No, not at all. Because we have preferential voting, voting for a minor party is not wasted - even if your candidate doesn't get up, your vote still counts. See my other response for the details about that.
In fact, our Senate often is not controlled by any of the major parties.
In fact one of the "major parties" isn't a party - it's a coalition between the Liberal Party (right wing/conservative/libertarian, and the National Party (farmers).
It's rare for a minor party to win a House of Representatives seat, but it can and does happen, and we can in fact get independents (non party affiliated) winning seats in both houses on occasion too. Right now the Greens have a very strong Senate presence, and we have a few independent Senators from around the country.
The "majors" pay a lot of attention to how the voting preferences fall - because most of the minor parties are "issues" parties, focused around one or another issue or group of issues.
If one of those issues parties or an independent gets into the Senate, the government is going to have to negotiate with those senators to pass any legislation. So it really matters, down here. :-) Voting minors is the correct voter strategy when you have preferential voting.
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zvi
(no subject)
Date: 2010-08-19 00:27 (UTC)In fact, our Senate often is not controlled by any of the major parties.
In fact one of the "major parties" isn't a party - it's a coalition between the Liberal Party (right wing/conservative/libertarian, and the National Party (farmers).
It's rare for a minor party to win a House of Representatives seat, but it can and does happen, and we can in fact get independents (non party affiliated) winning seats in both houses on occasion too. Right now the Greens have a very strong Senate presence, and we have a few independent Senators from around the country.
The "majors" pay a lot of attention to how the voting preferences fall - because most of the minor parties are "issues" parties, focused around one or another issue or group of issues.
If one of those issues parties or an independent gets into the Senate, the government is going to have to negotiate with those senators to pass any legislation. So it really matters, down here. :-) Voting minors is the correct voter strategy when you have preferential voting.