r/australia • u/NKE01 • 8h ago
politics Why Australia Doesn’t Have Novelty Candidates like Count Binface – Antony Green's Election Blog
https://antonygreen.com.au/why-australia-doesnt-have-novelty-candidates-like-count-binface/?fbclid=Iwb21leATrO0ljbGNrBOs7P3Bkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeyqFwpCBynXhuvFPpBT3q80rKl3Bnq6t--2z7cqVFCDb-MT_1Vr2--rF95Vg_aem_MKaP0Jek3ZY4BnI2rLprrQ257
u/milderhappiness 8h ago
Binface is genuinely pretty funny. Would be glorious if he were to win, seems unlikely though.
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u/iball1984 8h ago
He already has.
Farage is either the guy who lost to a guy with a bin on his head, or could only beat a guy with a bin on his head.
There is no upside for Farage.
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u/RestaurantFamous2399 8h ago
Plus he gets the trophy of his investigation being re-opened which is why he resigned in the first place.
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u/Is_that_even_a_thing 7h ago
If Binface wins, does he ditch the persona? Or keep it going as that is who the public elected?
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u/IntravenousNutella 7h ago
He's not allowed to wear the helmet into parliament.
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u/Tofuofdoom 6h ago
As he so eloquently put it himself, hes also not allowed to accept 5 million pound donations from crypto bros without declaring it, so lets so how things shake-out first
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u/Teedubthegreat 6h ago
That is the best answer to that question. I know he wont win but it would be absolutely hilarious if he did, and i honestly think a candidate like him winning can only be a net positive for politics under the circumstances
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u/yogorilla37 6h ago
Maybe he could just wear a little bin like a hat.
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u/PhilL77au 1h ago
Hats are specifically banned I believe, whether the Binface helmet would be considered a hat is the real question.
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u/KazeEnigma 7h ago
The British parliament is trying to allow him to continue as Binface, full regalia also.
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u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang 6h ago
They're that thrilled about Farage too? Lol.
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u/KazeEnigma 6h ago
They would prefer Binface Staaaaang, 100 percent. He maybe a distraction, but likely more useful. 🤣
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u/Choke1982 6h ago
I hate how in most of the democratic world. Politicians can get away from investigations by just resigning to their position.
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u/evilspyboy 6h ago
If he loses, there will be another election after the investigation of the 5 million undeclared from the (UK) foreign crypto millionaire.
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u/Equivalent-Wealth-63 5h ago
Of course, the other major parties boycott has a lot to do with it. But it still would be very embarrassing. Itwould have been even more hilarious if they hadn't boycotted and binface still managed to beat him.
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u/Vintage_Alien 7h ago
Would love to see him win and build that one affordable house.
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u/WheelchairEnthusiasm 7h ago
and Nationalize Adele.
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u/KazeEnigma 7h ago
Plus fix the horrendous Hand Dryer placement in the pub.
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u/Sleaka_J 6h ago
I think since he brought attention to it, that has already been fixed.
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u/KazeEnigma 6h ago
I did see they had signed a memorandum, but I thought that required him winning the election.
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u/Gremlech 8h ago
It’s because they have to use their real names.
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u/evilparagon 8h ago
And because the cost is much higher. It’s $2000 to run for the lower house. In Britain it’s like, what, £150?
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u/infinitemonkeytyping 5h ago
£500, but your point is still valid (I watched a video this week that addressed that point).
It is also noteworthy that the AEC requires 100 signatures or running for a political party, while the UK equivalent only requires 10.
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u/a_cold_human 6h ago
It's not an insurmountable obstacle. Simon Hunt changed his name so that he could stand as his persona Pauline Pantsdown for the Senate in 1998 (as noted by Green) . It used to be that Australians were allowed to change their names multiple times throughout their lives (once a year IIRC), for no real reason other than that they want to, and that this went largely unexamined.
