Put the major parties second

If, like me, you are still angry regarding the manner in which Gosford Council usurped the wishes of Umina residents by allowing an American multi-national fast food chain to drastically and irrevocably alter the character of our local community then it is time to rejoice.

It is now payback time.

Payback should be directed at both the Labor and Liberal parties.

Four Liberal councillors and two Labor councillors adopted a bi-partisan approach by all voting to support the ugly American's development application while ignoring the wishes of approximately 7000 petitioners, thereby changing Umina from a village to a ghetto.

If you wish to punish Labor and Liberal for ignoring the 7000 Say No To McDonalds petitioners, all you have to do is refrain from giving Liberal or Labor your primary vote.

For each primary vote they receive they will receive $248.80 of public funding.

Public funding means paid by the tax payer.

If 7000 voters refrain from giving primary votes to Labor and Liberal in the seat of Robertson the two parties will be denied access to more than $1.7 million that has been budgeted as income and has, most likely, already been spent.

I am sure that most readers of the Peninsula News are familiar with the preferential voting system.

For those unfamiliar with the process, the primary vote is when the voter allocates the number one beside the name of the candidate.

It is still possible to vote Liberal or Labor without giving them your primary vote.

For example you could allocate one to an independent (or an alternate party), two to Labor and three to Liberal.

If the Independent does not receive a decent percentage of the primary vote, your vote will be deemed to be a vote for Labor because you ranked them before the Liberals.

I urge local residents to withhold their primary vote from both Labor or Liberal, or if you prefer, Liberal and Labor.

If you can't bring yourself to voting for a minor party or an independent, you have the option of voting "informal".

As a second step to enjoying payback you should also strongly consider voting no in the referendum.

In my opinion Gosford Council is not worthy of constitutional recognition.

Am I the only person wondering why a bi-partisan approach can be adopted to mitigate electoral fall out from a local planning decisions but it can't be utilised to humanely resolve a refugee crisis?

Don't vote Labor.

Don't vote Liberal.

Email, 31 Jul 2013

Tim Haylor, Umina