Who do our MP's represent?

Today Queensland Member for Cook, just expelled from the ALP, has notified everyone that he is staying on as an independent.
It is his right!  Although elected as a member of a political party (the ALP)...he is actually elected as himself, Billy Gordon!   He is not without controversy.
The Labor Premier called on him first to leave the party, he did ( or was expelled)! And then to do the "right thing" and resign and allow a by-election....even though it might cost her the leadership of the State. 
This is brave of Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk. I am impressed by her integrity and courage. Two virtues which appeal to the Christian heart...integrity and courage.
And, which I would admit, we have not always been good at.
I have met recently with a person who knows her well, his representations to me assure me she is (as 1066 and All That might say....a good thing). I will leave that to you
One of the issues this sets before the electorate, both in Queensland and, throughout the nation at both State and Federal level is whether a person is elected as an individual or as a member of a party ticket.
Inevitably when trouble occurs people frame their answer to meet their own circumstances.
So, Mr Gordon has quite rightly exercised his legal prerogative that he is elected as an individual!
Now he is an "Independent" ie. he has been cut free from the party which no-doubt funded much of his electoral campaign....he can do as his will and conscience require.
Ms Lambie, and Mr Lazarus did this, various others have left their parties after they have been elected.
And it is their right.......Apparently

But is it RIGHT!

Although Queensland does not have an Upper House, the Federal Parliament does and other States do.
We have been, at Federal level, given the option to vote, say, 1 to 16 "Above the line"  or 1 to 133 "Below the line".  
One gets the impression that most people vote Above the line.  Which is decidedly less complex and laborious. That is, they vote for the party and the Party's particular preferential choices.
So when an elected person who may have been elected No. 1 on the Labor or Liberal ticket .....or Palmer United Party....a case referred to above.....decides to jump ship what should happen?
The candidate inevitably says ....I was elected because I was me, and how fabulous am I because of my profile.....and the Party inevitably says .....They should resign because they were elected  on the Party Ticket.
Ms Palaszczuk was rather suggesting this about Mr Gordon...and Mr Palmer certainly wants Senators Lazarus and Lambie to capitulate to his strident influence, I draw short of calling it bullying!

In the end I think ABOVE THE LINE VOTING is iniquitous. It is a ploy of the Party System to manipulate numbers. So it serves them right when it backfires...as, increasingly, it seems to do

The Farce. Act II

Could not believe Katter's performance on Q& A last night! I have been spending the week telling folks that he is not as bad as he was. But I am afraid that I have to revise that estimation.

He says many wise things. But he is a bully of a man, who can only deal with criticism by force, shouting down his opponents. Refusing to engage in any constructive dialogue that dares to critique his narrow views.

That was scene 1 of this Act II

Scene 2. Was his appearance at a bizarre Press Conferenece at 1 p.m. today. At which he pontificated and procrastinated. One can only wonder why. He went on and on.

There seemed only one dynamic that was at play here. He was holding a separate Press Conference because his conclusion was different from the other two.

He supported the coalition.

Thank goodness, despite Rob Oakshot's equally tedious prevarication (15 mins), he and Windsor went with Ms Gillard. I will blog later about the one really good thing that Oakshot said and the saintly Fr Spencer Dunkerley who foreshadowed him by 40 years

Emma's Pick

Emma has been us telling all week we should watch this interesting Chinese You Tube about the recent election. It is interesting to see how third parties might view us.

Hats on...pants down

Alleged independent MP Bob Katter may be the real spanner in the works when it come to unravelling this election dilemma.

His bigger than big personality is surrounded by an even bigger hat! To be sure he talks a lot of sense (in my opinion) about the rapine that has taken place of country Australia. This would seem to be the great unifying factor for the gang of three. But this morning on AM we hear a less sensible version of his rantings (here).

He likens himself to Jo Bjelke who he calls 'one of my great heroes'. This should set all sort of alarm bells going.

If that was not enough he also dismisses Ross Garnaut & Nicholas Stern as 'lightweights' on the climate change issue. One supposes that the less you are inclined to agree with them the more lightweight someone becomes.

The Big Question, is whether the other two feel likewise. If they do then it is all over for a little while as they must side with Abbott you would think.

The real worry, which is only just beginning to be canvassed, is what happens if the gang of three go in different directions. So far the simple maths has rather depended on them going as a bloc. If that was so we would go into the tricky 76/74 balance. But if it's actually 75/75 then it seems to me that this is probably unworkable

Almost killing me

I vowed at the beginning of this week that I was not going to blog about the election for a week.
It is almost killing me. But I think it was a good thing to do.