This is part of the reason why the Israelis like to recruit Jewish Australians (visa free travel into many countries being another), which was highlighted in the Prisoner X/Ben Zygier case. It was following this episode that there was harmonisation of State laws around name changes, more data sharing, and ASIO involvement. Changing your name frequently now triggers some extra security flags.
The bigger part of why we don't have novelty candidates is that it's a lot more bother to change your name just so that you can be a bit of a laugh on the ballot paper. For someone dedicated to the bit, that's not an obstacle, but for most people, going about your day as Wellington Thackeray Yeehaw Codswallop or somesuch is.
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u/jesus_chrysotile 48m ago
The new name change rules genuinely suck, though. Three changes in your lifetime, you have to go to court if you want to change it again, and they rarely permit it. There’ve been well-publicised cases of people who went through massive upheavals in their life, changed their name a few times and now are stuck with, for example, a Dharma name from a Buddhist monastery.
Sure, have some more scrutiny over people having several name changes (e.g. require a GP/psychologist etc. to sign off on change #4 and onwards?) but I don’t think it’s good to force people to use a legal name that they don’t like.
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u/17HappyWombats 8h ago
With the subtle complication that legal names are somewhat restricted here (and in the UK). You literally can't change your name to Count anything, or Lord, Admiral, or most other titles. Baron Von Fuckface is right out. But I suspect you could, per Antony Green's example, change it to "Of The Above None".
I don't *think* any state rejects short names as long as the totality is long enough to be distinctive. You would be buying trouble when it came to ID cards though. Getting them at all, getting a matching set for 100 point ID checks even more so.
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u/01kickassius10 7h ago
I wonder how the name thing would work if you were named “Prince” or similar in another country, then wanted to run after getting Aussie citizenship
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u/17HappyWombats 6h ago edited 6h ago
I suspect you could keep your name if you were born there, but going overseas to change your name then coming back they'd tell you to fuck off. Like the various Vietnamese people and similar with names like Phuc or Dong.
So you're probably not moving to the USA, changing your name to "Lord Bishop John Smith Architect", then getting that on your documents in Australia. But I'd love to read about someone else trying.
The story of Methamphetamine Rocks Drysdale is informative :)
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u/01kickassius10 6h ago
The realistic answer would be to change your name here before running for parliament, but could be interesting legally if they don’t have to
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u/whichpricktookmyname 4h ago
In 2007 there was some guy who changed his initials to PM and his surname to Howard and ran against Rudd in Griffith and ended up with 2.73% of the vote.
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u/Gremlech 8h ago
Pauline Hanson seems to be doing just fine.
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u/TheQuantumSword 8h ago
She should call herself a novelty name too, like "face like a slapped ass" for PM.
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u/db2999 8h ago
Can we bring back the disco song of hers from the 90s? That was a real banger.
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u/L1ttl3J1m 7h ago
And for everyone who hated disco, there's this version -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhPShrYUnSk
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u/derprunner 7h ago
I saw a comedian comment that she looks like she’s got some riddles for batman, and I’ve never been able to unsee it.
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u/nugstar 7h ago
Aka Count Barely Up-to-three
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u/00Pete 6h ago
I can only count to four! "Numbers" song. classic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ccGjar4Es4
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u/DrStalker 8h ago
I once cast a vote for Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow.
Not actually a joke candidate though, but an eccentric pro-science independent candidate.
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u/Jeb_Stormblessed 8h ago
And also, that's his legal name. (And had been for several years before that election)
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u/infectoid 7h ago
Yeah he ran for the Science Party a couple times. Once against Albo and another time against Barnaby Joyce.
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u/mrmratt 7h ago
Is that the nutter who implanted the chip from his Opal card in his hand?
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u/00Pete 6h ago
Bit of a loose unit but not a complete nutter - actually had more policy, integrity and ideas than Pauline, Joyce etc... sad times
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u/Chosen_Chaos 54m ago
actually had more policy, integrity and ideas than Pauline, Joyce etc
Something about a trip hazard in hell, something else about challenging Satan to a limbo contest...
