OPINION: Helen Houghton
There were 11 smaller parties outside of parliament.
10 of us rated very low. One was promoted by the media.
You cannot use a party’s lack of polling support to justify denying it exposure, and then use that lack of exposure as evidence that the party has no public support.
That is a circular argument, and it deserves serious scrutiny.
If you believe in democracy, political diversity and an informed electorate, explain why one smaller party was given extensive exposure while ten others were deliberately excluded, from the national conversation.
It is definitely hard to be positive on the low voting numbers so I’ll take the positive is we are 4/10 of the smaller parties, excluding the rigged and highly illegal framing that the media has done with the 11th one.
It is also hard to believe that a party whose leader has been politically active for 5 minutes is now going to be part of governing our country only because of the media. Imagine claiming that you have made history when you were given the microphone and everyone else was left outside the room.
I went through every electorate result and we had voters in each so importantly, the media is not just denying smaller parties a platform; it is also robbing the voters who support those parties of their democratic right to have their voices, concerns and political choices given a fair hearing.
Politics is about Media and Money
Media is the gatekeeper. What are we going to do about it?
