Just posted my longest review ever on my election blog. I had previously reviewed Fusion and its constituents favourably to varying degrees. There are many worse parties out there, but I felt I needed to explain at length why I think Fusion is a poor choice in 2025, especially for left-wing voters - ThreadSky

drdrehistorian.bsky.social • 8 days ago

Just posted my longest review ever on my election blog. I had previously reviewed Fusion and its constituents favourably to varying degrees. There are many worse parties out there, but I felt I needed to explain at length why I think Fusion is a poor choice in 2025, especially for left-wing voters

Comments

cameronpat.bsky.social•8 days ago

yeah this kind of thing is a great example of why I've become so cynical about micro parties, even ones that have superficially appealing policies. in principal "Science, Pirate, Secular, Climate Emergency" should be totally my jam, but this is... not.

rhysneedham.bsky.social•8 days ago

When something like the Secular Pirate Sex Party might have scraped into a Senate quota on the name along, at least in a Double Dissolution?

elleestunearbre.bsky.social•7 days ago

I vote for senate knowing the micro parties I preference will never actually be elected, so I'm fairly loose with what I'll vote for if it shows my intent properly. But checking in on them all this year, yeesh.
Fusion is definitely off the list.

cathamoc.bsky.social•7 days ago

I check them all out before I mark my senate paper. The problem I have is I would like at least 15 to be last.

anthonyzougras.bsky.social•8 days ago

Thanks for the review André. Unfortunately, I'm not terribly surprised by what you've written. Still a very interesting read (including areas such as diving into their housing policy). I also do agree that people should research into their candidate, as it is a very wide net.

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•8 days ago

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you have to say. I'm mystified the party even posted that housing policy rather than tell the author to come back when they could express themselves more succinctly

valakay.bsky.social•3 days ago

Thanks, interesting re Fusion. Can I ask have you reviewed the Socialists (vic Socialists/Socialist Alliance)? Not sure how many candidates they’re running but Sue Bolton is standing in Wills. Couldn’t find them on your blog

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•3 days ago

As it happens, I'm literally drafting my Socialist Alliance review right now! VS to come. I'm working through the parties in alphabetical order on the AEC register of parties. I've voted 1 for Bolton before when I lived in Brunswick, although my review this year might be a little equivocal

valakay.bsky.social•3 days ago

Oh yeah? That’s interesting looking forward to seeing it. I like Bolton & ofc she is well known here. I have personal reasons for putting her before Greens (I got treated like absolute shit by them) but also I like her down to earth quality vs Ratnam’s polish

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•3 days ago

Full disclosure here, then, is that if I still lived in Brunswick (which I wish I did, but the cursed state of employment in Aus higher ed is what it is) I would vote Ratnam over Bolton because I have had positive personal interactions with Ratnam while Bolton has some NIMBY tendencies

valakay.bsky.social•3 days ago

Yes I think I remember that … tbh it’s a hard issue here, I love a lot of the nightingale developments and so on but around that area I also remember an interesting little Victorian terrace that had been deprived of almost all natural light by an ugly block of flats. And Council needs to put much

valakay.bsky.social•3 days ago

more regs around green space - they’re doing some good stuff w micro-parks but the developments themselves need trees as well as creepers etc - it can be done if they try. Too much concrete, not enough trees. Anyway better leave you in peace to do VS and SA …

nondescriptive.bsky.social•8 days ago

I was settling in for a slog but that was anything but, an entertaining and informative read, thank you!

elyobo.bsky.social•8 days ago

“Is that the best you can do? The comparative advantage *of being in the desert.*”

Brutal

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•8 days ago

I genuinely snorted when I first read that sentence in their housing policy

elyobo.bsky.social•8 days ago

I lol-ed, the kid asked what it was, I did not try to explain.

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•8 days ago

No, no, I think your kid will be thrilled to learn about Ricardo's idea of comparative advantage

grugstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

lmao

nondescriptive.bsky.social•3 days ago

Love the graphic design, obviously, and what an innovation to include a little note justifying preference to the Liberals for... peace

grugstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

aaaand they’ve preferenced Labor over the incumbent Greens in Brisbane

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•3 days ago

The party’s own list of candidates indicates their alignment with constituent parties within Fusion, and it turns out the Brisbane candidate is from the “not left or right, you could call us the sensible centre” Australian Progressives

The FF-loving McEwen candidate is, of course, Democracy First

grugstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

From discord chatter, it seems to be that individual candidates get to unilaterally decide their own HTV.

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•3 days ago

Also, Family fucken First over any of the majors in McEwen:

zahri.bsky.social•3 days ago

Extremely amused they've frantically backtracked on this after getting called out.

Got too hot in the kitchen for you, Fusion?

anthonyzougras.bsky.social•3 days ago

The worst offender, imo, is their Victorian senate HTV. They've put the Libertarians 5th (suspiciously, the Libertarians have done the same for Fusion) and the Greens 10th (below Labor). The comments on the Facebook post with the HTV card are filled with their candidates slagging the Greens, too.

grugstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

Reckon it’s the Vern Hughes influence or would this have happened anyway

anthonyzougras.bsky.social•3 days ago

Nah, both Kammy and Simon are from the older parties that formed Fusion (Save the Planet and the Pirate Party, respectively iirc). Simon specifically extremely dislikes the Greens over the issue of Israel/Palestine (his webpage is open about that), so I suspect that's part of what's going on here.

anthonyzougras.bsky.social•3 days ago

Mind you, he's also commented things like the below part, which is the same rhetoric I've seen for working with Vern. Imo, its naive because parties like the Libertarians (and Dittloff especially) will lie to get what they want, so them showing good will behind closed doors is meaningless imo.

grugstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

That would be the “tangible peace plan” they refer to I guess

lthat.ch•3 days ago

any idea what the little symbols next to the names are? feels like I'm trying to decode cooker bumper stickers

zahri.bsky.social•3 days ago

They’re defined on the Senate HTV but randomly using them on others without bothering to explain is a bad design choice

lthat.ch•3 days ago

thanks! Completely bizarre all round

zahri.bsky.social•3 days ago

No worries. I've been boggling at their design choices all morning.

