Max Dicks
Independent

Summary

Policies & Commentary

Max Dicks is, to be blunt, the kind of politician who makes this task a pleasure. No pretension, no platitudes, just an ordinary guy who wants to make the world a better place. In the previous election, Cate was delighted by his page and his policies, and it’s easy to see why. He eschews ideology and doesn’t beat around the bush, and his policies are well thought out, lucidly explained and not overcomplicated.

He’s arranged them into five areas, with individual policies under each: Integrity, Compassion, Environment, Innovation and Life

Under Integrity, he has two major policies: he supports a Federal ICAC and he pledges to answering the questions as openly and honestly as I can, adding that he hopes that other politicians follow my example and the media helps to promote this.

Under Compassion, he wants to teach Emotional Intelligence to all Australians, he supports fully funding the NDIS, and he wants to help those having a rough time. There’s not a lot of detail to that last one, although there is a mention of financial stress that makes me think this has something to do with increasing Centrelink (and possibly Disaster Relief) payments and/or making those easier to access.

Under Environment, he comes out hard in favour of urgent Climate Action, and also wants to see Australia do better at reusing and recycling. And he is explicit here about Disaster Relief and Relocation Assistance in the event of natural disasters.

Under Innovation, he wants to fund scientific research, particularly including the CSIRO, and he doesn’t want to see those funds tied to immediate commercial gain. He’s a big supporter of using this as a way to create regional jobs – All that’s needed is a fast internet connection and willing staff – and he also wants to see the various frameworks for Smart Cities (currently administered at local government level) standardised to make things simpler, which definitely sounds like a good idea to me, if only to keep the various local councils all pulling in the same direction.

Finally, under Life, he wants to see more investment in public transport, as well as in education and training. He wants a Bill of Rights for this country. And finally, he wants to keep the government out of your business if it doesn’t need to be there. It’s refreshing to hear someone talk about privacy without sounding like a complete paranoid – he uses a simple, relatable metaphor to get the point across: Scrutiny should be proportionate to power. I love and trust my mum. But I don’t want her going through my phone. I don’t want our government in there.

All in all, he seems like a very nice person with some ideas I find very appealing. I’m not sure how well he’d do if actually elected, but it does seem like he’d be able to keep his head and his principles.

I’ll let him have the last word – this is from his Facebook page, posted on the night of the 2019 election: If you voted 1 Max Dicks, thank you. If you didn’t I genuinely hope that you voted for something you believe in.

So say we all.

Just a reminder that Maz and I lack the necessary Eurovision knowledge to choose the songs that Catherine liked to include, but we’d love to see what you suggest in the comments below 🙂