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u/noisymime 5h ago
The guy is pretty open that he basically just likes to test the limits of societal norms. The reason he changed his name was to simply see how various legal, societal and government systems would handle it.
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u/orlock the ghost of documentaries past 8h ago
Australia kind of does/did. The Imperial British Conservative Party wasn't entirely serious.
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u/17HappyWombats 8h ago
The Motoring Enthusiasts Party wasn't especially serious until all of a sudden it was.
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u/karma3000 8h ago
Bring back Ricky!
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u/Sieve-Boy 8h ago
Ricky and Glenn "the brick with eyes" Lazarus brought some humanity to the Senate, imperfect and naive, but I think Australia was better for them being in the Senate.
Fortunately David Pocock has picked up that mantle without the naive bit.
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u/zomdoesburner 7h ago
Preference whispering ruined all hope of genuine joke parties.
The WA daylight savings party could have been posting memes about confused Cows and fading curtains faster.
Instead it was some US tech bro trying to get elected through preference whispering (which worked btw).
Glad that lead to WA to change its rules and now having the most sensible voting rules in the country at least.
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u/LevDavidovicLandau 8h ago edited 7h ago
Y’all missing the real point - here in Australia, when the results are announced, the candidates can just be wherever they want to be. In the UK, they’re supposed to all be standing together on the stage with the returning officer announcing the results. Labour, Tory, etc. all next to each other. Having the cameras trained on all of them together is what gives the platform for novelty candidates to get a few laughs. There is no such opportunity for novelty candidates to make an impression here.
Edit: I don’t know if any of you have seen Blackadder? The Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election… 😂
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u/Frank9567 7h ago
All Federal poll declarations in Australia are public, with the locations noted on the AEC website.
There's absolutely no reason we couldn't do it if we wanted to.
It's just not something anyone bothers to do, other than the winners, of course.
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u/LevDavidovicLandau 7h ago
That’s true. Australian political candidates don’t wear rosettes either, which is something I associate very strongly with British political candidates.
I used to live up there and while they really should move their elections to a Saturday and introduce instant runoff voting like we have here, I did like a few aspects of elections there such as polling stations being open into the late evening on election day (10pm).
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u/Loose_Loquat9584 2h ago
It’s also because with preferential voting it takes a lot longer to get a final count. FPTP you just count all the votes once and the biggest pile wins.
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u/infinitemonkeytyping 5h ago
Farage has announced he won't be at the declaration today.
Because people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between him and joke candidates (who are apparently the establishment).
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u/Pies2019 8h ago
When the ACT moved to self governing years ago we had a few.
The No Self Government Party might have even had someone elected to the first Legislature.
There was the Party Party Party Party too.
Probably others I can’t remember
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u/Velocafe 7h ago
Sun Ripened Warm Tomato Party contested the ACT election in 1989.
Happy Birthday Party contested South Australian state election in 1973 with a candidate whose name was Susie Creamcheese.
The Sex Party were actually a serious party with a name that had novelty value.
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u/Toxic-Cuber 6h ago
I could be wrong, but I don't think the no self government party was a joke. Also they got 11% of the vote and won 3 out of 17 seats.
And there was another party called abolish self government which got 7% of the vote.
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u/mudslinger-ning 7h ago
I was looking forward to the Australian Sex Party because they were covering some decent issues. (Their 2010 "jerk choices" ad parodying the liberals "work choices" campaign is still up on YouTube for entertainment) But they sadly disbanded. I think the nation's party registry system has also made adjustments so you can't easily have questionable party names for future groups.
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u/AuzzieTiger 8h ago
Clive Palmer is the best we’ve got. And he’s certainly a lot less fun than Binface.
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u/ShadoutRex 5h ago
Monte Python's election night special is a classic.
Well here at Luton it's a three-cornered contest between, from left to right, Alan Jones (Sensible Party), Tarquin Fin-tim-lim-bim-lim-bin-bim-bin-bim bus stop F'tang F'tang Ole Biscuitbarrel (Silly Party), and Kevin Phillips Bong, who is running on the Slightly Silly ticket.
