MANIPULATING DEMOCRACY?
John Howard has joined Tony Abbott’s campaign for a postal vote on same sex marriage – and he is entitled to do so – but he hasn’t always listened to the voice of the people. He is the man who took Australia to that war against Iraq against the wishes of the people of Australia and a well-known researcher assured me it was Mr Howard’s decision alone.
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This is the man who refused to listen to the people when he was conned into joining America on that immoral and illegal attack on Iraq. About 70 per cent of Australians did not want us to become involved – but Mr Howard would not listen.
What Team Abbott is seeking in this postal vote is to stir up all those who oppose same sex marriage to get them to return their voting papers, in the hope that the supporters of same sex marriage are too apathetic to return their forms. Putting aside the central issue about marriage, it says something about the people we elected to run our country that they even agreed to this juvenile postal opinion poll, simply because it just might give them enough data to say they have listened to the people and will vote ‘no’ for a referendum on the issue.
But surely someone in their position must understand that in a true democracy it’s alright to express personal views on tricky subjects. This is what democracy is all about. It is a shame that the people we elected to run our country don’t seem to realise this and just vote according to their conscience – but this postal vote is a costly waste of effort.
AIMING FOR BETTER TARGETS
If only our gederal Government (and this includes the other parties) really understood their roles we would be hearing a lot more about the North Korea and the United States conflict that could affect the whole world or about the future of jobs in Australia – but, no, their interest is being consumed by a letter-based opinion poll.
The North Korean action is surely much more important. Sure, Prime Minister Turnbull correctly stated that, according to the ANZUS treaty, Australia would support the USA if it or any of its territories were attacked by another country.
But where is the United Nations’ Security Council in this very serious situation, with two ‘unusual to say the least’ heads of state preparing for a ‘fire and fury’ outcome? Instead of wasting time and money on a useless postal thing, any real politician would be asking this question.
Surely, any worthwhile parliamentarian would be gathering support, in Australia and the rest of the world, to give the Security Council such a big wake-up call that it might do the job the people expect it to do.
This would include stripping those permanent members of the Security Council of their permanent status and their right of veto. It is time the Security Council became more democratic and, thus, a far more powerful body, one able to stop rogue nations from actions that threaten other countries. This should include being able to stop the supply of arms to those killer groups who use religion as an excuse to kill others.
Would it be asking too much of our government (of whatever party) to stop wasting time and effort with a useless letter survey and start thinking about the real issues facing Australians and the rest of the world?
Someone should tell them (with loudhailers and threats of losing their jobs) to start acting like grown-ups. Or get them to stand aside and let more able people do the job they were elected to do.
TRUSTING THE EXPERTS
Most of us take a tablet or two each day because scientists have discovered that they are important for our health. We depend on these scientific discoveries.
Why, then, do so many people still deny the science of climate change? This is no airy-fairy concept: climate change is now a proven fact.
You won’t read about it in our biggest selling newspapers (they must have been ordered by their American boss to never mention the subject) but the Environment Department has confirmed that greenhouse gas emissions rose 1.6 percent in the March quarter. On an annual basis our country’s emissions reached 550.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
This makes a joke of any claims that our federal government is doing anything worthwhile to protect the planet for the sake of our grandchildren,
Surely, well before the next election, we need some independent body to contact every potential member of parliament to get them to state their commitment to climate change. Then the voters could be confident with pollies who believe the scientists and reject those who still believe the world is flat.
BOTTLES IN THE DUMP?
Continuing this whinge about our decision makers, it seems strange that it is being left to the ABC to discover illegal and immoral activities because we don’t have a federal ICAC. In recent years it has been entirely the work of some very brave investigative journalists with Fairfax Media and the ABC to reveal some blatant illegal activities, such as under-payment of employees and the illegal activities of some politicians. The latest was a report that the glass bottles we have so carefully put out for recycling have been put in rubbish dumps instead.
It seems that the reason is that it is cheaper to import bottles than to recycle the materials in Australia (surely we should have a ‘recycling levy on bottles’ to cover that difference). The sad fact is that there are far too many items being imported because of the high cost of manufacturing in Australia.
Have we developed a national standard of living that is out of proportion to our ability to produce anything at a reasonable cost?
That is the sort of issue we should be talking about.
- Ray Williams has been a Post columnist since retiring from the newsroom in 1993.