Can Surfers Influence democracy ?

In what kind of way? For which electorates?

Definitely can - but it is difficult.

Firstly I don't think enough people understand how our political system works. I'm teaching this semester at a university and I had to interrupt the Indonesian class the other day to teach them about how our parliament is structured. Nobody knew the difference between the upper and lower house, that you elected senators and MPs through different processes, that each electorate had representatives that ought to speak on their behalf on national issues. That's not really their fault - the education system failed them and the way party politics has evolved is that people think that MPs are supposed to work for their party and not for the people. I've been loosely involved with campaigns for years and that's always been the biggest hurdle.

The other one I've run into goes back to the days of the Gunns pulp mill debacle in Northern Tassie (which launched the political career of Peter Whish Wilson). The mill would have pumped effluent out towards the most reliable wave on the central north coast, rendering it unsurfable at peak times of discharge. We thought it'd be a no-brainer: surfers would be against it. Most of the surfers in the area, though, work in extractive industries or in other industries that are generally 'anti-green'. We couldn't get them onside. Calls of 'your only surf break will be closed down due to pollution' were met with 'typical anti-everything greens, go back to a cave etc. etc. we need jobs!" Of course, the mill was a dud and Gunns went bankrupt... but it was eye opening.

I think any kind of democratic action is worth it and things always work different in different places. a local approach, with committed face to face campaigners, could have enormous impacts on an election.

Good luck!

individually, i would say not unless you work as a lobbyist or are prepared to sling some $$$ their way

the below comment was as predictable as catching flathead in the bay ...... as night follows day

If you get involved, of course, you can...

Well, the coalition is advertising on swellnet.

Not directly, LD. More likely you've visited some website in the past that has pegged you (as a user) against some kind of topic interest, and the Coalition is utilising Google's advertising platform - which we have on our site - to "target" you with an appropriate ad. 

Barnard wrote:

Ben watching the news last night . The seat of Richmond Northern ((NSW , Byron to the Tweed) is up for grabs. and will be one of the most watched and interesting electorates as it likely indicate the direction Oz is heading.

Thanks mate, I live in this electorate so it'll be interesting to see what eventuates (I'm not really familiar with the state of play around here).

Fair enough, Ben.
Well maybe they are scared for their seat of Richmond up here.
It's Matthew Fraser for the Nats. "Focused on our future".
Not sure if he's talking about me in an inclusive 'our', or just him and his mates.

Political advertising does absolutely nothing to sway me. Turns me off, be they labor, libs, greens.

I'm not against campaigning though, obviously they have to get their name out there.
But adverts on telly, online media reduces the likelihood of obtaining my vote.

I guess it works on a lot of people though.

"Can Surfers Influence democracy ?"........... Of course they can!!!! Here's photographic proof!! pmsl

Surfers can influence democracy alright, just look at Mike Baird.

Well played, good sir.

dandandan wrote:

Definitely can - but it is difficult.

The other one I've run into goes back to the days of the Gunns pulp mill debacle in Northern Tassie (which launched the political career of Peter Whish Wilson). The mill would have pumped effluent out towards the most reliable wave on the central north coast, rendering it unsurfable at peak times of discharge. We thought it'd be a no-brainer: surfers would be against it. Most of the surfers in the area, though, work in extractive industries or in other industries that are generally 'anti-green'. We couldn't get them onside. Calls of 'your only surf break will be closed down due to pollution' were met with 'typical anti-everything greens, go back to a cave etc. etc. we need jobs!" Of course, the mill was a dud and Gunns went bankrupt... but it was eye opening.

Well wasn't that democracy at work Dan :)?? Of course they would tell you overpaid uni educated greenies to fuck off, if things went your way they'd be stuck riding a mediocre wave all year and would not be able to afford to enjoy the delights of an Indonesian holiday like you and your yuppie greenie mates . :)))