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Australian General Election 2004

• Aboriginal candidates
• Election news
• Australian political parties
• Other information

• Overseas Voting Guide from Australian Electoral Commission
  

Aboriginal Candidates

• New South Wales
  Senate
  • Aden Ridgeway is currently the only Indigenous person in the Federal Parliament. He is the Democrats deputy leader.
  Reps
  • Michael Anderson is standing for the Greens in Gwydir, currently held by Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson.
  • Lester Pearce is the Democrats candidate in Macarthur.
  
• Victoria
  Senate
  • Richard Franklin is standing for the new “Your Voice” Party.
  Reps
  • Monica Morgan is a Yorta Yorta woman standing for the Greens in Murray
  • Scott Kneebone is standing for the Democrats in the seat of Batman.
  
• ACT
  Reps
  • Adam Giles, a Gamillaroi man from NSW will contest Fraser for the Liberals.
  
• Queensland
  Senate
  • Sam Watson is standing for the Socialist Alliance
  Reps
  • Richard Hoolihan is standing for the Democrats in the seat of Herbert.
  
• South Australia
  Senate
  • Andrea Mason is standing for the The Family First Party. She is the party's leader and the first Aboriginal woman to lead an Australian political party.
  Reps
  • Waluwe Simpson-Lyttle is running for the ALP in Barker.
  
• Western Australia
  Reps
  • Kado Muir is standing for the Greens in the seat of Kalgoorlie.
  
• Northern Territory
  Senate
  • Wayne Connop is running as no.2 Senate candidate for the ALP.
  • Janeen Bulsey is standing for the Democrats.
  Reps
  • Maisie Austin is standing in the seat of Lingiari for the Country Liberal Party.

• Indigenous Candidate Profiles
  

Source: ANTaR/ENIAR

Election news

Marie McMahon, Redback Graphix, 'Vote' (1988)

• You can find a complete list of Australian news sources here.

