all modified vehicles off the rd by any means neccessary then guess what ?


Forums like this will have no purpose being here and they wont have any automotive sponsors because they all will have gone bust from the decisions made up here in the nanny state !!


It's time to stand up and be counted, i dont care left wing/ right wing this means nothing to me, this is Australia and we deserve to be treated equally?

And if you have a modified car right now you are public enemy No1 thanks to can't do campbell...

I gripped reality many years ago and haven't yet let go. I also have a very thorough understanding of the political process.

If you truly want to "stand up and be counted", then take the time to decide before the election how to distribute your preferences and vote beneath the line on the senate ballot paper. Don't allow a party to distribute your preferences.

[Starlightblue]

so what would you suggest Karj for your average person who has no time or inclination to become educated in area of politics. I admit i dont understand it all but when someone says they are here for the interests of the motoring community,they win me.

Would i be better off doing the donkey thing like ive done for the whole of my life?

[Road Games]

G'day Darren

TONIGHT at 6:30pm Channel 10 - "THE PROJECT"

The Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party is to feature as part of a story about the record number of minority parties running in this upcoming Election.

Check it out...

Cheers,

Tony Standfield
AMEP Chairman

Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party
http://www.australianmotoringenthusiastparty.org.au/

[XR6TCraig]

The issue I see your party having is that we ( enthusiasts from all forms of motoring) are all so fragmented and don't even neccesarily like each other or share common views, so actually uniting everyone will be the major issue. If you could, then there is the potential for a lot of voices united, hence power to influence.

As already said, pick one or two issues and stick to it.
It might just be something like bringing our main highways up to first world standard (lots of votes available in rural QLD for this topic), increasing speed limits in line with the better roads you are proposing, increasing licencing standards so that people have to show more car control other than how to parallel park.
All of the above would have a positive influence on the road toll and gain votes IMO. After all, how many people do you meet who whinge about the driving standard in Aus, or the roads, or the draconian speed limits? Lots!

[mr smith]

How is this thread still open? Bring up Liberal or Labor and its shut down ASAP.

[karj]

Originally Posted by Starlightblue

so what would you suggest Karj for your average person who has no time or inclination to become educated in area of politics. I admit i dont understand it all but when someone says they are here for the interests of the motoring community,they win me.

Would i be better off doing the donkey thing like ive done for the whole of my life?

I only suggest that people take the time to consider their vote carefully and direct their preferences in a way that truly reflects their values. Many parties have misleading names and misleading preference deals. Don't make the mistake of assuming that political parties direct preferences according to ideology, preferences are often a game of political strategy.

Your preferences are important. In a nutshell, the system basically works like this: On the first count, if the 1st person you voted for doesn't get enough votes to be elected, then they are eliminated and your vote is directed to your 2nd preference. On the second count, if your 2nd preference doesn't get enough votes to be elected, then they are eliminated and your vote is directed to your 3rd preference... and so on until there is a winner.

It is important that you research all your preferences so you know who you are voting for. It actually takes a lot of time to do this properly, which is why most people don't do it properly and end up spending the next 3 years complaining about the Government.

Donkey voting refers to numbering the candidates in the same order as they appear on the ballot paper. It is different from informal voting... and to be honest, I am at a loss as to why people would ever choose to donkey vote.

My personal opinion (and I want to stress that this is just my opinion) is that if you don't have the time or inclination to decide who to vote for and how to direct preferences once every 3 years, or you just aren't interested for whatever reason, then the responsible thing to do is deliberately lodge an informal vote. Informal votes aren't counted and don't impact on the election result. If you direct your vote to a party without understanding their preferences, or you donkey vote, we can end up getting lumped with some real fringe whackjobs that don't actually reflect community views. An unrepresentative democracy is not what anyone wants.

[Starlightblue]

And how do you do an informal vote?

Still feel that voteing for someone with cars at the centre of their thought process can only be a good thing

Thanks for your advise

Ps glad to see this hasn't been shut down as there seems to be more and more restrictions around here lately

[karj]

Originally Posted by Starlightblue

And how do you do an informal vote?

Still feel that voteing for someone with cars at the centre of their thought process can only be a good thing

Thanks for your advise

Ps glad to see this hasn't been shut down as there seems to be more and more restrictions around here lately

I don't advise that you informal vote - you should vote and arrange your preferences for who you think will best represent you. If you think that is AMEP, then you should vote for them.

Informal voting is when you submit a blank ballot paper, or don't fill it out properly. Becasue it's unusable, it is discarded and not counted.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by mr smith

How is this thread still open? Bring up Liberal or Labor and its shut down ASAP.

.... because: Threads containing the words Labor or Liberal always end in tears very quickly. This thread has plodded along quite sainly. Also, Mods discretion and the topic is linked to why we are here.

Originally Posted by Starlightblue

And how do you do an informal vote?

Ps glad to see this hasn't been shut down as there seems to be more and more restrictions around here lately

Yeah I know! You must have noticed the 9 threads that were deleted this month (including spam) against the 767 threads that survived without ending in a crap fight. Also the 35 deleted posts against the 3967 posts that remained. Its hell around here isn't it

[Road Games]

I don't envy your workload at all Dave...

Anyway team support the cause or don't it's your decision .. i have a modified car so i am damn sure i am going to make my voice heard !

