GetUp! warn of upper house dangers

Progressive political lobby group GetUp! has encouraged NSW voters to take the allocation of preferences seriously in the Upper House, despite what many see as a long-decided result at Saturday’s state poll.

In an email sent out to members, GetUp

! warned that the balance of power could be decided by just a few hundred votes, and extreme candidates like Pauline Hanson, Fred Nile and the Shooters Party could end up with the balance of power.

“The NSW voting system means that millions of votes don’t actually count toward the final tally of who gets elected,” read the email.

“Your vote can actually ‘expire’. If you don’t allocate preferences, and your first preference candidate doesn’t get elected, you have no say at all in the final count”

GetUp! said it’s important to indicate multiple preferences and have created a video explaining how to make votes count.

They go on to warn that if the likes of Hanson, Nile and the Shooters Party are elected, they’ll roll back environmental protections, prevent action on climate change, put women’s reproductive rights at risk and undermine the conditions and rights of workers.

GetUp! suggest preferencing other candidates, with the more preferences leading to the greater the chance your vote will count.

You can watch the GetUp! video here: www.getup.org.au/campaign/NSWElection