Helen Caldicott

Dr. Helen Caldicott has for decades been one of the world's leading anti-nuclear activists. In the early 1970s she left her medical career in order to concentrate on calling the world's attention to the "insanity" of the world's increasing supply of nuclear weapons and national stockpiles. She made quite a name for herself, particularly during the 1980s, though she began her work in the early '70s.

More recently she has claimed that the Cold War never ended, but rather that the United States merely found new enemies.

Helen Caldicott in politics

Here is a real example of the operation of preferential voting in Australia, from the federal election of 1990. Charles Blunt was the leader of the conservative National Party of Australia, representing Richmond, a traditional National Party seat in northern New South Wales. The intervention of the anti-nuclear campiagner Dr Helen Caldicott allowed the Labor candidate, Neville Newell, to win the seat despite polling only 27% of the primary vote. Caldicott also had a good chance of winning the seat - if all of Gibbs' preferences had gone to her as directed, she would drawn ahead of Newell and won on his preferences.

RICHMOND, NSW                  73,794 enrolled, 70,571 (95.6%) voted