Australia, a society in transition.

There is much change enveloping Australia and the world in these modern times. Social media and mass communications have changed how we grow as a society, this is advancing humanity towards bigger and better goals and achievements. Look no further than two poignant examples, one, the #MeToo movement and how it has empowered women to speak up courageously against abuse of all kinds, the other, is the rainbow movement that has effected same sex relationships and gender identity issues. Each of these involved social norms being enshrined and/or engaged by binding legal recognition, both movements led by social and not political will, and this is an important phenomenon of modern times and the focus of this paper.

I’m in my mid 40’s and I represent a demographic of people who lived through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. I’m the son of a destitute migrant family like the multitude of others who made Australia their home in the mid 1950’s and 60’s. I believe the society I grew up in was formed very much by the social revolutions that enveloped the 1960’s, in fact I would posit, that the two movements I identified are the very fruits of that great (and necessary) change. This is why we are living through a period of transition, a period I believe requires great care, attention and leadership from our political leaders to help and nurture. I also believe such leadership is wanting in Australia in 2018 in both our major parties.

A case in point is the debate consuming much political oxygen these days concerning equal representation of women in our ‘representative’ parliaments. There can be no doubt that there should be equal representation and necessarily based on merit, but that is not how politics works or has worked since its inception. In the first Greek city states that founded ‘democracy’ or the even earlier manifestation of the rule of law in ancient Mesopotamia which predated the Greek experience by more than a thousand years, political leaders from this traditional structure were ‘strong men’ who achieved power simply by wrestling it from others. Likewise, the modern ambitious political animal must by necessity, have two innate abilities to succeed, prowess and cunningness. These are not in my humble opinion qualities that are naturally in women and why I think (logically), the implementing of a quota is a necessary policy to achieve equal representation. Labor has applied such a policy and seem to have a better representation of women, the Liberals by contrast are resisting such a change and are seen as ‘out of touch’ with the overwhelming majority of society, ironically, just as out of touch as they were on their stated policy on same sex marriages. It is evident that the LNP is struggling much more with this transition in society than Labor.

But whilst Labor can be differentiated on that front, on all other issues such as citizens rights to privacy, anonymity or freedom of expression, privatisation of government assets, human rights for refugees or even a Bill of Rights for all of us, they (Labor) are simply a pale imitation of the LNP. This for me, is very disconcerting, and why I believe a real third force will, and must emerge to fill this vacuum, and its not in our Parliament as yet.

A closer look into current polling trends in Australia reveals a clear haemorrhaging of the primary votes for both major parties with dissatisfaction levels of each leader at record highs. Both Morrison and Shorten have about as much charisma, insight and foresight as a pair of dead fish, and the electorate can see right through them together with their whole front benches. They are both products of the ‘establishment[s]’ which give rise to them and a part of a current system which manufactures these people by working in ministers' offices, wherein they are groomed to 'represent' the Party.

It is this combination of failures of the major parties, not just here but also in the US, to install 'real people' which ultimately gave rise to a Trump presidency. Here in Australia the same will create a necessary third force, even if here it will be made up of a large block of independents and/or minor parties in both the house and the senate perpetuating hung parliaments. This in my view is a sign of a healthy democracy, one which is prepared to place a significant ‘handbrake’ on excesses of power that are not in the interests of the common good which should always be the object of democracy. It’s what led Abraham Lincoln to correctly declare in 1858 that: “Democracy is direct self-government, over all the people, by all the people, for all the people.”

It’s that last part the two major parties have most problems with, Why, because they are so beholden to their political donors, most of which are corporations, which last time I checked were not ‘natural persons’ but rather ‘legal fictions’.

I long for the ‘progressive Australia’ I grew up in, one that was prepared to defend human rights in the interests of a global society who began to truly see no distinction between ‘haves’ and have-nots’ or race or religion or culture, but only a common humanity inhabiting this one earth.

Since the 2000’s up to the present time, unfortunately most of our political leaders have tried time and again (as has been the model of old) to scare people into voting one way or another, and this is backfiring. The old mould of simply ‘singing the party line’ will not cut it for a society much more intelligent and better informed than ever before. This is why we have had governments of all persuasions of late calling a plethora of Royal Commissions’ into everything from child protection and detention, banking, superannuation and corporate governance, minor abuse within religious institutions all of which were consistently resisted by these governments.

One asks the rhetorical question; If everything was being run so well, why so many inquiries? We have more than half a trillion dollars of government debt while our government borrows more to hand out half a billion dollars to a conservation ‘foundation’ that didn’t even ask or tender for any money. I hasten to say once the parliaments truly tilt back towards “for the people” there will be many more ‘inquiries’ and consequences as to how these governments governed.

Interesting times ahead.