Preferences Give DLP Best Chance in 50 Years

Preferences for Upper House seats were announced by the Victorian Electoral Commission at 3.48 pm today, 12 November.

The preference arrangements for Western Victoria are extraordinarily favourable to the DLP. We have the highest possible preferences from the Country Alliance and Family First and effectively, People Power. We also have high preferences from the ALP. I have only ever previously described my chances of winning as a "reasonable possibility". Under the new system of proportional representation, the preferences announced today really boosts the chances for a DLP win in Western Victoria very considerably. Now, we really do have a very strong chance of winning the seat.

I would like to sincerely thank all the other parties who have preferenced so generously to the DLP. If elected I will make myself available to listen to their concerns.

The DLP is fielding a full team of five candidates for Western Victoria. I am supported on the ticket by Clare Power of Creswick, David Power of Belmont and Michael and Leanne Casanova of Ballarat.

The DLP is fielding candidates in every Upper House seat in Victoria, so every voter will vote for or against the DLP at this election.

MEDIA RELEASE: "Empower Local Communities"

Peter Kavanagh, the DLP Candidate for Western Victoria has called for a comprehensive, long term decentralisation policy based on the empowerment of local communities.

"Devolving power to the lowest level of government that can efficiently decide an issue is essential if people are to decide issues that affect them most directly. This is a long held, fundamental principle of the Democratic Labor Party," Mr Kavanagh said.

"Victoria currently lacks a comprehensive strategy for decentralisation. The ALP government's idea of encouraging industry and services around the state is merely hauled out whenever it wants to shore up support in marginal seats outside Melbourne," Mr Kavanagh said.

"At the same time, decisions are being taken at a State level that should be made by the people who are actually affected by the decision - locals."

"In Victoria at present the opposite is happening. The State government is vetoing developments against the wishes of local communities and allowing developments which are opposed by a majority of local people. Two examples happened in Geelong recently. Less than a year ago, sexually explicit entertainment at the 'Alley Cat Gentlemen's Club', a strip club, was approved by VCAT against the objections of the Geelong Council and large numbers of Geelong residents who were concerned, among other things, about the effects of this venue on local school children. Similar developments have been allowed in other parts of Victoria despite the objections of local people."

"In the middle of this year the State government vetoed the development of a Direct Factory Outlet in Greater Geelong, 'surprising the Town Hall'. This disappointed many Geelong people. Whether or not the development should have gone ahead is not the point. The point is that this is properly a matter for the people of Geelong, not the State government," Mr Kavanagh said.

"Moving the TAC to Geelong shows that the present State government's idea of decentralisation is to spend huge amounts of taxpayer's money in marginal seats with no improvement to services. This is not real decentralisation. The DLP was a prime mover behind the effective decentralisation plans of previous decades. A return of the DLP to Parliament, which is possible with the introduction of proportional representation this year, would see genuine decentralisation policy back on state and national agendas."

"Australia needs long term, coherent decentralisation strategies based on efficiently directing the future growth of government departments outside capital cities, providing government services to regional areas together with tax incentives and the recreation of a government sponsored development bank to encourage population and economic growth outside our large cities. Just as important, we also need to empower local communities to decide local issues for themselves," Mr Kavanagh said.

FOR FUTHER COMMENT CONTACT PETER KAVANAGH ON TELEPHONE m. 0413 847 413

Setting the record straight

Gaining some coverage in the press is beginning to result in attacks from a variety of quarters, mostly from extremist elements. Two blogs, one “socialist” the other “exposing the Christian right” have recently attacked me over policies and comments that have received exposure in a variety of media. These attacks include falsely representing what I have said and criticising those fabricated comments.

It is claimed that I have said that “Mr Bracks is a baby killer”. In fact of course I have never said that. I have described the process leading to the ALP’s decision to remove all remaining protections for the unborn in this state and allow both late term and partial birth abortions. I have also described how Mr Bracks has been reported in the press to have made a secret pact with backbenchers guaranteeing the implementation of this policy after the election, providing that they do not make a face before he election and how he later announced to the public that he does not know if the matter will even be put before Parliament and if it is, he does not know how he will vote! I have said that the ALP’s policy will result in the killing of even healthy babies, some even as they are being born. Unfortunately, what I have claimed is true.

Both the DLP and I have been attacked as “racist and homophobic”. This is what opponents of the DLP consider to be intelligent debate! Actually it is a refrain often heard from primary school children these days. It is now common for young children when told, for example, that it might rain tomorrow to reply, “That’s racist!” In reality, the DLP has always stood firmly against racial discrimination, indeed the DLP was the first of the existing political parties to call for an end to the White Australia policy. It is actually the Left of Australian politics which demands racial inequality, i.e. discrimination on the basis of race, i.e. institutionalised racism. For the record, I certainly do not either fear or hate gays.

Another line of attack is to claim that the DLP will not win seats. Presumably, if the DLP's opponents were really as confident as they claim, they would not be bothered making the assertion. The fact is that prefernces could possibly deliver seats to the DLP in this election. There is no need to debate this however. Like a quarrel over who will win a footbal match before it is played, it is a futile debate. The Democratic Labor Party deserves to win seats, whether it does so or not however is up to the voters to decide.

Peter Kavanagh

MEDIA RELEASE: ALP dodging late term abortion debate

The Victorian ALP is preparing to reverse the four decades old restrictions on abortion by permitting abortion of a pregnancy at any time and for any reason provided it is performed by a medical practitioner. The changes, proposed in 2005 by the Victorian ALP, will permit abortions up to very late stages of pregnancy.

Fearing a voter backlash, the Premier Mr Steve Bracks has made a pact with members of his own party, giving "iron clad assurances" that the ALP's policy will be implemented, while he tells the media and public that he "has not made up his mind" or that he has no intention of introducing these laws "in 2006".

Mr Peter Kavanagh, Upper House candidate for Western Victoria in the coming State elections, said “The letter of Victoria's current abortion law allows abortion only in cases of threat to the life or health of the mother (the Menhennitt ruling of 1969). The community retains strong reservations about late term abortions. If re-elected, the Victorian government will abolish the Menhennitt restrictions and allow abortion at any stage for any reason.”

In 2005 the Victorian ALP voted to remove all remaining, if nominal, protections for the unborn in Victoria. The existing ALP platform states: "Labor will amend section 65 of the Crimes Act to provide that no abortion be criminal when performed by a legally qualified medical practitioner at the request of the woman concerned". In May this year the ALP state conference voted overwhelmingly and explicitly against proposed amendments to retain any restrictions on late term abortions and even on 'partial birth abortions'.

“Partial birth abortion, actually a form of infanticide, is usually performed late in the second trimester or later. It involves turning a baby around inside the womb and, when it is born, except for the head, killing it, most often by inserting scissors into the brain. If the head were to be born first, the rest of the baby would emerge quickly, not giving enough time to kill it before birth is complete. There is evidence that this procedure is excruciatingly painful to the baby,” Mr Kavanagh said.

“In spite of constitutional restrictions on anti-abortion laws in the US, partial birth abortion was made illegal throughout the US in 2003 at any stage. The ALP's policy will allow partial birth abortions, even up to the time of natural birth,” Mr Kavanagh said.

“I know that there are lots of different views about this, but I think Victorians would want to see candidates questioned about this issue before they were elected. I don’t believe we’ve reached a stage in the debate where people no longer care that healthy, late term pregnancies could be aborted in what I think most people would call infanticide,” Mr Kavanagh said.

FOR COMMENT CONTACT PETER KAVANAGH ON TELEPHONE m. 0413 847 413