So, this blog about "not blogging about the election" is not a blog about the election, it is a blog about blog content; if you get my drift.

I almost survived the whole of yesterday without deliberately listening to the news or current affairs discussion. I say 'deliberately', because it was impossible to not hear anything as almost every other second comment had something to do with the events of last weekend.

This, too, is not a comment about the election but about the paucity of variation available on talk-radio.

If you think this is a poor excuse for a blog...then you will understand something of my dilemma.

Panda pundits

This morning's paper had a picture of our local Pandas choosing from the allotted party leaders à la the now famous World Cup predicting octopus.

I make the observation that I am not so deeply shocked by the electoral cynicism that is shown in inviting Wang Wang and Funi to declare the election winner, this perhaps indicates the level of choice that most of us feel that we really have this time round.

I am rather shocked by the possibility that these gorgeous attractions might choke on pictures of our beloved leaders none of whom seem terribly palatable and some what under done at this stage.

...ohhh no election time again

Apart from being my favourite movie (here) I have been wondering about the ten things I hate about the presenting parties at this election time....these will no doubt grow as time goes on so check back
Labor

1. I hate their failure to provide sufficient distinction between themselves and their opponents. This phenomenon will no doubt go down in the history books as the decade in which the two parties became indistinguishable
2. I hate their capitulation to market driven economics and their desertion of the commitment to traditional labor policies in education, health and social welfare
3. I despise the fact that the Labor party's compassion for the underdog has now been thrown away
4. I hate that they are no more compassionate to refugees than their opponents
   

Liberal

1. I hate the proposition that they and they alone have the answers
2. I hate the opportunism that in getting control of the senate they refuse to take responsibility for the fact that they alone are responsible for the failure of the Carbon Emissions Tax
3. I hate a particular candidate in whose electorate I have been who appears to have taken his electorate for granted until our support appear to have been in doubt.
4. I hate the way refugees have been treated

There is a certain irony in this post. It is based substantially on a similar post of 3 years ago!!

Not much has changed.

One of my correspondents observed about that post

I won't be voting for either party.

and I replied

Well, I have a dilemma as I live in Boothby!
I haven't voted for either major party for the 12 years we have lived here...but I guess even if you don't...you do!

As I say...not much has changed

Unhealthy democracy

Writing in The Advertiser , Alexander Downer is no doubt correct that this next election will be interesting because it will give the voters a black and white choice. He is wrong in suggesting that this is ideological.
What it would seem is happening is that, once again, we are being subjected to fear mongering . As Downer himself elucidates, refugees arriving by boat will once again be the
political weapon of the Liberals.
But equally well we might note that Labor will invite us to lash out at the rich mining magnates.
This is not ideology. This is prejudice. This is not healthy democracy it is cynicism at its worst.

Religion and politics

I hope to offer some thoughts on various aspects of this issue in the days to come. But here is a blog by the amazingly perceptive Ruth Gledhill of the London Times, with particular refereence to the British election campaign

http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2010/04/gordon-browns-gospel-dream-where-wealth-helps-more-than-the-wealthy.html#more

Who does God think should win the SA election?(i)

Yesterday I had half an hour to spare so I went and sat in the Dean's Chapel at the Cathedral and prayed for the State election. So it's all my fault! (here is why Anglicare urged us to do it)
In my last entry I made the not so bold statement that it won't really make much difference to our stability and sense of well-being whether Liberal or Labor win tomorrow.
No doubt some of us will feel disheartened (either way), but I suspect on Monday most of us will go about our normal business.
There has been much talk about people's personal religious beliefs, and in particular how this might impact on their ability to be able to carry out their role as an elected leader.
The (allegedly) non-religious seem to think that some how extraneous pressure will be brought to bear, but I think this is a bit bizarre.
I actually feel a lot happier knowing that Joe O'Flynn (it was St Patrick's day this week after all) has a coherent set of beliefs, even though I may differ in part or total. Than not-knowing that Jerry O'Grady is not religious...and I don't actually have a clue what sorts fo things he might regard as important.
I do remember being at one of those open-slather meetings some years ago when the clean-cut plants of the right were trying to expose some of the social policies of the local Greens candidates.
Most of us tend to think of Greens as being single-issue candidates. Plant more trees and save the whale sort of thing! But over the years they have taken time to develop social policies which would scandalise some and delight others. They are pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, pro delgalistaion of marijuana...and so on.
The plants in the audience were doing a good job of exposing some of these.
My point?
Everyone has some belief structure. At least the religious belief structure is open to examination where the private belief structure could be much more outrageous.
I am not of the opinion that we should dismiss whole classes of people because of their beliefs.
So lets have less of dismissing people just because they are 'religious'.
I will get round to telling you what is really going on...but maybe that is blog (ii)........