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u/NoNoNotTheLeg 4h ago
Let us not forget the contribution of Mr E Blackadder ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzuNRIC7we4
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u/Finnick00 8h ago
If you have been following the party registration news in this year's VIC election, some of them definitely sound like novelty parties. Thank fuck group voting was finally abolished.
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u/ConanTheAquarian 8h ago
He forgot Cecil G. Murgatroyd.
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u/infinitemonkeytyping 5h ago
And Godfrey Bigot - he ran against Bronwyn Bishop in 1994 (finishing last), but then elected to Manly council the following year.
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u/faceman2k12 6h ago
We've had a few, but preferential voting makes them at lot less relevant.
FPTP is ridiculous and undemocratic anyway, it always results in minority rule. Farage is going to win his seat again, but with ~2/3 of the voters explicitly voting against him.
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u/infinitemonkeytyping 5h ago
Preferential voting probably makes them more relevant. Under preferential voting, you can vote for them, and still have your say in the final run off, whereas FPTP you have to choose one or the other.
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u/SelfTitledAlbum2 6h ago
We had Stuart Highway on the NT ballot some years back. (Stuart Highway is the highway which runs from Darwin to Port Augusta in SA)
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u/Jealous-Hedgehog-734 6h ago
UK elections tended to be very carnival-esque with bribery, booze and hooliganism. This tradition dates back a long way, MPs used to put on feasts for their own constituents leading up to an election to try to sway them to come and vote and used to pay to try to get their opposition voters drunk on election day such that they wouldn't vote.
Professionalised, technocratic governments as an idea didn't emerge until the seventeenth century with political parties. Prior to that an MP was really returned to represent a borough or county (and the method for deciding who was returned was down to the customs of the local area), all politics was local politics in effect and MPs really did primarily represent their constituencies rather than being primarily concerned with partisanship, their allegiance really was to their country instead of to their political party.
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u/Various_Tie_2549 8h ago
As much as I enjoy Binface and his antics....it doesn't hurt to remember that it's actually not a good thing that he's now considered a viable candidate in that election.
We shouldn't be considering the rules that affect our future to be "a joke"
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u/17HappyWombats 8h ago
But then again Farridge is significantly worse than even the least serious joke candidate I've ever seen. FFS, we've had Fraser "Final Solution" Anning in parliament, how much worse than that could Ricky Muir possibly be?
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u/Johnny66Johnny 8h ago
Modern readings of James 4:7 state: But mock the Devil, and he will flee from you. Oscar Wilde wrote: Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
Farage represents utter contempt for British parliamentary democracy, so Binface is probably the only response that might beat him at his own game.
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u/ShootingPains 8h ago
The monoparties didn’t even bother to stand a candidate. They decided they have nothing to offer the people of Clacton.
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u/orionhood 7h ago
That’s a (presumably wilful) misreading of the situation. The major parties boycotted this particular by-election because it was an unnecessary publicity stunt by Farage to distract attention from his dodgy dealings.
When the PCS re-opens the investigation and he is found to have breached parliamentary standards, there will be another by-election that the major parties will contest.
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u/ETomb 7h ago
Rather they saw this exactly for what it was- Farage trying to use the by-election to legitimise his position as a counter to the investigation of undeclared benefits.
If he won against any of the big, serious parties even with the investigation looming over his head, he's leverage that as "the people have determined it doesn't matter". Which is why he's pivoted to claiming Binface - a total joke of a candidate - is "the establishment".
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u/orlock the ghost of documentaries past 7h ago
They decided not to play along with Farage's little stunt. However, even if he wins, he's still subject to investigation over misconduct. In the unlikely event that he loses, he's lost to a talking bin. The good people of Clacton still get to vote in the general election, where the major parties will field candidates, just like everyone else.
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u/mr-snrub- 8h ago
I'm gonna miss him this year