Policy - A new Capital for a New Federation

Me First! thinks Canberra is a rotten location for a capital city. What were we as a nation thinking? It is cold and isolated. Its territory (the Australian Capital Territory) is entirely surrounded by another state rather than located at the border of states. It is too close to Sydney and too far from Melbourne. It is an artificial city dominated by bureaucrats. It lacks a natural body of water (something every decent city needs) and so has the artificial Lake Burley Griffin. And to get to it you have to detour off the Hume Highway. It sucks and Me First! have a radical plan to change all that...

Albury-Wodonga For Australian Capital!

Me First! will transfer all the functions of our capital city to the existing twin city of Albury-Wodonga located on the Murray River at the border of our two most populous states of New South Wales and Victoria. The city limits will become a new federal territory. Our capital will then have its own natural waterway and be on a major roadway. It will have a large and diverse population base and its own industry rather than merely the 'industry' of government. Government decisions will be less likely to preference Sydney over Melbourne. Politicians will find it more difficult to get isolated and 'out of touch' with the Australian public. An existing community with its own rich history will infect the greyness of political life with colour and movement. And the two names of this twin city will tell international visitors of both the settler and indigenous origins of the Australian nation.

A new parliament house will be constructed over the mighty Murray and will be designed by world-class architects to be reminiscent of a classic Murray River steamboat. The 'wheel' will act as a ride similar to the Eye in London (albeit smaller as there will be less to see in Albury-Wodonga). Staff at Parliament will wear uniforms based on those of riverboat crew. Other implications of the new site will arise such as replacing the practice of 'sin binning' MPs with that of 'dunking in the drink'... From the newer 'New Parliament' here our elected representatives will both literally and figuratively "steer the course of national affairs".

ACT for National 'Primeval' Park

Once all the population of Canberra has moved to Albury-Wodonga, the entire Australian Capital Territory (ACT) will become a national park of world significance. All existing infrastructure will be left to succumb to natural forces of decay and regrowth (which will be filmed by automated cameras for timelapse playback over the coming decades). Access to the park will be severely restricted to the following:

- Park Officers & Security Staff: These will be stationed in the skanky township of Yass in the hope of improving the feel of that location.

- Movie Crews: On successful application to the Federal Government, movie crews wishing to produce post-apocalyptic action movies in a realistic (rather than computer graphics) setting will film on location in the crumbling ruins of Canberra.

- Exiles: Those who fundamentally object to our way of life (e.g. religious fanatics, political extremists, tax evaders) will be given the option of living in one of two 'Zones of Voluntary Exile' of which the ACT will be one (the other will be the Australian Antarctic Territories). Security Staff will let them into the park with only the clothes they are wearing and what they can carry in one pack.