getting out of the war

One headline today reads "Obama: Discussing the war he never agreed to!"
It is, necessarily, part of the dilemma that he faces. In order to be seen as credible by the wider electorate he now has to get up to speed on how you deal competently with a war....even though he didn't think America should have been in that war in the first place.
The President, of course, is also the Commander-in-Chief, [a scary thought when you think of George Bush] but Obama does appear to be taking it seriously. And is being taken seriously by those who will have to cooperate with him. (See the steep learning curve here)
It will always be an issue for incoming politicians. The electorate will have to decide whether the fresh approach outweighs lack of experience. McCain seems to me tired and not up to the task. Obama at least has the capacity to grow and learn.

Out to lunch

Alexander Downer spotted out to lunch instead of at Question Time said that was more productive than listening to to the droning of Julia Gillard.

Well excuse me! I have all sorts of things I have to go to & hear people drivel on (they no doubt think the same of me) and I go because that is what I get paid to do.

But aaaah! the hubris of the fallen. The disdain with which the former Foreign Minister treats the Parliament that has done OK by him.

I note again that his by-election (if and when it happen) will cost the taxpayer nearly half a million dollars.

What arrogance!

The cost of freedom

We will no doubt be embroiled soon in the resignation/byelection scandal. As is predicted, and seems an inevitability, senior Liberals will resign in the next few months; ill-suited to sit on the backbench they will no doubt employ their talents elsewhere!

But at what cost?

The first ever election for the Commonwealth of  Australia in 1901 cost £56 331. The Australian Electoral Commission's figures going up to 2005 show that the 2004 election cost in excess of $117 million.

Of great interest are  the various  by-election costs which show that since 2000 a by election cost in excess of $400,000! (see the interesting document here)

At least 4 senior Coalition MPs are being flagged as disappearing before the end of their term, maybe in the next few months (Downer, Andrew, McGauran and of course Costello). This "I didn't win so I'm taking my ball and going home" mentality will obviously be costly to the taxpayer.

I suggest that some reimbursement, perhaps from the more than generous superannuation payouts, could be expected.

They will all of course go on to very highly paid jobs, probably better paid than the Parliament, so I don't have much sympathy.

Miscellany

Don't know that Super Tuesday proved much other than the fact that it's not over yet!

This morning the Advertiser leads with a story about aboriginal people in the West Parklands having their stuff confiscated. It's a tricky issue. One dimension of it is that, it seems to me, the Adelaide City Council often likes to sweep these issues under the carpet.

I noticed for example when I used to bus to work in the CBD that at Big Race times, or Festivals aboriginal people were often moved on so that (I suppose) visitors didn't have to confront a social problem that we find intractable.

Went to see Miss Saigon last night. Hellishly expensive tickets (which I didn't buy) for a very indifferent show. Had two wonderances about why this might be so

1. Although it'd had rave reviews; are we so starved of top-end theatre that we willcall anything "good" even when it is not
2. The production lacked energy, the music is ponderous at the best of times but I thought with the exception of the eponymous Miss Saigon, the principals were poor. The Engineer...around whom much of the show revolves was almost unintelligible and his definition of the role curious to say the least.
3. We had the scary thought at half-time that because the last burst of theatre we had was in London have we been spoiled. Are we now witnessing the treue gap between Australian and international theatre? Will nothing ever seem quiet good enough again.

Absolutely Super

Well, the only thing better/worse than 10 months of Australian electoral campaigning is 10 months of US campaigning. We look with interest at what today might mean for the pruning of the field.
Some commentary on the Clinton/Obama rivalry has been very perceptive. I note particularly:

• the US, despite its liberal nature. has the lowest real participation of women in elected Government of any Western democracy. There are less women in the State and Federal legislatures than anywhere else in the world claiming to be democratic
• it is a pity that the Obama/Clinton divide has polarised the debate so that Clinton is about women and Obama about blacks.
• This has the unfortunate side effectthat it seems that the women's issue is about white women, and the black issue about black men
• I think this observation is fairly true, and the net effect is to disempower black women. This bears some thinking about

We look forward with interest!!

