Wednesday, August 5, 2009

New Underwear

There is such enormous dissatisfaction with the progress (or lack of it) within and across our various State Governments that there is some possibility we will eventually get to replace the state political system with something that is more representative, accountable and useful.

But I won’t be holding my breath - because the large array of vested interests who feed off it will be working overtime to keep the gravy train rolling as long as they can. I don’t expect it is something that will happen in my lifetime.

There are however some things that we can all do to resist the attempts of the dominant political parties to monopolise power at the state level. Here is some food for thought.

* Insist that your local member takes seriously his/her responsibility to represent your local community ahead of their party - and get them to express that in writing.

* Find a small party or independent that is worthy of your vote and encourage them to remain independent.

* Provide financial and moral support to the independents and minor parties - there are plenty to choose from. You might even want to help them by contributing your time and effort around election time - they need all the support they can get.

* Ignore the major parties - don’t participate in their focus groups or PR sessions or fundraisers and let them know that you expect a representative who looks after your interests and not one who is dictated to by the party machine.

* Encourage GetUp.org.au and support their attempts to expose the rip-offs and rorts that are often perpetrated by political machines across the nation. Join a local chapter and participate in their activities.

* Take your vote seriously and consider all the alternatives at each election. Don’t vote for a party just because you always have done so - or your parents did - seek out the candidates and get them to put their case and then select one based on merit.

* Above all treat incumbent governments like underwear and change them often. The longer a government stays in power the more entrenched they become and the harder they are to shift. Plus there is no better way to ensure a viable opposition than by signaling that they have a chance to claim the treasury benches - next time.

With any luck if there are enough Australians who are interested in the health of our democracy then we just might have a chance at fixing the State system.

Perhaps the best quote about democracy is this one by George Bernard Shaw: "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve".

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