[wrongwaynorris]

Just what Australia needs , another highly specific narrow single interest " political " party .

[Grunter]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Just what Australia needs , another highly specific narrow single interest " political " party .

Good to see you post your support in this AMEP thread, and taking the time to comment about those highly specific narrow single interest " political " parties that are out there!

[iCat]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Just what Australia needs , another highly specific narrow single interest " political " party .

i think if you did a bit of research you might find that this party has policies along the lines of the major parties. They include the environment, road safety, driver education, economy etc etc. Their platform is well thought out. Grab a copy of their latest AGM minutes and have a read.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Just what Australia needs , another highly specific narrow single interest " political " party .

They are contending the Senate seats (Upper house) which cater for the minority and more single policy type parties. To obtain a seat you need a small percentage of the vote and then get a seat which you can then get your voice across on that particular policy.

They will never hold a balance of power or pretend to be a political force, just a voice within the bowels of parliament. That is a good thing I would have thought for motoring enthusiasts and the general public concerned about the motoring side of things?

Don't get mixed up between independents holding balance of power or the Lower house that spends all the money.

[karj]

Originally Posted by Auslandau

They are contending the Senate seats (Upper house) which cater for the minority and more single policy type parties. To obtain a seat you need a small percentage of the vote and then get a seat which you can then get your voice across on that particular policy.

They will never hold a balance of power or pretend to be a political force, just a voice within the bowels of parliament. That is a good thing I would have thought for motoring enthusiasts and the general public concerned about the motoring side of things?

Don't get mixed up between independents holding balance of power or the Lower house that spends all the money.

I just want to address the points in bold because you are not necessarily correct in those assertions and I think it's really important that people understand how their vote may impact.

Depending on the composition of the senate, individual senators can hold the balance of power and if legislation is blocked in the senate, then it cannot be passed.

As an example, the 2004 election saw the election of a senator by the name of Steve Fielding representing the Family First Party. He was elected to the senate through preference deals (people voting above the line on the senate ballot paper). He actually only scored 1.8% of the primary vote in the 2004 election and was not re-elected at the 2010 election when his term expired.

Without going into too much detail; I think it is fair to say that he held some extreme views that weren't representative of mainstream Australia.

Fielding held the balance of power and was crucial in the passing (or blocking) of legislation.

The question people need to ask themselves is this: Is the broader policy platform of the AMEP a reflection of my own personal views?

That is a pretty important question to consider before voting for them on the basis of their motoring views, especially if they end up holding the balance of power in the senate (which is an unlikely, but possible outcome).

[Road Games]

Originally Posted by karj

As an example, the 2004 election saw the election of a senator by the name of Steve Fielding representing the Family First Party. He was elected to the senate through preference deals (people voting above the line on the senate ballot paper). He actually only scored 1.8% of the primary vote in the 2004 election and was not re-elected at the 2010 election when his term expired.
Fielding held the balance of power and was crucial in the passing (or blocking) of legislation.

Who cares ?

The question people need to ask themselves is this: Is the broader policy platform of the AMEP a reflection of my own personal views?

No the question is, why are you posting in here turning it into a political debate ?

That is a pretty important question to consider before voting for them on the basis of their motoring views, especially if they end up holding the balance of power in the senate (which is an unlikely, but possible outcome).

Originally Posted by stooy

The idea of the AMEP is to provide a united voice for all motoring enthusiasts, cars, bikes, boats etc. They spent 2.5 hours having a general discussion with everyone in the room (about 60 people from everywhere 4wd's street machines, retro rod club etc etc ) about issues that face our community from engineering to police harassment to public perception etc.

The guys running it seem to really have what I would call "the right" attitudes in regard to having cars as a hobby and making sure that legislation does not take our hobby away.

Whether you want to vote for them or not, I would recommend you consider spending $20 and joining the party so that you can be party of the lobby group and get all the updates etc. If you feel so inclined point all you other motoring mates to their website, the more of us there are the better.

http://www.australianmotoringenthusiastparty.org.au/

Cheers

Stewart

This is what the thread is about plain and simple ^^^

[karj]

Originally Posted by 9sec Menace

Who cares ?


No the question is, why are you posting in here turning it into a political debate ?

Everybody should care.

AMEP have views on other matters outside that of just motoring. If you want to install them into the senate, you should make sure that you agree with their particular world view because they will be making decisions in the senate based on those views on matters completely unrelated to motoring.

And I would have thought that is a perfectly valid point to make...

[Professor Farnsworth]

Preferences are king in elections. End of story.

[Keepleft]

That white senate paper = 110 candidates (seat of Charlton NSW) total.

So many will tick a '1' above the line and be off and away, I actually number the lot 1-110 below the line to excersize greater control.

In my seat, the House of Reps green paper has 7 candidates; rule is you number, in my seat example, 1 to 7, with number 7 being the least desired candidate/party.

In this seat the coalition member resigned from the race, and so that party doesn't have a candidate, despite its dropped candidates name and party name appearing on the Reps ballot paper; what happens, as I understand it, is that IF the resigned candidate actually obtains most votes in total and is 'elected', then he (in my case its a he), will serve as an independent.

If the candidate didn't wish to do that, the next individual/party gets in.

In this election, I think Charleton is the only seat where we've had a candidate pull out of the election, too late to arrange an alternative individual.