The government talks a lot about our children when they don’t want to pay for something, but do they really actually give a toss about them?
The World Economic Forum surveys people every year about the biggest problems facing the world and, for the third year in a row, climate change is the millennial generation’s top concern.
The top ten challenges identified by the 18-35 year old age bracket were as follows:
- Climate change / destruction of nature (48.8%)
- Large scale conflict / wars (38.9%)
- Inequality (income, discrimination) (30.8%)
- Poverty (29.2%)
- Religious conflicts (23.9%)
- Government accountability and transparency / corruption (22.7%)
- Food and water security (18.2%)
- Lack of education (15.9%)
- Safety / security / well being (14.1%)
- Lack of economic opportunity and unemployment (12.1%)
So how is our government faring in addressing the things that are of most concern to the young people of the world?
Since the Federal government repealed carbon pricing in 2014, emissions have been increasing. There has been a surge in land-clearing in Queensland since the Newman government relaxed restrictions. Unscrupulous irrigators have changed the flow of the Murray-Darling. Coal-mining is actively promoted and old coal-fired power stations asked to stay on in service past their use-by date. Renewable energy targets have been lowered (but not yet abolished as the government wanted) and renewable subsidies have been opposed or removed whilst fossil fuel subsidies have been protected. Several members of parliament are actively agitating for a withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.
In fact, climate change, which is already impacting our food and water security, has all but disappeared from the government’s reasoning .
The government has also decided that war and conflict present a great business opportunity, investing billions in an attempt to make us one of the world’s leading arms manufacturers. And in the meantime, they have a lazy $400 billion themselves to spend on weapons of war over the next twenty years to keep those conflicts, or should I say industries, going.
Far from policies designed to address poverty and inequality, this government’s whole raison d’etre is to protect and increase the wealth of the few.
Instead of increasing payments to the most disadvantaged, they crack down on welfare and impose punitive measures for non-compliance. It’s only businesses that need ‘red tape’ reduced. Try applying for a disability pension, or keeping up with all the requirements to receive Newstart, or fighting a Robodebt bill.
They oppose any increase to the minimum wage, they wound back penalty rates, and they want us to work until we are 70. And they have declared war on the only group strong enough to give a collective voice and some bargaining power to workers – our trade unions.
Instead of our secular government allowing religion to be a private matter, they have invested a great deal into promoting Christianity whilst insidiously and deliberately sowing mistrust against Muslims.
We allow churches to make, and break, laws. We pay for school chaplains in public schools. We pay for children to attend religious schools. We manipulate the curriculum to emphasise our Judeo-Christian heritage (whatever that means). We chant a prayer to open Parliament. We put our hands on a bible to swear we are telling the truth.
But watch out for those Muslims who are just waiting to cut your head off and rape your daughters. We’ll even go to their countries to stop them with our bright new shiny bombs.
As for government accountability and transparency, I have never seen an Australian government so determined to hide the truth.
They fight freedom of information requests, they won’t speak about operational or “onwater” matters, contracts are secret “commercial-in-confidence” deals. Commissioned reports are “to government not by government” and are not released. Advice from government departments is buried if it doesn’t fit the current rhetoric. Modelling? Cost-benefit analysis? Opportunity cost comparisons? Who needs that crap when you’ve got a whiteboard to hide behind.
On education, we could talk for hours. It has become an industry where we fund boutique colleges but not TAFE, where we fund elite private schools, where the Catholics cry poor despite being one of the richest organisations in the world, where early childhood teachers are paid less than babysitters, where our graduates start their lives with a huge debt, where university places are bought by wealthy international students as a backdoor to citizenship, where the curriculum is determined by two old white guys who seem to think phonics is all we need to teach, and where we employ truancy officers instead of teacher’s aides.
At the moment, Australia is a comparatively safe and secure place but how long will that last with the gun lobby buying political support. Just this morning it was reported that, after meeting Bob Katter’s gun-importing son-in-law, Peter Dutton is considering establishing a committee to allow gun importers to review proposed changes to firearm regulations for “appropriateness and intent”.
It would also be good to know what Donald Trump asked for in return for not hitting us with tariffs on steel and aluminium. We have given China a 99 year lease on Darwin Port and hosted a US marine base there as well. And just what are the CIA, NSA and NRO doing at Pine Gap? I thought it was supposed to be a “space research” station? Why are we buying 12 long range subs? Why are we investing so much in missile defence capability? Do we plan on making ourselves a target by meddling in other countries’ affairs?
At number ten, we finally get to Malcolm’s mantra of opportunity and jobs.
Instead of trying to flog a dying coal industry and using our skills, resources and finances to add to the global pool of weapons, see to the things that really matter to our children and the rest will follow.
Give them a real NBN. Lift them out of poverty. Make education accessible and relevant. Instead of giving out fossil fuel subsidies and tax concessions for the wealthy, instead of importing labour, give out scholarships and incentives for training to fill skills shortages. Instead of sacking scientists and cutting university funding, facilitate research. Become a world leader in sustainability and adaptation. Build affordable housing and public transport. Invest in early intervention and support for mental health. Assist developing nations to evolve.
If you really cared about our kids, you would listen to them.