The incredible benefit of backstabbing

Will we ever understand the election process of the US? I doubt it. What we're witnessing at the moment is virtually the parties selecting their candidates, not the voting of the people for a new president. Commentary is both effulgent and effusive (see here for example) and we are warned that the dirty tricks have only just begun.
In Oz this takes place out of public view, what ever Howard said about Costello and vice versa, was firmly kept behind locked doors. What Clinton and Obama say about each other, or McCain and Romney will be said out in the open.
This public backstabbing is riveting stuff, even from the Antipodes. It has the advantage of ( win lose or draw) knowing what your "friends" can say about you in the event that you become your party's anointed. This is a benefit in a way that Howard and Costello must attest to, part (at least) of what caused their downfall was the electorate's uncertainty about them. What did they really think about each other?
Had there been blindingly open critique in the selection process, the whispering campaign would have been sliced into tiny little pieces. But it was not to be
It is always faintly amusing to watch the way the Democrats and Republican get behind their chose candidate eventually. Obama or Clinton will stand side by side and attest that the other was the best thing since Drive In Movies, despite the fact that this week she called him a hypocrite and a liar.
The big mistake (of course ) that the Democrats have made is in wanting either the first woman or the first black person, they should have concatenated the two. But I suppose Dr Rice is a Republican!

Media Blackout

A recent email sent to me (no reason to disbelieve it) told of an event in Adelaide on Sunday 25th November, the day after the Federal election.

Approximately 75 people attended an Aboriginal smoking ceremony in Hindmarsh Square to observe John Howard’s “political funeral”.

John Howard’s coffin was bathed in smoke as Aboriginal Kaurna elder Uncle Lewis O’Brien performed a funeral rite in the Kaurna language.
Niwili White Forrest held the bowl of smoking leaves as they circled the coffin together.

Members of the audience placed “detention centre” barbed wire wreaths, WMDs, and flowers for those who have suffered under his regime, on the coffin.
MC Tauto Sansbury addressed the crowd, explaining how John Howard’s evil spirit was being cleansed from the country after 11 bad years.

BUT NOTE THIS
Channel 7, 9, and 10 cameras filmed the ceremony, but did not carry it in their TV news that night – Costello’s “resignation” took pride of place…

Klynton Wanganeen from the local community addressed the crowd.

Professor Peter Buckskin gave a powerful speech that outlined Howard’s impact on Aboriginal communities.

Pilawuk White, from the Ngangiwumerri people of the NT, said, “We now consider the country to be finally rid of John Howard’s evil spirit, and are celebrating the birth of a new era.”


She took the audience through a water cleansing ceremony from her country in which water is placed on the forehead and then on the navel

The mainstream media ignored this important event that symbolises the burying of the Howard era and the subsequent moving on.

No one belonging to a sectional group like a church or minor political interest group will be surprised about the neglect of the media. We can all lament that such a symbolic event was not given the media exposure it should have been. Hopefully, though, we can move on.
Surely the much awaited apology must not be far off.

Easy schmeezy!

Well that was easy enough. We sauntered down the road and voted at 8.50. All very low key.
Though, it seemed to me that there were a lot of people looking panicky at the fact that they were not getting takers for their how to vote cards.
That would seem to indicate to me that people had made up their minds.
PS it's worth clicking on the how to vote card in this post to see who you are being invited to vote for!

Picking it

Lest anyone think I am a wimp I do intend to call the election NOW! This is Friday, 8.30 p.m.
My prediction: that it will be Labor by a landslide of 20 or more That the result will be known by 7.30 p.m. CST.
I would further suggest that should John Howard lose, then he will resign. But he may well lose his seat, so it could be academic!
Peter Costello will never be PM. Poor old Petie!

Dropping the ball

It is difficult to believe at this stage (despite what conflicting polls may tells us) that yesterday's debacle with the phony election pamphlets is not the final straw for John Howard. Making an appalling campaign into a disastrous one, how do you recover?
One savvy commentator noted that the Opposition just has to shut up and do nothing. But it must do nothing! The discipline comes from having the courage to not say "I told you so!", and the discipline to just watch the other side unravel.
Never before has this issue of discipline been so clear for me. What we have witnessed in the Coalition ranks is panic. Being slaughtered all around the troops have gone crazy. At the very time they needed to keep their nerve they have taken the ball into their own hands, and played what ever game they liked with it. Ultimately dropping it with an almighty thump, as they stand back and watch their opponents score goal after goal after goal after....