Michael Henderson
Deputy National Secretary of the Socialist Party, MP for Arcadia University
Henderson celebrating his by-election victory in July 2017
Name: Michael Thomas Henderson
DOB: June 1st, 1993 (24 years of age)
Party: Socialist
Family: Girlfriend Leliana, brother Cameron, sister Robyn
Occupation: Civil rights lawyer
Michael Thomas Henderson was born the youngest of three children to a middle class family in Morganville. His mother Julia worked as a schoolteacher, while his father worked as a baker. While his brother and oldest sibling Cameron seemed aimless in life, his sister Robyn introduced him to the world of politics. He joined Socialist Youth at 15. This would not last long, as he was a prodigiously intelligent student, and graduated high school at 17. He began studying law at the University of Lamarna's Arcadia campus the very next year. He also continued to remain involved with the Socialist Party, being elected President of Socialist Youth at age 21 in 2014.
Upon his graduation at age 22 in 2015, he resigned as SY President to pursue his legal career. The high level of energy and charisma he displayed in his career caught the eye of the recently elected MP Anthony Milton. In late 2016, it was announced that the Arcadia University MP was resigning due to a scandal. Henderson, 23 now, was contacted by Socialist Party officials to run for the seat in the upcoming by-election. Reluctantly, he entered the race in January 2017 and won preselection fpr the seat. He won the election by a narrow 2% margin and in mid January 2018, was appointed as the Party's Deputy National Secretary.
A charismatic young MP, Henderson relies on what has been described as his 'boyish charm' and affinity with young voters to see him over the line. He is known for not always toeing the party line, and has called out other MPs from his own party when he sees them as being hypocritical. This has led to his old university's newspaper calling him "The political alumni keeping his party honest."
Political positionsLGBT Rights: Left wing. With a homosexual sister, the rights of the LGBT population is an issue that Henderson takes very seriously. He strongly believes in full rights for LGBT people, including full marriage rights, as long as religious freedoms are protected and churches are not forced to carry out LGBT weddings against their will.
Refugees: Center-left. While he is welcoming to refugees, he does acknowledge concerns. He believes that amnesty should be granted immediately and without delay to all refugees in the country, while also streamlining the current system. However, he believes that intake agreements are the first and last word; in his mind, the country should not accept more or less refugees than agreed to.
Immigrants: Center-left. Similar to his views on refugees. While a supporter of immigration rights and an automatic path to citizenship, he at the same time believes that immigrants should only take the jobs that have trouble finding workers for, while being paid the minimum wage, along with education outreach programs to them.
Healthcare: Left wing. He supports a universal healthcare system, financed by the federal government, with the caveat that people should be able to purchase private insurance if able to, while making sure that public and private we kept separate. He supports an extensive overhaul to healthcare in rural areas, supporting a scheme that offers incentives to trained staff to go to rural areas to aid in the improvement of rural healthcare, as well as the establishment of a Flying Doctor Service, based on Australia's.
Energy: Left wing. He supports ending subsidies to those companies that exploit fossil fuels whole providing incentives for companies and individuals who ake the switch to renewable energy. He supports a federally funded scheme to establish a serial of wind farms, biofuel plantations and hydroelectric dams.
Poverty: Left wing. He supports increasing the Social Security net, while making it conditional on people seeking jobs and a 'work for the dole' program. He also supports training the unemployed to run government funded renewable energy plants, as well as working in immigrant and refugee outreach programs.
Military: Left wing. Opposes most military interventions, judging that the country should only intervene when directly threatened by a foreign power. He also favours cutting the military budget in order to pay for renewed social programs.
Malno issues: Left wing. He supports the mandatory teaching of Malno history and the Malno language in all public schools. With a Malno girlfriend, he also supports affirmative action for the Malno people, and that there is some degree of institutional racism, having stated "Leliana wouldn't be a lawyer at the moment without it (affirmative action) . . . She does a damn good job and would've been leapfrogged by others less talented because of her skin colour."
