The Age
Annabel Stafford
November 7, 2007

WHEN Justine Caines and her girlfriends cast about for a name for their political party they knew they needed something catchy.

"We could have become Women Australia or the Australian Women's Party, but people would just go 'bor-ING'," she says. So they came up with What Women Want.

Ms Caines, a NSW Senate candidate, said she hoped the name would have a When Harry Met Sally effect, "You know — I'll have what she's having."

They're on to something. ABC election analyst Antony Green says that for micro-parties a name can be what separates them from the pack.

Names are important. Laws ban party names being too similar to those held by existing parties. The Coalition blames the liberals for forests party for stealing some of its vote in the NSW seat of Richmond in the last election, contributing to its loss of the seat.

Appealing names were also effective, Mr Green said.

Despite the huge number of candidates who compete for election to the NSW Legislative Council, in 1995 a candidate called Alan Corbett gave himself the name A Better Future for Our Children and got up, Mr Green said. And in 1999 — when the ballot paper was so big it was nicknamed "the tablecloth" — The Marijuana Smokers' Rights Party "did particularly well".

Election analyst Malcolm Mackerras agreed that good names worked. He was "inclined to guess that of the 2 per cent of the vote that went to Family First (at the last federal election), 1 per cent was on the name and the other 1 per cent was on the party itself".

Australian National University economist Andrew Leigh said voters who had very little information about parties tended to "take a cue from anything (that is) available".

Votes were influenced, for example, by where a party was positioned on the ballot paper — the so-called donkey vote. Research by Dr Leigh and a colleague has shown that a candidate's attractiveness also has an effect. "So it wouldn't be surprising if people took a cue from how euphonious the name was," he said.

Psychological research also showed people to be attracted to names similar to their own.

But no matter how good the name, it doesn't count for much without a hard-nosed preference deal to back it up.

The Australian
Siobhain Ryan | November 10, 2007

THE major parties are scoring fail marks on female-friendly policies at the campaign's halfway mark, according to a Women's Electoral Lobby report card.

Lobby chairwoman Eva Cox said Labor was leading the Coalition 45 per cent to 8 per cent in its tally, which took account of policies ranging from industrial relations and childcare to welfare payments and human rights.

"Both major parties score badly in areas such as income support for the very poorest, such as those on benefits, such as sole parents," Ms Cox said.

"No one deals well with older women on their own, as most of the money is going to well-off superannuants, with little for those living just on pensions."

Labor picked up a better score than the Coalition because of its policies on industrial relations, childcare, education and health.

Labor and the Coalition also lost points for failing to give women a proper voice in public life through a focus on equal opportunity or by bringing women's issues under the purview of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

The Greens and Democrats did better across most areas, scoring 71 per cent and 59 per cent respectively, while Family First came in at a lowly 9.5 per cent because it was concerned only with "certain types of families".

What Women Want, an all-female party fielding 18 candidates on women's issues, failed to get a look-in, as the report card gave coverage only to the nation's top five political forces. "(WWW) ... are very conscious of the importance of most of the issues we have raised," Ms Cox said.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22733545-5013946,00.html

Post Newspapers On Line 3/11/07

What do women want?

To be heard, respected and included, according to a new political party that has emerged just in time for the federal election.

Shenton Park mother Meryki Basden is running for the Senate as a member of the What Women Want Party, dedicated to advancing issues affecting Australian women and promoting participation for women of all ages.

The 27-year-old said that when she first heard about the party, which was registered with the Australian Electoral Commission in August, she felt inspired to join.

"They really understand what people in everyday life are going through, as opposed to being separated in an office in Canberra," she said.

"I was really inspired and things just stemmed from there. I've always been interested in politics and active on issues that have come up.

"It wasn't just one issue the party had, they really seemed to have a broad agenda and are open to things that haven't been explored.

"Most of the policies are based on science and research, and coming up with solutions."

Mrs Basden said the party, formed by NSW mother of six Justine Caines, was not against men.

"We have a lot of male members, and my husband encouraged me to do this," she said.

"It's just trying to highlight that roughly 50% of the population are women and less than a quarter of politicians are female.

"And the female politicians usually have a less important role. You don't see any major parties putting women up as leaders. Women want a voice and to be involved.

"Sometimes we have a different perspective on things that might be overlooked. I don't think I was aware of a lot of issues until I had a child.

"And male politicians might overlook things, such as breast-feeding issues."

What Women Want is looking towards fair workplaces, paid maternity leave, access to quality, affordable child-care, choices in childbirth, affordable housing, better post-natal care and access to universities based on merit rather than money.

The party is also interested in helping to reverse climate change and address the water crisis.

Mrs Basden said the party was passionate about the personal housing situation.

"Whether you are renting or looking to buy a place, it's becoming unaffordable," she said.

"A lot of people my age want to be buying their first homes, and now it's not an option.

