Every time there is an
election, I'm reminded of the graffiti "Don't Vote, it only encourages
them!"
It's also often said
"Parties don't win elections, parties lose them".
In queues at polling
booths every ten minutes we hear something like: "I'm just here to cross
my name off - they are all *&^%@#$#s."
It’s official –
Australians are fed up
We often express our
frustration by fixating on the negatives of one politician or another, but I'm
not sure even THAT helps. Behind every good laugh is a feeling we are being
treated with contempt. It's easy to be distracted from the REAL problem which
is that we have a totally dud constitution.
 |
| Start of Railway from WA to SA - 1915 |
Dreams of
freedom or democracy
couldn't have been further from the minds of our
current constitution's authors.
If lies become truths
simply through repetition, one of the biggest lies has to be that we live in a real
democracy.
When it is said we get
the government we deserve, the unspoken assumption is that we choose our
government - in Australia that is simply not true. There are several reasons
for this, but our current Constitution is the biggest one.
The government has issued a discussion paper for improving the constitution and dealing with voter dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction has been acknowledged, but the intent is the same; to simply fiddle with a totally defective constitution.
 |
| Aren't governments supposed to help CREATE jobs, not just blame people for economic mismanagement? |
Our constitution has
changed over the years in ways that have made it more useless than it already was - so
much so that it is like a 120 year old hammer that has had two new heads and
four new handles and doesn't work at all anymore.
 |
| The 1901 Constitution was NOT originally designed to let Federal Governments pork-barrel State Elections |
Is a new constitution
even possible? Yes. Support for it won't develop overnight, but with enough
support it is possible.
Maybe we could start by
looking at what we do want, and getting stuck a little less on what we don’t
want. Like choices between policies that aren't all the same.
Here are just a few
things I do want
·
I
want to know who I am voting for when I vote.
·
I
want to take away the power of the Prime Minister to embroil us in military
action without any real checks and balances.
·
I
want Politicians to stop talking about voters as if we are scum.
·
I
want all Australians to have more influence over what happens anywhere in
Australia – not just their own state. I might live in Victoria, but the Barrier
Reef is as much mine as any other Australian’s.
·
I
want whistleblowers protected by a law that can’t be changed too easily.
·
I
want politicians to be more accountable. A LOT more accountable.
·
I
want politicians to not be able to vote against a tax they have outstanding.
·
I
want people to get hip replacements in a reasonable amount of time – not have
to wait 5 years [during which they receive benefits instead of working and
paying taxes]
·
I
want to NOT subsidise religious instruction.
·
I
want companies that trade in Australia – using Australia’s infrastructure – to pay
taxes in Australia
Stuff
like that. A HEAP of stuff like that.
What would YOU like,
that would make Australia a better democracy?
Jane
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