Challenges Facing Democracy In Australia Shosh Herzog
Politics Are inner party politics distracting from actual issues facing Australia? Are they creating more?
Power Play It is all part of the game, as they say, to have opposition to any popular movement. When a party gets voted in to power, it means that the majority of people wanted them. Yet the oppositions job is to continue to fight for power, and the government of the day is constantly trying to distract the people. But does this result in the government being unfocussed on the needs of the people?
Who is it between?
TThe most obvious struggle for power is between the two most prominent parties: The Australian Labour Party, and the Coalition. YYet there are other independents who also hold great influence over party decisions, such as the Greens. OOne of the most recent displays of party politics was the infamous showdown between current PM Julia Gillard and ex PM Kevin Rudd
Julia Gillard vs. Kevin Rudd In 2007, Kevin Rudd was voted in as Prime Minister, as a member of the Australian Labour Party. However, in 2010, Julia Gillard announced that she would be contesting the leadership in caucus the next day. Rudd stepped down and was appointed head of foreign affairs. This was just the beginning of a fierce struggle between the two leaders.
Rudd Resigns On February 22 nd, Rudd announced that he was resigning as Foreign Affairs minister as he felt “unsupported” by Julia Gillard and her party members. This caused major unrest, and once again, Rudd and Gillard put the vote to caucus as to who would be in power. Rudd was defeated at 71 votes to 31. This incident has resulted in a lack of security and stability within the ALP.
How did this impact on the people?
Civil Apathy and Disinterest One of the severe dangers in a democracy, is that when the government doesn’t respond to the people, they become disinterested. This was demonstrated after the Gillard and Rudd fiasco. Particularly because the public polls showed that had the people voted again, Rudd would have been voted in, this emphasized their disappointment, yet they barely reacted.
Tony Abbot, leader of the opposition, used this opportunity to showcase the flaws in the Labour government, and their inability to disassociate from their personal issues and focus on their job – running the country. He was quoted as saying “We are a great country, but we are a great country that is being let down by a bad government. Only the coalition can give Australia the stable and competent government that it needs.”
Abbot then used Labours’ failures to highlight the undemocraticness of the system, saying “I think the prime minister of this country should be chosen by the people and not by the faceless men. One thing is certain at the moment - the people of Australia do not own the government.” This statement would have been the most angering to the people
Additionally… We often see lost promises as a continuing trend with politicians. Campaign promises are made to excite the people and encourage them to vote for a particular party. In the end, this is seen as another way to gain power, and so politicians do their best to promise what they believe the people want.
In fact! Julia Gillard promised that she would never introduce a carbon tax….something Tony Abbot said he would, yet not long after she was elected into power did she begin plans for the carbon tax to be implemented. In July 2012, the Gillard government is set to put the carbon tax into full effect.
What does this mean for democracy?
Well… TThe fact that the opinion of the people was disregarded when it came to the carbon tax, and Julia Gillard being voted in, shows that there is a flaw in the system. CCaucusing is taking away the people’s rights to choose their government, a structural right expressed in the Section 24 of the Constitution, “directly chosen by the people.”
What does this mean?
It means that the within the past few years in particular, the ALP has been too focused on winning elections and bringing in enough new legislation to crush the opposition, that they have forgotten that their re-election depends on the will of the people. The people they have forgotten.
What is the solution?
In the upcoming election, political parties should be concentrating on making promises they can keep. They should be showing the Australian people that their vote matters, because they won’t simply caucus a new leader when they feel like it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY of_Australia of_Australia e/2012/feb/27/australia-problem-kevin- rudd-gillard e/2012/feb/27/australia-problem-kevin- rudd-gillard