After having watched Andrew Bartlett, leader of the Democrats speak at the Press Club, I am left worried. I used to support the Dems, until my faith in them was shattered by their rubberstamping of the GST. Since then I must say that they seem to have been weak.
Bartlett is a charisma blackhole it must be said. But is this important? Can I really let my vote be affected by personality when I actually agree with several of his political positions and I believe in the role of the Dems. A few years ago, the Dems embodied everything I believed in. Now the Greens are fairly close to that description and I’m not sure where the Dems stand.
I really don’t like the way the Dems and the Greens keep trading insults with each other. This sort of division does not help the Left. At least the National Party and the Liberal Party pretend to get along in public. Because in reality I like both Greens and Dems. Hell, Bartlett even cracked a few decent jokes once he got going.
The Greens have achieved some good results. Despite Bartlett’s claim that they are simply divisive, polarising whingers, they have succeeded at getting the environment on the agenda much better than the Dems ever did. They lobby hard and they draw a lot of admiration for their unrelenting position. This has meant that they often cannot be ignored.
The Dems have had a good record and I think it would be a tragedy for Australian democracy for them to be wiped out. They have always taken more of a role of negotiating for compromise no matter who is in Government. They have achieved good results over a few decades now because of this. People like Janine Haines and Cheryl Kernot were better at this, but even Bartlett has had some good achievements. They have been blocking industrial relations reform to the extent that they had 4 double dissolution triggers. My problem is that apart from these occasions they have not gained compromise so much as laid down and let Johnny tickle their tummies.
Bartlett says he wants to get stuff done to help Aborigines. Many Aboriginal people live in poverty and it will take much more than either latham or Howard’s simplistic plans of throwing money at the problem to change this situation. It will take more than words that start with s and end in y (the silly sorry story). It will take an acknowledgment of the cultural differences and an attempt to create programs that help work with these differences. It will take ways of getting Anglo-Australians learning to value these differences. A lot of the answers were in the horrific Aboriginal Deaths in Custody report. Unfortunately it is a NT Labor Government that is further exacerbating this problem with their 3 strikes and you’re out laws. It fails to understand that jail has a different place in the understanding of the Aboriginal person. It fails to understand that many Aborigines still find the imposed white culture alienating. We cannot return to a tribal existence, but knowledge must be shared and valued between our cultures.
But what are the Dems doing about this? They achieve some good things. But they have lost their way since Lees became leader, all because they couldn’t handle the fact that Natasha was a good leader despite her youth. My hope is that if the Dems do take a beating this election that this will be only a temporary setback. They have had a few bad leaders before and they have come back. I hope they will find another leader with good media presence and with the strength of conviction to stand up for Democrats principles.
But in the mean time I am scared of what could happen in the Senate. I wonder how many Australians realise that they don’t have to cast the same vote in the Senate as they do in the Reps. The Reps is where you decide who you want in Government. But no matter who wins Government, it would be a tragedy for the Government to have a majority in the Senate. That would allow them absolute power to pass any Law they want without any amendments. Equally if the Opposition has a majority in the Senate, then passing legislation will become nigh on impossible. We need the minor parties to negotiate compromise, to properly review legislation, to be our watchdog that keeps the major parties in check. That is the proper role of the Senate. Even if the Greens won Government, I would like to see the Liberals with balance of power in the Senate.
The Dems desperately need to do a better job at compromise than they have. The gap between rich and poor in Australia has widened under Howard-Costello. That is poor economic management in my book. Aboriginal health has gotten worse under howard because he thinks that handouts, ‘yes men’ and corruption is the solution. The bastards have been even less honest than usual. But these minor parties cannot disappear. If they do, then what is the point in democracy? We may as well go back to dictatorships.
I really hope that some strength is reinjected into the Dems. Natasha may be the answer. I also hope that the Greens vote increases. Bob Brown will not become the prime Minister. In fact he’s not even running for it. But they need a place in the Senate. According to the Coalition and Family Worst, if the Communist Nazi Fascist Green Party win just one seat, there’ll be bedlam. Poofs running about getting married in pink frocks everywhere. Needles hanging out the arms of every Australian child. Terrorists running freely through the streets.
Equally, according to Johnny, if the ALP gains Government, Australia will become a third world country, Saddam Hussein will escape prison and invade Australia, and all schools will close down because we can’t afford them.
Give me a break John Howard! The Senate is a house of review as Pauline H anson points out. The Government decides the laws and the Senate reviews them and changes them. They can also lobby for the Government to create good laws. And the Greens and Dems are both good at this.
And yet I am not too pleased about their choices of preferences. But it’s time for the Dems and Greens to stop bickering and to get back to working together as the minor parties that achieve little increments of change. As to which one I’ll vote 1 for, I don’t know. I will vote 3 Labor in the Senate.