"We want to address that from a lot of different angles, and to tackle it in a more sustainable, long-term way and come up with solutions that work for people of all age groups."

She said the increasing number of homeless people was also a concern.

"We want to look at people who are overlooked in the statistics," she said.

"A lot of people stay in abusive relationships with dependent children because they can't afford to leave. I have known people who have been in that situation.

"A lot of refuges are overloaded and can't help out."

Mrs Basden has travelled the world, living in Zimbabwe and Canada, as well as Sydney and Melbourne, and worked in IT for most of her career.

She is currently a director of a start-up technology company in addition to caring for her one-year-old daughter Quinn.

Subiaco resident, and What Women Want member, Saywood Lane, is also running for the Senate.

http://www.postnewspapers.com.au/20071103/news/008.shtml

The Age
Peter Ker
November 3, 2007
Ricki Lake.

THE award for the most unlikely participation in the election campaign has surely been won after US talk show host Ricki Lake appeared with a NSW Senate candidate in Sydney yesterday.

In Australia to promote her film about women's rights and birthing issues, Ms Lake held a press conference with Justine Caines, a candidate for the What Women Want party.

The party is campaigning on issues important to women, but its desire to improve maternity services provides the link to Ms Lake.

"I do think this is a political issue, this issue of women fighting for their right to choice," Ms Lake said. Her film features her giving birth at home in a bath and investigates women's choice for vaginal birth or caesareans, and whether women get adequate care during childbirth.

Ms Lake said she did not know enough about Australian politics to discuss the outcome of the November 24 election, but threw her support behind Ms Caines.

ABC ON LINE - 'PM' - Friday, 2 November , 2007 18:42:00

Reporter: Paula Kruger

MARK COLVIN: Having a cause has long been a popular accessory for American celebrities. Some speak out about Darfur, others about the homeless.

Today the actress and former talk-show host Ricki Lake brought her cause to Sydney when promoting her new documentary The Business of Being Born.

It's a film that attempts to do for natural childbirth what An Inconvenient Truth did for the climate change debate.

Given that the Federal Election is just three weeks away there was a political angle too, with Ms Lake throwing her support behind the new political party What Women Want.

Paula Kruger reports.

(Theme tune from The Ricki Lake Show)

PAULA KRUGER: She was once the queen of tacky talk shows.

RICKI LAKE: We are hypnotising our guests to help them find true love.

PAULA KRUGER: In this episode, audience members under hypnosis were given an orgasm with just a handshake. Then there was the program on 'duelling drag queen divas', 'extreme breast makeovers', and who could forget the one titled 'we love hot half naked men'.

Well, Ricki Lake is now lifting the sheet on childbirth and telling Australian women what she says they should know.

She is in the country promoting her documentary The Business of Being Born, a film being promoted as the inconvenient truth of childbirth.

The film follows the pregnancies and births of Ricki Lake and the film's producer, Abby Epstein. The pair say many women aren't informed enough about the benefits of natural childbirth and home births.

RICKI LAKE: Really, we're advocating choice. You know, that we are not junking women. You know, many of my friends, one friend in particular - my friend Jane, I tried to get to her, I told her, "look what I know, read this book". You know, she had three elective C-sections, and you know, I don't judge her. I mean, you know, I say what I have to say, and the movie speaks for itself. It's really about educating and empowering women.

ABBY EPSTEIN: For me, I think, when I watched Ricki's birth on video, which is in the film, I swear to God in my life, I never knew that birth could look like that. she wasn't screaming her head off, she wasn't screaming at all. She looked so sexy and beautiful and powerful, like she just looked powerful, like this goddess.

PAULA KRUGER: A goddess is an interesting way of putting it.

In the same way that literature describing the development of a baby often compares its size to items you'd find in a green grocer. It starts off as a pea, then a grape or a lime, and at the end of it all, you've got a big watermelon.

Now when some women give birth naturally, and just remember that watermelon for a moment, they may not be feeling like an empowered goddess, and no number of scented candles or big warm bathtubs are going to change that.

But the case for natural childbirth isn't about candles and bathtubs, according to Justine Caines, who is the NSW Senate candidate for the What Women Want party.

The party that brought Ms Lake to Australia halfway through the federal election campaign.

Ms Caines, who has given birth to six children, says it is all about the continuity of care for Australian mothers.

JUSTINE CAINES: The point is that the experience and Ricki and I have experienced and what we're saying we want all women to have, is the known midwife. Midwives in Australia are not able to work to their capacity, they are not funded publicly to work in their own right, and they are not able to gain funding under the Medicare arrangements.

PAULA KRUGER: About 30 per cent of births in Australia are by caesarean section. Those who support natural births says that rate is too high and shows there is too much interference by the medical establishment.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there are a range of complex factors to explain the high caesarean rate, including the older age at which women are giving birth, and litigation against doctors.

MARK COLVIN: Paula Kruger.