Categories
News

Ricky Muir wins Senate seat

Ricky Muir

One of the most unlikely results from the 2013 federal election has been confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission today with word that Ricky Muir, Senate candidate for the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party (AMEP) in Victoria, has been elected to Parliament.

We’re not sure what effect, if any, Muir’s six-year term in office will mean for motoring enthusiasts across the country. Speaking before the result was announced Muir said: “It’s an awesome responsibility; exciting and daunting at the same time.

“I am a committed supporter of the AMEP and the freedoms it seeks, but also very conscious of the responsibility I will be taking on if elected to the Senate.”

Aiming to quickly dispel fears the AMEP is all about giving a voice to so-called hoon drivers, Muir stated: “I want to emphasise from the outset that driving which endangers life is not acceptable to our Party, nor the people who represent it.”

He further added driver education would be on his agenda: “The previous Government laid out an ambitious plan to improve our education system Australia-wide, but no one has taken a similar national approach to equipping young drivers with the skills needed to survive on our roads.

“Other countries have dedicated programs that gradually expose young people to the dynamics and responsibilities of driving. I believe this country owes it to our kids and their parents to instil an attitude that driving is a serious responsibility and a privilege.”

If you want to find more about the policies of the AMEP, then check out the party’s official website.

[Pic: News Ltd]

18 replies on “Ricky Muir wins Senate seat”

Policies seem pretty sensible as far as driver safety, rules etc. If only they had someone like Mark Skaife in there instead..

Let’s see how Ricky goes. I do fear it will be very steep learning curve for him, but he has as much right to be there as any of the career politicians. So once he settles in hopefully he’ll be a welcome relief.

Yeah, he won the seat fairly and deserves his time in the senate, but the hare clark system is screwed. 0.5% of the vote, and yet the AMEP managed to attract preferences from 25 parties? I’d like to see some transparency in this process in the future.

@Jono – the process is very transparent. All the group tickets are listed on the AEC website and every polling booth had a booklet version.

As for Muir (not “The Honourable” as he’s not a government minister), hopefully he won’t take long to realise that his term in the Senate will involve making decisions on very important national issues, and that the situation of the Senate will not make it amusing if he doesn’t take it seriously. He’s a cross-bencher whose contribution will be to vote on bills, not dictate national policy.

I also hope that he becomes more open-minded to the facts regarding the benefits that improved facilities for public transport and cycling bring to all other road users and to the nation as a whole – the economy benefits by $21 every time someone dies a 20 minute commute on a bike instead of in a car that takes up 12x the space on the road. Standing up for motorists is all well and good, but a look at the bigger picture would show that among the best ways to get better results for motorists is to invest heavily in public transport and cycling so the roads can be clearer.

Thanks for the tip on the protocol Dave, I thought “The Hon” was bestowed on all Senators, but perhaps my dealings in my paying job has only been with Senators (or their staff) who are also ministers.

If we don’t change the electoral laws we will get clowns like this with such a low vote being elected to the Senate over others who get hundreds of thousands of votes.

It should be first past the post not preferential garbage. This guy has zero qualifications to be in the Senate. He couldn’t even get a job in the real world.

Anyone his one term will end and he will be lost the history pages of garbage.

Nice comment Rick. Whatever happened to a fair go. Better than a Senate full of Abbot followers. If anyone had cared to look into it the AMEP is a party which was formed after ludicrous anti hooning laws were introduced in most states. If these measures got rid of the hooning element everyone would be pleased,but the targets have been the enthusiasts. The mums and dads, who restore old and classic cars or those modifying 4wd vehicle’s
This industry is worth 11 billion to the economy and employs over 30000 people and is under threat if we can not drive our cars to shows or on a club day for fear of getting caught in the knee jerk drag net. There is a lot more to it but hopefully we can educate a few along the way.

Ricky good luck all we can ask is you do the best you can. Any voice is better than no voice

I think it’s rather amusing where the grammar typo’s in the negative remarks fall.

Sorry Dave, but “the economy benefits by $21 every time someone dies” has to give everyone a wry smile.
Your points are a little one-sided, lets face it, the best thing for motorists, cyclists, and public transport, is an even handed approach that benefits everyone, better driver education, better maintained road systems, better education on road laws for cyclists ( better manners for both drivers and cyclists), safer railway crossings that drivers and cyclists can’t circumvent and cause fatalities, upgrades to the railway system as a whole… The list goes on.

And Rick, perhaps it’s the electoral laws giving a proper average Australian a go in the Senate that will be the shake up that all the ‘career’ politicians need. That they’ve suddenly learnt that the system that is meant to give the people a say, has actually done so this time, can only be a good thing if they realise they can no longer run roughshod over the general public anymore.

And maybe knowing the frustration with it being difficult to keep a job that will help guide him to make smarter decisions regarding what affects average citizens. I wonder how many career politicians could hold down a full time job in the real world?

In six years, when we vote for the Senate again, Mr Muir will have proven his worth one way or the other. I hope he does a respectable and thoughtful job of it.

Oh crap, I just saw my typo! I meant when a person DOES a commute on bike instead of in a car.

I’m both a driver and a cyclist, and occasionally a public transport user too. I welcome your agreement that an even-handed approach is needed instead of the current car-focused nature of our roads.

That means better segregated cycle infrastructure on strategic routes, lower speed limits on local streets, education for drivers on cyclists’ equal rights as road users, better bus stop bays off to the left, better use of rail for freight transport and better grade separation of rail lines and roads.

This all seems more like a sequel to The Castle than something i’d like to see happen in the real world.We’re going to pay a guy $192,000 a year to yammer on about his version of ‘road equality’.Ricky M reminds me of those Bucks party movies…you know,where the guy wakes up next morning naked ‘cept for a nappy tied to a telephone pole?

What? 192 grand? …and strippers and a pole? …and all I have to do is wangle preferences!

Comments are closed.