(Along with the candidate order, and their rapid backflips on being called out about it)

grugstan.bsky.social•3 days ago

I assume it’s a Democracy First thing since it’s not on any of the other Fusion candidates’ HTVs. But their website does not illuminate.

peregrinari7.bsky.social•3 days ago

That garish design + use of comic sans is also a thought crime

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•3 days ago

Can't believe I've had to write another lengthy piece about the Fusion Party but they've released some problematic HTVs this week, which has been funny and revealing

becleighton.bsky.social•1 day ago

That is a bizarre preference allocation, but probably to be expected given the bizarre mix of constituent groups in Fusion now.

dreddieclark.bsky.social•8 days ago

seems like a lot of micro parties (I think I see 3 or 4 in your review so far) aren't bothering with tasmania. Is there a particular reason? Logistically expensive (surely not moreso than WA)? Or just Lab/Lib/Greens/Lambie already pretty much have a lock on all the senate seats?

benraue.com•8 days ago

There just aren’t as many Tasmanians, so harder to find people to run.

benmessenger.bsky.social•8 days ago

And every single Tasmanian is already a local councillor

kevinbonham.bsky.social•8 days ago

Speaking of which West Coast Councillor Kerry Graham was going to run for Fusion (he's proof that Democracy First isn't purely Vern Hughes and he's pro the salmon industry) but that fell through for some reason.

alexjago51.bsky.social•7 days ago

Nothing dramatic, we just couldn't quite lock in a second candidate to make it a ticket.

dakindon.bsky.social•8 days ago

Is it fusion versus fishion?

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•8 days ago

Yeah Tasmania is fairly certain to elect 2 ALP, 2 Lib, 1 Green, 1 Lambie, but a lot of these minor parties won't be competitive *anywhere*. I think it's partly because of something @kevinbonham.bsky.social identifies in his TAS overview: micros often don't find locals to stand for them there

cathamoc.bsky.social•7 days ago

another murican import Fusion Party is a name for multiple political parties in United States history and more recently a Federal political party established in Australia.

anthonyzougras.bsky.social•7 days ago

To be fair, the name Fusion does also have roots in Australian political history. Deakin joining the Protectionists and Anti-Socialists (ex-Free Trade) parties against Labor in 1909 was known than as the Fusion.

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•7 days ago

Yep, and widely called the Fusion Party at first until it formally adopted the name Liberal Party (distinct from the modern-day Liberals founded in 1945)

I’ve always appreciated that one scholarly edited collection about the 1909 Fusion is titled Confusion (eds Strangio and Dyrenfurth, MUP 2009)

cuntworthy.bsky.social•8 days ago

Good read. Was intrigued by their Vic Senate candidates -- #1 seemed like a pretty solid climate activist who I honestly wouldn't mind in the Senate while #2 was a bit more of a squishy centrist mess (thinks both the Greens and Liberals are antisemitic which, points for consistency I suppose)

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•8 days ago

Hah, click through to my VIC 2022 review: I gave Cordner Hunt a positive review, and the other guy (lest he be keyword-searching himself) a middling one. He is one of the handful of candidates who has made an account to yell at me because I called his website "amateurish" and his centrism "waffle"

cuntworthy.bsky.social•8 days ago

Did give that a look lol. Agonising a bit about whether he ought to go below or above the Labor meh zone but I do think the broader, very odd weirdness/head-in-the-sand centrism of some of FUSION's policies might influence that a tad. Despite aesthetics they really are not as leftie as I expected

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•8 days ago

tbh I would definitely put him below Labor, and also below other no-hopers like the Dems

cuntworthy.bsky.social•8 days ago

Current structure of my ballot is that almost all leftie no-hopers (including some I have significant issue with) are above Labor due to usually being better on issues like welfare and immigration, with a select few demoted to below Labor due to mainly weird centrism (SusAus, one AusVoice candidate)

cuntworthy.bsky.social•8 days ago

This candidate in question was the very last one before the Labor ticket (I believe 23) and if I were to demote him it'd probably be to around the high-30s

kristin8x.antipovertycentre.org•3 days ago

I know it won't be worth your time to review this one, but have you got any idea who's behind it? Very weird vibe. https://www.goodparty.com.au

nondescriptive.bsky.social•3 days ago

They *are* weird. They have corflutes up in Kingsford Smith, but didn't get the party registered so are running an independent candidate 🤔

drdrehistorian.bsky.social•3 days ago

Actually, I *am* hoping to get to them; finding and reviewing the random unregistered parties who have endorsed nominal indies often throws up some of the most interesting stuff of the reviewing season. I’ve seen this party’s name around but haven’t looked into them yet

peregrinari7.bsky.social•8 days ago

Nice review. I liked your "superficial soulless visuals" line, quite the zinger. 😎

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