There’s a party in my pants
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Labor’s failure to field candidates in last weekend’s Higgins and Bradfield by-elections had unexpectedly pleasurable consequences for psephological observers: they witnessed the bold entry of the Australian Sex Party into the political sphere. In Higgins, ASP leader and Eros Association CEO Fiona Patten came third with 1986 votes, or 3.3% of the vote. In Bradfield, pole dancer-cum-human rights lawyer Zahra Stardust also achieved 3.3% (2165 votes), although she came fourth behind the Liberals, Greens and the DLP. This is just short of the 4% of primary votes needed to secure federal funding. But considering that 10 candidates were contesting Higgins, and 22 candidates Bradfield, it’s a strong debut showing for the fledgling party. The other thing to remember about the ASP is that the Bradfield and Higgins by-elections were unavoidably influenced by ETS wrangling and Liberal party leadership issues. Were the by-elections contested at a time when the ASP’s policy platforms were once again hot-button issues, its showing might well have been higher. Oddly enough, the ASP isn’t just about sex. Its policy interests are more broadly related to censorship and civil liberties. Claiming to have “nearly 2000 members”, the ASP posits itself as a commonsensical, secular alternative to government over-regulation of citizens’ private behaviour. Its policies include the establishment of a truly national classification scheme for non-violent erotica across all media — including the internet and computer games — and to overturn mandatory ISP filtering of the internet. It advocates a national sex education curriculum, a national internet education scheme for parents, and national abortion laws along the same legal, no-fault lines as divorce law. It aims for sexual freedom for all Australian citizens — notably indigenous, disabled and elderly Australians. The party also aims to prosecute child pornography rings globally, and to abolish sex slavery by introducing immigration policies that allow foreign nationals legal and transparent employment as sex workers in Australia. The ASP is also strongly against the intrusion of religion into politics. It wants a Royal Commission into the abuse of children by religious institutions, and to end the tax-exempt status for religions. Many of these policies already have political support and grass-roots advocacy. And, while people may not like to admit this in public, the ASP may enjoy a future swelling of support simply because so many Australians are privately tolerant of sexual freedoms and diversity. Indeed, a scientific study into porn recently ran into difficulties because it was unable to set up a control group. “We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn’t find any,” said Simon Louis Lajeunesse of the Université de Montréal. Intriguingly, the party’s ties to the lucrative adult entertainment industry have given it financial and propaganda muscle. It’s hard to imagine Labor or Liberal advertising being circulated on every DVD in a certain classification category, but that’s just what the ASP has done. After placing an ad on 50,000 DVDs that were given out at Melbourne’s Sexpo convention last year, the party went on to include a longer version of the ad on all X-rated DVDs sold in Australia. In the ad, Patten points to the increased censorship of adult entertainment in Australia over the past 20 years, and urges: “If you’ve had enough of wowserism and political interference in your bedroom, help us make a change and join the Australian Sex Party.” However, as a serious political force, the ASP has a lot more PR work ahead. Perhaps a good place to begin seeking greater credibility might be its own website, where the phrase “Grunt … snuffle” is currently attributed to Patten, and the party introduces potential voters to its “secret political and spiritual adviser”, Curly Merkin. |
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15 Comments
Did anyone notice that the ASP vote in Higgins was higher than the Democrats vote? You would think that if the Democrats were ever going to get a vote or two again it would be in an electorate like Higgins.
@Chienne: Re Democrats, well lets see, should a vote for a party of moral prissiness, or one that stands for having a good time? They probably had a gutful of the former with Costello.
Gah. Meant to be “should we” not “should a”
Note to self. Vote for the ASP in the next election.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
Smart people the world over, even in Australia it seems, know that nothing beats sex in bringing on good health profoundly and long life.
Congratulations Fiona & co.
If Christians First can snare a seat with 2%, imagine the possibilities. Bring on that double dissolution.
I was very disappointed with the article as there was a rich seam of “carry on ..” type gags to mine. Please try harder next time.
The ‘future swelling’ was almost there.
But, good article otherwise. I wondered what these guys were all about. Like the 3 Day Weekend party, at first it seems ludicrous, but the more one thinks about it, the more it makes sense.
In the UK “the monster raving loonie party” was an amusing political option but 30 years later some of their policies were taken up by the major parties and became legislation. There is a tendancy to think only the 2 parties on offer are worthy, but in reality we all know they are fairly ordinary and ideas are not their thing. Worlds Best Practise means “we really can’t think for ourselves so we will just copy something from somewhere else”. Start up parties with a few new ideas are essential in Australia’s mainstream politics idea free zone. Good luck ASP you’ve got my vote, can’t be worse than the current batch of useless, aging Rhodes Scholars of either side.
@Mr Pastry: See also “The Pirate Party” - more ideas than the current mob. (having *less* ideas than the coalition would be a real indictment)
This is a Gonzo party and everyone knows it. A catchy name gets a few percent of the vote, but thats it. Its just donkey voters picking the silliest name.
The More Beer Party got a representative elected to the constitutional convention.
Come back with a serious name and you might get treated as less of a comedy act. The strippers and pole dancing makes you a joke, that men under 30 will vote for as a joke.
I don’t agree, EnergyPedant. Its name and marketing method is certainly Gonzo, and gets it blocked by my workplace URL filter.
But that’s the final corner that liberal values have been pushed into; there is nowhere else to go. Consider all the traditional vehicles for liberal politics:
- the Liberal party is now the Conservative party in everything but name. The Whigs have been replaced by Tories. Those who think the one is just a “moderate” version of the other are mistaken; they are completely different values
- the “rebuilding” Democrats party is the one that really is a joke. They have 5 “core beliefs” and 23 objectives. The first core belief is libertarian (“We should all be free to live our lives how we want to”) but the rest is socialist mush, hopelessly compromising that one and requiring increased taxes. Don Chipp’s legacy is really, truly, dead and buried.
- the Democratic Labor Party is just an alternative Labor Party without the ACTU and the factions. Isn’t it nice being small and not have to worry about realpolitik.
- The Liberal Democratic Party is not much better. They do at least put forward a purist Libertarian framework. But their biggest campaign currently is promoting Bjorn Lomborg on climate policy. They may be right or they may be wrong about this, but one of their core principles is that people in government have “no special wisdom or insight”. By picking a side here, they are claiming special wisdom and insight. Clowns. And their other main campaigns are on smoking and light bulbs. These people are true lightweights.
And that’s it. To tell the truth, as someone who finds p-rn and pole dancing quite boring (think Epic Snoresville as James Ellroy says) I think this S-x Party is the missing piece of the Australian political spectrum. If they put a candidate in my seat, I will vote for it. I’d consider doing campaigning time for them too, although I might not be quite the kind of look they are looking for.
I think you’re missing the point Energypedant. What strippers and pole dancers represent is exactly what many Australians are feeling forcibly denied of.
What an uptight, judgmental and bigoted place our political landscape has become in the last week courtesy of Mr Abbots new front bench and the born-again christian, new NSW Premier.
Let’s hope the Sex Party can save our souls!
the emergence of god squaddies around the parliaments is very disturbing and ASPs secular society ticket is extremely timely - please let us not become mid-americans.
Look at this: “The party also aims to … abolish sex slavery by introducing immigration policies that allow foreign nationals legal and transparent employment as sex workers in Australia.”
Why didn’t anyone think of that before?