Is it a sad reflection of our society that we have such poor, insipid leaders? Is this the best our society can produce? The current election has already bored most people to tears with the lack of policy differentiation, and lack of genuine political backbone... Is this the election the nation just has to have? I, for one, can think of better ways to spend my time than watching two very bad actors play their parts, propped up by bad scripting.
It is disappointing to me that two experienced politicians like Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott believe that the average constituent is a moron. With slogans like 'moving forward' and 'fair dinkum' do they really believe Australian public is so naive and gullible? Even the most unsophisticated voter has very real issues they would like addressed. Issues that affect our day to day quality of life.
Let look at some of the BIG issues this election....
Boat People...
Our borders are under threat! No they aren't ... Our so called leaders know this very well. There is no flotilla of boats heading this way threatening our way of life. This is an issue of emotion and moral panic. Who of our brave leaders can best protect us from the nasty invading hoards?
Well dear reader... be informed. Boat people is an issue. It is a problem that needs a solution. It is NOT an election issue. Of the just under 5000 people who sought refugee status in Australia last year..(get ready) ONLY about 160 of those came here by boat. Of the balance most are illegal immigrants by virtue of arriving by plane (almost half) and the balance are people who try to immigrate by overstaying visitors visas. We should be more concerned about the 9000 illegal fishermen destroying our fisheries. We don't hear about the real problem, we hear about the fear. We are tempted to vote on these issues by our so called leaders watering down a standard political process that happens and is managed every year regardless of who is in government. Interesting though that both Gillard and Abbott are both immigrants ... Tony Abbott was born in England and Julia Gillard was born in Wales.
The fact of the immigration issue is that Australia signed a United Nation's agreement that designates us as a safe refuge for people escaping persecution and human rights travesties. This is as it should be... as 'decent' human beings we have an obligation to protect and defend the weak. Of those people who arrived by boat up to 80% were processed and granted genuine refugee status. However if you arrive by boat you will be interred in a processing centre until your refugee status is confirmed. If you are a refugee who arrives by plane you will be granted an immediate bridging visa, allowing you to live and work in the community while your claim is assessed. Only about 50% of refugees who arrive by plane are assessed as genuine refugees. So why dear voter are you voting on an election issue based on boat people? The easiest political motivator - fear.
Ask yourself, why is there a hot election issue about a couple of hundred boat people but we never hear about real australian issues like the estimated 105,000 homeless across the nation. Where are health issues like obesity, smoking, and alcoholism on our political agenda?
Is everyone sick of hearing about climate change... and then hearing our politicians continue to do nothing about it? Simple things? The Labour government tried (and failed) to deliver any substantial climate action. Gillard claims to have buckets of money for renewable energy if she is reelected, they will also roll out the national broadband network, and a computer for every student. We tend to ignore the fact that the previous Labour government used these promises when they first came into government and failed to deliver. Of course the liberal party just has no policy regarding climate change or renewable energy. So vote for the party that doesn't deliver or the part that has no ideas? Not much of a choice.
There are great projects struggling in this country and none of them include adding a new tax to our economy. One of the most simple was the making incandescent lights obsolete. Easy to do.. shares the load of implementation.. saved 0.14% of total carbon emissions .. forever. This dear voter is the tip of the iceberg there are many, many 'changes' in the way we live, manufacture, distribute, grow and travel and none of them require us to adversely impact our economic strength.
Of course then there is health. More beds, more hospitals, more doctors, more nurses!... How about healthier people! How about we regulate what goes into our foods, what we feed our kids, how much 'fast food' is allowed to be more confectionery than staples. Why are we still allowing people to smoke and then letting them get access to free health care. If you intentionally harm yourself... this will render most insurance claims void. However despite the serious and confirmed health problems of putting a cigarette in your mouth, or abusing alcohol knowing the confirmed damage it does.. we as a nation still fund an increasing health care bill. I am not advocating precluding sick people from health care.. but let's try to seriously fix the problem before it becomes one.
While on health let's talk about the economy. Labour's economic policy = spend money, make people happy, if we run out, cut low profile programs, add a new tax, increase existing ones or borrow it. Labour's attitude of 'gifting' money to 'needy' programs needs serious reassessment. It is already the nation's money and the government is 'in trust' to manage that money, not just spend it. Liberals have a tendency to run everything as a business which economically is exceptional... but not every worthy program has a financial return.. look at the BIG issue about paid maternity leave. Why do mother's have to fight for this? The formative months of a new born's life are proven to be critical to self esteem, self identity and confidence as a human being. This IS an INVESTMENT in mental health of both the mother/father and the child. Yet both parties seem to treat this like this is some sort of holiday entitlement.
However you vote this election don't get sucked in by the rhetoric. Tony Abbott is a Rhodes scholar with degrees in Law and Economics, and a masters in Arts. he is not a stupid man, nor is he badly spoken... watch the debate recently and you see a man who struggles to get his tongue around the words 'fair dinkum' even though he said this phrase more then 20 times. Julia Gillard is a well spoken, articulate woman who reads her script well, never completed her formal education but instead cut her degree short to work with the Australian Union of Students. My purpose here dear voter is not to disparage education and its value to a potential leader of this nation. It is instead to highlight that what you see is NOT what you are getting. I encourage you look deeper, take responsibility for your vote. God knows how any conscientious, concerned citizen can make a choice between these two candidates.
At least in Masterchef if you don't bake the cake right neither team wins.
No comments:
Post a Comment