Australian Values Party
https://australianvalues.org.au/
* A freshly minted party grumpy about a lack of leadership from the major parties, but particularly
upset that the Taliban have retaken control of Afghanistan. Founded by a veteran, supporting
the defence force is clearly the prime topic, but many other policies are also put forward.
* Pretty weak about climate change. They seem only to begrudgingly consider it and still fear
turning away deniers by doing so.
* They want tougher enforcement against illicit drugs. They quote a report claiming that COVID
border closures led to a 23% reduction in overall illicit drug consumption because they harmed
the trade. They want to keep this up through tougher policing.
* Overall law and order, care for elders, and preserving "our way of life" (particularly through
national defence) are key themes. Clearly rather concervative for a party claiming to represent
the centre.
* They are very keen on better developing an Australian made and owned local defence industry,
aiming to make all defence equipment ourselves by 2030.
Though you can't deny that the major parties have major leadership issues, this party seems
particularly targeted at veterans with a conservative bent and misses a lot of matters that are
important to me. I like the support for Australian manufacturing, but going all-in on local
defence manufacturing in particular seems a bit too specific, and optimistic. Otherwise there's
not much to draw me to them, though their centre-right policies aren't generally repellant to me.
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