Gracchus ☕️🏴☠️🇺🇳🇺🇦🦘<p>So, here’s the situation: An anti-abortion bill in South Australia, brought forward by a Liberal frontbencher, missed passing by just one vote. That’s how close it came—just one person’s “no” away from pushing through a law that could significantly impact women’s rights in the state. <br>In South Australia! The first place in the world to give women the vote.</p><p>To put this into context, the SA Liberal Party has about 3,000 members, which works out to roughly 0.17% of South Australia’s 1.8 million people. A decent chunk of those members are connected to religious groups like the Pentecostals and the Australian Christian Lobby. Now, if that small slice of the population is deciding on issues that impact everyone, is that really what most South Australians want?</p><p>The SA Labor Party isn’t much larger, either—only about 0.28% of South Australians are members. So, between these two parties, less than 1% of the population is calling the shots on both sides.</p><p>If everyday Aussies don’t get involved and join these parties, we’re leaving the door wide open for narrow interest groups to set the agenda. Progress is neither guaranteed nor linear. It’s gotta be backed by people who are willing to stand up, have a go, and make sure their voices are heard.</p><p>If you’re thinking, “What difference would my membership in a party really make?”, just remember that this bill failed by only one vote. One voice in a sea of millions was enough to stop it. If there’s ever been proof that your participation counts, this is it.</p><p><a href="https://aus.social/tags/auspol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>auspol</span></a> <a href="https://aus.social/tags/sapol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>sapol</span></a> <br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/16/south-australias-upper-house-narrowly-rejects-trumpian-bill-to-wind-back-abortion-care?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/world/2024/oct</span><span class="invisible">/16/south-australias-upper-house-narrowly-rejects-trumpian-bill-to-wind-back-abortion-care?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</span></a></p>