1 Currently, we find the two aspirants for the position of Prime Minister talking about “stopping the boats” of a pastime. A fight won and is now strewn amongst the rocks of many islands in Australia’s political history book.
What Australians want is vision. They want a leader who can illustrate Australia’s future in 20, 30, and 50 years. This, of course, includes cleaning up the current mess.
I began writing this entry for my diary in the early hours of Tuesday, 19 April 2022. I was somewhat downcast until I saw the latest Newspoll results. They showed that Labor’s vote had held up despite Albo’s blunder on the first day. 53/47 said, The Poll Bludger. I thought it might collapse under the weight of frivolous reporting by the Murdoch press. Morgan followed up with 55/45 to Labor, and Essential has Labor just in front.
2 On News24, Morrison was still going on about boat turnbacks, offshore detention, third-country resettlement, and how Labor’s policy differed from the Coalition’s. A factcheck quickly settled that in Labour’s favour.
“For better or worse, Labor has agreed with the Coalition that nobody who came by boat since 2013 will be resettled in Australia. There is bipartisan support for boat turnback’s, offshore detention and third-country resettlement.”
3 A little later on, I found a reinvigorated Anthony Albanese. He looked like he had had a blood transfusion; such was his demeanour. He was spruiking Labor’s climate and energy policy into the future. He was talking about the future, about electric cars and their manufacture.
But talking about the future and its endless possibilities is just talk without the means of enabling it. This means restoring trust in our body politic. It must be a priority for a new government.
“A better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears. A better politics is one where we debate without demonising each other; where we talk issues and values and principles and facts rather than ‘gotcha’ moments or trivial gaffes or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people’s daily lives.” (President Barak Obama).
4 Restoring our democratic processes:
Albo must advocate for many changes. Take the high moral ground. Not everything will be able to be done at once. Labor will need to win by a margin that ensures two terms leading into a third.
I am drawing on a post titled; I was right back then, and I’m right now, which I wrote in 2017 for the following suggestions.
There is no doubt that the Australian political system needs repair, but it is not beyond it. Albanese needs to advance ways of opening our democracy to new ways of doing politics: ways that engage those who have been in a political malaise to feel part of the decision-making process again.
How about fixed four-year terms with a set date? Genuine reform of question time with an independent Speaker.
Albanese needs to promote the principle of transparency enthusiastically, advocating things like no advertising in the final month of an election campaign, and parties should submit all costings in the same time frame.
The people are sick to death of dog-eat-dog politics, of politicians who cannot think outside their yearnings for power at all costs.
Labor has never been better placed to win a contest of ideas. It must vigorously argue the case for action against growing inequality. Instead of pretending it is a Socialist party, be one.
Present national interest policy in common good terms. Create a willingness for bipartisan decisions when the common good reason demands it. Allow the House to accept the kudos of such extraordinary co-operation.
Never in the history of this nation have we been overflowing with such riches, but at the same time, those seeking our capital have never been as numerous.
We need to exercise our fairness, reason, compassion, and logic when determining what is affordable now and into the future.
We must talk about what is best for individuals, couples, families, employees, the arts, charitable institutions, groups, employers, retirees, welfare recipients, the aged, the infirmed, and decide how this cake of wealth is divided and how it is grown into the future.
Albanese needs to convince people of the need for a genuinely collective representative democracy that involves the people and encourages us to be creative, imaginative and exciting.
In a future world dependent on innovation and ideas, the government will be determined by those with a better grasp of the common good and not the pursuit of power for power’s sake.
5 And folks, that’s where I will have to end my diary for today. Alas, I have come down with a bout of Shingles, which has bedded me with fatigue. I would have liked to have said more, particularly about the debate. However, I can recommend Katharine Murphy’s analysis in The Guardian.
Until next time.
My thought for the day
Wouldn’t it be good if in our parliament, regardless of ideology, we had politician’s whose first interest was the peoples and not their own.
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