Darron CharlesworthAustralia a democracy? Don't think so.
June 29th 2010 01:12
Category: No Category
With the Federal election looming now is a good time to look at our electoral system. While purporting to be a representative system Australia’s parliament and its system are far from that. Actually, they are nothing like that.
There is a choice made at election time – who will rule us for the next 3 years, Labor or Liberal. Any pretext at this being representative is completely fraudulent. Make no mistake and do not be disillusioned by the spin.
It would be truer to say that media opinion polls are highly influential in political decision making, just look at the rapid and total dismissal of the former PM, Kevin Rudd. Rudd’s catastrophic decent in public opinion and the possible annihilation of Labor at the forthcoming election gave the Party’s powerbrokers all the incentive they needed to make rapid and decisive changes at the top.
When voting though it is important to remember the party you are putting in power. Unless your vote is for an Independent – and even then the likely outcome is that the preferences will flow eventually to one of the two Major Parties – you are voting for the party and its lead
er, not for the person on the ballot paper.
This is where it gets confusing for most people. The system is supposed to be representative: that is, you vote for someone who’s ideals and beliefs most closely reflect your own to represent you, the voter, in the national parliament. In reality this is not the case. In fact, under the current system all those people whose salaries are paid annually by the tax payer – including pensions for life – are entirely superfluous.
With the exception of the Cabinet the lot of them could be summarily dismissed tomorrow without a single blip on the political landscape. There is no representation. Interests are generated by lobby and interest groups and those who fund the political parties. Unfortunately this political corruption is not as blatant as in the U.S. but to believe it does not happen is naïve to say the least. The general public, those who are supposedly being represented, hardly raises a thought until an election is due and your votes are needed to preserve rule.
The vote for a Labor member is particularly useless. In this case you vote for the Party: period. Labor members are rarely afforded a conscience vote – the ability to vote for what they truly believe. Rather Labor MPs are required to vote along party lines. If they do not do this the member is unlikely to receive party endorsement at the next election and will be replaced by another “Yes” man (I use the term generically not gender specific).
The Liberal Party offer some hope of representation. Their members can cross the floor – vote against party consensus – but this does not happen often and can result in action being taken against the Member defying the party line.
That we, the people, have so little influence or impact on the political system is worrying. This is especially prevalent when Australia is considered to be one of the most democratic countries globally. The entrenched party system which aides our political stability has a high democratic cost for the people.
Effectively, when you vote forget the person who you think you are voting for and think only of Party. Knowing as you do this that you are voting for what the party wants and that the electorate in which you reside only has political value if the seat is marginal – not held by any Party by a comfortable margin guaranteeing re-election – and the upcoming election promises to be close. Otherwise the wishes and desires of the Party in power including those of their sponsors – the people who fund their election campaigns with large donations which they swear do not generate special favours and considerations (yeah right).
You have no say, you have no power, and you are just a tool to the Party’s end as long as they think they need your vote. Sad it is but also true. Welcome to Democratic Australia.
There is a choice made at election time – who will rule us for the next 3 years, Labor or Liberal. Any pretext at this being representative is completely fraudulent. Make no mistake and do not be disillusioned by the spin.
It would be truer to say that media opinion polls are highly influential in political decision making, just look at the rapid and total dismissal of the former PM, Kevin Rudd. Rudd’s catastrophic decent in public opinion and the possible annihilation of Labor at the forthcoming election gave the Party’s powerbrokers all the incentive they needed to make rapid and decisive changes at the top.
When voting though it is important to remember the party you are putting in power. Unless your vote is for an Independent – and even then the likely outcome is that the preferences will flow eventually to one of the two Major Parties – you are voting for the party and its lead
er, not for the person on the ballot paper.
This is where it gets confusing for most people. The system is supposed to be representative: that is, you vote for someone who’s ideals and beliefs most closely reflect your own to represent you, the voter, in the national parliament. In reality this is not the case. In fact, under the current system all those people whose salaries are paid annually by the tax payer – including pensions for life – are entirely superfluous.
With the exception of the Cabinet the lot of them could be summarily dismissed tomorrow without a single blip on the political landscape. There is no representation. Interests are generated by lobby and interest groups and those who fund the political parties. Unfortunately this political corruption is not as blatant as in the U.S. but to believe it does not happen is naïve to say the least. The general public, those who are supposedly being represented, hardly raises a thought until an election is due and your votes are needed to preserve rule.
The vote for a Labor member is particularly useless. In this case you vote for the Party: period. Labor members are rarely afforded a conscience vote – the ability to vote for what they truly believe. Rather Labor MPs are required to vote along party lines. If they do not do this the member is unlikely to receive party endorsement at the next election and will be replaced by another “Yes” man (I use the term generically not gender specific).
The Liberal Party offer some hope of representation. Their members can cross the floor – vote against party consensus – but this does not happen often and can result in action being taken against the Member defying the party line.
That we, the people, have so little influence or impact on the political system is worrying. This is especially prevalent when Australia is considered to be one of the most democratic countries globally. The entrenched party system which aides our political stability has a high democratic cost for the people.
Effectively, when you vote forget the person who you think you are voting for and think only of Party. Knowing as you do this that you are voting for what the party wants and that the electorate in which you reside only has political value if the seat is marginal – not held by any Party by a comfortable margin guaranteeing re-election – and the upcoming election promises to be close. Otherwise the wishes and desires of the Party in power including those of their sponsors – the people who fund their election campaigns with large donations which they swear do not generate special favours and considerations (yeah right).
You have no say, you have no power, and you are just a tool to the Party’s end as long as they think they need your vote. Sad it is but also true. Welcome to Democratic Australia.
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