Members of political parties invariably vote on party lines whatever their personal opinion may be on a particular parliamentary decision. As a consequence, Vote Climate One ranks all candidates in the same party with the same light.

Because only the two major parties(Liberal/Labor) form government in the Australian political system, they are usually ranked one ahead of the other for our Traffic Light Voting System. Australia’s two party preferential voting system forces a choice between the two. This time round Labor and Liberal have both been ranked orange ahead of the National Party which is on Red. The Labor Party policies and voting record on climate is certainly not perfect so our advice is to number them after the green candidates but before those with a red light.

In the circumstances of this election both Liberal and Labor are equally ranked. In this instance the focus of our Traffic Light climate lens has produced a paradoxical outcome. Given the dubious performance of both major parties in the last parliament it seems unlikely either will attract a Green Light.

Our message to all traditional Labor voters is for the sake of a safe future, vote for all the Green Light candidates before you preference your Labor candidate.