• Indigenous Affairs Policy is Central to Australia's Future
  6 November 2004 - The Australian Democrats have called for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation to be put back on the Federal policy agenda at the Democrat's policy and candidate launch at the Old Telegraph Station in Alice Springs today. Democrats Leader, Senator Andrew Bartlett, said the Democrats were the first political party to formally apologise to the stolen generations and will continue to push whoever forms Government after October 9 to issue a formal apology.
• Aboriginals urged to enrol to vote
  September 4, 2004 - Aboriginal Australians were today urged to enroll to vote in the October 9 federal election.
  ALP vice-president and Aboriginal leader Warren Mundine said there was a significant number of Aborigines who were not on the electoral roll.
  • Call for ATSIC demise to be election issue
• Democrats seek Ridgeway backing
  29 August 2004 - The Australian Democrats have made a plea to voters to retain the country's only indigenous MP. Democrats senator Aden Ridgeway, who leads the party's senate ticket in NSW, is the only Aborigine in the federal parliament. Senator Ridgeway said he was confident voters would want a parliament that was as representative as possible.
  • NSW Voters are The Key to National Elected Indigenous Representation - Senator Ridgeway
• FECCA, ATSIC Push For Strong Campaign Policy
  29 August 2004 - Australia's ethnic and Indigenous communities say both parties need to do more to promote harmony and reduce discrimination during an election campaign.
• Liberals represented by Indigenous Australian in the Federal Seat of Fraser
  20 August 2004 - ACT Liberals - The Canberra Liberals have announced their candidates to contest the upcoming Federal election. Adam Giles, a Gamillaroi man from NSW will contest the Federal seat of Fraser. Adam, aged 31, grew up in the Blue Mountains in NSW. His Indigenous heritage originates from the Pillaga scrub in North Western NSW.
• Indigenous Crisis Forces Unprecedented Call For Vote Against The Howard Government
  16 August 2004 - Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) today recommended that voters concerned about Indigenous justice and reconciliation should not vote for the Coalition at the upcoming Federal election. "This is the first time ANTaR, a non-party-political organisation, has recommended that people interested in reconciliation do not vote for the Coalition. ANTaR believes the proposals of the Howard Government to abolish a national Indigenous voice and return to mainstream service delivery will be disastrous and so we must make this recommendation," ANTaR National President, Phil Glendenning, said today.
  • ANTaR calls for Howard boycott
  • Direct your disdain not at the Liberals, but the man in charge - Editorial, National Indigenous Times
• Female Australian Aboriginal Party Leader Confirmed as First for Australian Politics
  8 August 2004 - The Family First Party today announced that its lead South Australian Senate Candidate in the upcoming Federal Election, Ms Andrea Mason, would become the Party’s national leader, making her the nation’s first-ever female aboriginal party leader. Ms Mason said she was delighted to be confirmed as the Leader of the Family First Party saying Family First appealed to a wide cross section of the community and had particular relevance to today’s struggling families.
  • New party launched for election
• Richard Frankland ­ a Bill of Rights for all Australians!
  26 July 2004 - Your Voice - Playwright, film director and musician Richard Frankland to-day thanked all the people whose votes helped him to win the Sunrise Channel 7 Sponsorship for his forthcoming Senate campaign. “The strong support from the whole community, Indigenous people and Non Indigenous supporters, is a major boost to the morale of our campaign team.
  • A fledgling Voice
• Aboriginal challenger for Deputy Prime Minister's NSW Outback seat
  19 July, 2004 - ENIAR - An Aboriginal sheep farmer and rights activist, Michael Anderson, is taking on the Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, for the seat of Gwydir in the coming federal election. Michael, 53, of Goodooga, is standing for The Greens and is campaigning on rural and Aboriginal issues.
• Australian Aborigines look forward to election with hope
  15 July 2004 - Reuters - Aboriginal leaders think defeat for conservative Prime Minister John Howard at a looming general election could bring relief to their bruised and battered community. They believe a Labor government under Mark Latham would restart a stalled process of reconciliation between black and white communities, and work for a future where the children of the nation’s most disadvantaged people no longer have to rely on sniffing petrol to ease their pain.
• Latham vows stolen generation apology
  February 21 2004 - Federal Opposition Leader Mark Latham has put the stolen generation on the election agenda, telling schoolchildren that a Labor government would apologise for breaking up Aboriginal families. Mr Latham said at the Leongatha Secondary College in Gippsland that the ALP would do more to recognise Aboriginal land rights and fight poverty. He told the students an apology was necessary to maintain basic family values.
  

Australian political parties

	Australian Democrats			Liberal Democratic Party
	Australian Greens			Liberal Party of Australia
	Australian Labor Party			National Party of Australia
	Christian Democratic Party			Nuclear Disarmament Party of Australia
	Communist Party of Australia			Progressive Labour Party
	Democratic Labor Party			Socialist Alliance
	Democratic Socialist Party			Socialist Equality Party
	The Family First Party			Your Voice
			A full list of all registered parties can be found at the Australian Electoral Commission

Other information

• Australian for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR)
  ANTaR have produced an election kit outlining party policies and with information about indigenous candidates
• Report Card: Major Parties' Policies in Indigenous Affairs
  This Report Card is provided to assist ANTaR members and supporters in considering Indigenous affairs issues in the lead-up to the 2004 Federal Election.
  The Report Card provides a summary of the Indigenous Affairs policy responses of the major parties. It was compiled by Australians for Native Title & Reconciliation (ANTaR) based on responses to standard questions sent to the primary spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs with each major party: Senator Amanda Vanstone (Liberal/National), Senator Kerry O’Brien (ALP), Senator Aden Ridgeway (Democrats) and Senator Kerry Nettle (Greens). Their responses to each question have been added to, where appropriate, from each party’s respective policies on Indigenous Affairs, as published on their party websites.
  It was not possible to include smaller parties or independent candidates in the report card.
  • PDF version
• Australian Electoral Commission
  

• Australian Federal Election 2001

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