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Location: Government Reform
Discussion: Citizens power to repeal laws
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Anonymous |
Citizens power to repeal laws
Mar 2 2008, 7:39 PM EST (re-adding this suggestion, as it was removed) If 100,000 Aussies sign a petition against any given law then in conjunction with the next election the voters should have the chance to vote against the law and if a majority agree the law would cease to operate. I never liked the idea of Citizen Initiated Referenda, because it had a potential "tyranny of the majority" scenario. But with only the ability to vote down laws (and not create new ones), this is effectively like an additional "house of review" 44 out of 52 found this valuable. Do you? |
 trgh |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws (re-adding)
Mar 2 2008, 9:55 PM EST I think this thread concluded last time with a general agreement that its a great idea, witht he addition that the public should be able to have input more often than just at election time. The suggestion was, I think, every few months or so to hold a poll / referendum / vote. Dear moderator, why was the original thread removed? 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
 PacShady |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws (re-adding)
Mar 3 2008, 7:52 AM EST "I think this thread concluded last time with a general agreement that its a great idea, witht he addition that the public should be able to have input more often than just at election time.The original post was removed due to vote-spamming. Well, not so much "removed" as "moved". Unfortunately due to the limits of Wetpaint's software, we couldn't just zero the votes and start fresh. Sorry the idea needed to be resubmitted, but it's all that can really be done after idiots decide to spam a thread with 100 votes within a few hours. 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws (re-adding)
Mar 3 2008, 4:22 PM EST It's a pity about the spamming issue (though, surprising that wetpaint is so open to abuse) - but I think this is a brilliant idea (I didn't post the original article btw, but I did the re-submit because I believe it to be worthy of consideration). 1 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Anonymous |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws (re-adding)
Mar 3 2008, 4:29 PM EST trgh - there were certainly suggestions for more frequent votes, but I don't know I'd say there was a consensus on that issue. Reasons for a longer period: 1. referendums are expensive when not piggy-backed on another election 2. It takes time to collect 100,000 sigs anyway 3. The long-term effect of this policy would be to discourage government from making bad decisions in the first place. 4. You need to allow some time for government policies to take effect... you want to be able to vote down bad decisions - and discourage them from being made - but you don't want to make the government afraid to do *anything*. Fact is, a lot of ideas are not accepted at first Anyway - details, details... the details as to how it might work are trivial - but the idea of people reviewing legislation like this is still a good one. 3 out of 5 found this valuable. Do you? |
 dra_red |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws
Mar 10 2008, 3:33 PM EDT I like the idea of a citizen initiated referendum. I don't see tyranny of the majority being any more of a concern than it is already with our current electoral system. Voting down a law could be abused in pretty much the same way. A better system again would be combining a citizen initiated referendum with a site like this one. If a site could be developed (it would need government checks in place I believe) then people could see the development of an idea and could contribute if necessary. The majority of Australians are intelligent enough to know what they want when they are fully informed. The hitch being that many are not fully informed. However, with a similar system that allowed all the necessary information to be collected and presented, most Australians would make good choices I believe. If they didn't, is it really anyone's business to say they have made a bad choice? cheers, Dale 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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trgh |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws
Mar 10 2008, 9:11 PM EDT Big PLUS for CIR!!!!! A related issue: The Senator On-Line (SOL) concept was good and was a great way to do it without much cost. I have been in contact with the SOL candidate but he was unwilling to continue or develop the site unless he was voted in. However, I am very confident that if we can get endorsement from Gov't - that they would commit to "including the polls generated on such a site in the Senate discussion on issues" then this can work. Has anyone heard if Mr. Rudd intends to listen to the contributions on THIS site? 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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dra_red |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws
Mar 11 2008, 12:55 AM EDT I never heard of the senator online concept but it sounds good ot me. I was honestly contemplating doing a similar thing in the last election but then who wants to put their life on hold like that! I have not heard if this site will be cited at the 20/20 summit. My honest opinion is that it has not reached the stage of being fully operational yet. It still needs more members and more critical debate. cheers, Dale 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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trgh |
RE: Citizens power to repeal laws
Mar 11 2008, 5:35 PM EDT Dale, For your info see www.senatoronline.org.au As I said though, this non-party candidate is only interested in putting up the site if he gets elected. I like the concept and even this wiki site (ozideas) may be a reasonable template for the job. 2 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |