I’m not a particularly political person. I’ve always taken my right to vote seriously, and have continued to vote when I was entitled to even when living overseas. I have also registered to vote in any country I was in that allowed it (thanks NZ!). I have always taken the views of each party into consideration when mulling through my choices and often lean on the side of parties that support education, hospitals and the environment. These things are important to me, and I fundamentally believe in them.
That said, something seems to have seriously gone wrong lately in Australia. At the start of this pandemic, when it wasn’t clear to the powers that be who should be in charge of borders, the state premiers took the bull by the horns and implemented their own rules. Not just on caps (which have seriously disadvantaged thousands of Australian’s abroad) but for residents and citizens in Australia as well.
It just so happens that Labor led states like Queensland, WA and Victoria seem to have implemented some of the harshest and most uncaring border rules, keeping families apart, stopping parents from accompanying their babies to hospital and disallowing attendance at family funerals. They’ve also heavily capped arrivals from overseas in the form of expatriate Australian’s trying to return home – fruit pickers, international students and lobsters notwithstanding of course! NSW is doing the majority of the heavy lifting in this area and has continued to increase their caps (of course at least 25% of the seats are going to non-Australian business travellers and others, but that’s another matter).
The left, long held up as an example of making things better for people -through more social funding, looking after workers rights, supporting state based education and hospitals – have let us down. Whether it’s for political advancement (it just so happens there’s quite a few elections slated or in progress) or as a reaction to the uneducated fearful response from the public, I just can’t work out. But I feel disillusioned. How can a country that would “never leave a mate behind” turn into such a spiteful and uncaring non-community. If you need to see what I’m talking about here look at any facebook page that is discussing these issues (or don’t – it’s just too depressing!)
What even is Australia any more? A capitalist society with quasi American values? A group of states that are no longer federated but “going it alone”? A very expensive place to get an education if your degree doesn’t match government priorities for the future? What have I missed? Did I forget to watch enough right wing media that will make me feel better about all of this?
What do you think? Are you voting in an upcoming election? Let me know in the comments below…
Rainbow words 