57 People Chose This Country's Leader - And Call It Democracy

 

 

Australia’s a great big country with a teeny tiny population, but there are a lot more than 57 people registered to vote. So how do just 57 people manage to decide who should be Prime Minister? Easy:
Australia inherited the British form of government;

Lower House; Upper House; and Queen

It's a system based on Parties, Party Philosophies, and Cabinets.
The theory is that the people vote for a LOCAL representative for their LOCAL area.
Voters don't directly choose who will become the Face of the Nation.

24 Nov 2007
Australian voters:	13,645,073
People who voted for the Leader	43,957

 

21 Aug 2010
Australian voters:	14,088,260
People who voted for the Leader:	66,298

 

7 Sept 2013
Australian voters:	14,712,799
People who voted for the Leader:	54,388

 

Even if voters think they know on election day who is likely to be the Face of the Nation, this can change later without anyone asking voters at all.

In Australia,

Faceless Party Hacks decide
who should be the Face of the Nation,

and they do it all the time.

June 2010

115 people got into a huddle and replaced one Prime Minister with another.

[Not actually sure how many of the 115 voted for, and how many against. It might be a democratic secret.]

June 2013

57 people voted in favour of changing things back the way they were before the last time they changed their mind.

[Nobody asked me. Fair enough – I might have just complained the more things change the more they stay the same.]

The Faceless Hacks often change the Face of the Nation if they suspect voters hate the Face. 

But something far worse has happened in Australia recently;

few voters like the current Face of the Nation,

but the Faceless Party Hacks won’t replace him at all.

So what's happening? Can't the Faceless Party Hacks find anyone better? 

And what can voters do about it? 
Even less than when there is an election: Nothing.

--oo0oo--

In Australia, the Queen is represented by a Governor General.

Q. Who protects us from bad Government?

A. The Governor General!

Q. Who chooses the Governor General who protects us from bad Government?

A. The [potentially] bad Government!

This system of choosing a leader and a protector just doesn’t seem terribly democratic or safe. The British people might be okay with it, but that’s their problem. [And secretly I think it really is their problem].

In Great Britain, the Queen doesn’t really get to say “Nope, don’t like it” and reject a law – but at least the British Parliament doesn’t decide who should be Queen.

You might say I’m being unfair – ‘cos in 1975 the Australian Governor General noticed our bills weren't getting paid, and suggested we need an election. The Governor General is able to call an election, but really has no “Nope don’t like the law” power at all. Governments can, and sometimes do, pass bad laws.

The British System relies on people choosing a philosophy and sticking with it - but what if everyone sticks with a party philosophy except the party?

In Australia in 2015, the so called philosophy of each major Party has changed.

• Great money-management with a good social conscience has become "stuff-you, stuff-them".
• Great social conscience with mediocre money-management has become "anything you can stuff, we can stuff harder."

Winning matters. That's all. As an end in itself. Parties win - People lose.

--oo0oo--

One thing that could make this country a lot more democratic is a PRESIDENT.

We were asked in 1999 if we wanted a Republic with a President, but it was just more of the same with a name change: The Parliament still choosing the toothless protector, not the people.

 

What we could and should demand is the right to Democratically elect a President.

We could have a President with at least 7 and a 1/2 million or so votes - instead of a leader with just 60,000. Instead of a leader with just 57 votes.

We might get a President who will still disappoint or embarrass us, but what if it was someone who had to actually say something positive to get elected, or even someone with a vision? It would be a nice change to hear a speech from someone who has to appeal to more than just a few faceless party hacks.

A Democratically elected President could even have a little bit of “Nope, don’t like that law power” [but not too much]. Really, anyone with a good reason to speak their mind would be better than someone with a good reason to keep their mouth shut.

 

And, seriously, the Queen deserves a lot more respect than some of the Faces we’ve had lately could ever earn.
 

You can read the text of the draft here or PM me through the facebook page and I will happily email you a more readable PDF. The draft DOES need everybody's input, it is just designed to start discussions. 

 

Please join the discussion if you agree Australia needs a new and more democratic constitution. If you don't want to use blogger, you can discuss the idea via facebook.  

14 September 2015;

Turnbull wins 54 to 44!!!