Lesson on democracy from the Australian federal elections 2010

I have just voted in the the Australian federal election 2010 which is currently underway. Based on the confirmed voting trend by the Electoral Commission it is most likely that there will be a hung federal parliament.

There are 150 seats in the House of Representatives so that an absolute majority is 76. The way things are going it would appear that the incumbent Labour government and the opposition Coalition ( between the Liberal and National Party ) will get 73 for Labour, 72 for the Coalition , 3 or 4 for independent candidates ( who are break-away members of the National Party mainly representing rural Queensland interest ) plus 1 or 2 for the Green Party ( the environmental protection party with international connection to all Green Parties worldwide ).

With no clear majority for either the incumbent Labour or the opposition Coalition parties either of them can only form a new government if the independent elected members agree to go into another ruling coalition with either major party. This will take a lot of horse trading because the Governor General will only swear in a coalition government after the minor members ( in this case the independents ) of that coalition have first entered into a charter with the main coalition party to ensure that the new government is a stable and workable governing team. So, the 3 or 4 independent elected members of parliament will have a decisive say to make a new ruling coalition a possibility. This could be a long drawn out process.

Political technicality aside, this election has already proven that the incumbent Labour government is suffering from a severe backlash from some failed policies as well as the dramatic and perhaps sinister circumstances surrounding the sudden change of the former Labour Party leader, Kevin Rudd in late June, 2010. Many voters see the last event as the result of Labour Party power brokers calling the shots by ousting the originally popular former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd through internal party dirty politics. So much so that the press has dubbed Mr. Rudd's sudden resignation from office a political assassination of the former Prime Minister.

Out of this political high drama emerged the first woman Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard in late June. At first it was hailed by society as well as staunch supporters of the equality of the sexes as a great victory for Australian society which is still male dominant. This euphoria quickly died down and the press started talking about the present female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard's role in the political assassination. It transpired that when Kevin Rudd's popularity poll nose dived in May and June after a few failed policies ( to be discussed below ) culminating in the proposed introduction of the 65% super tax on Australian mining companies to fill in the incumbent Labour government's huge deficit black hole Julie Gilliard had made a personal undertaking to Kevin Rudd to support him in his imminent party leadership challenge. This highly confidential arrangement was probably exposed by the Rudd camp in retaliation of the so-called back-stabbing by Julia Gillard.

The allegation of political assassination is well supported by some hard circumstantial evidence. Just 3 days before Julia Gillard became the Labour Party leader upon Rudd's sudden departure she was publicly talking to the press that it was more likely for her to be going to Mars than becoming the next Australian Prime Minister implying that she was not going to challenge Rudd's leadership. It was further alleged that on the evening of the day before Mr. Rudd's sudden resignation Gillard had reassured Rudd again that she would not challenge Rudd at the Labour Party central committee meeting the next day. Within 2 hours of that pledge and after receiving several phone calls from Labour Party power brokers advising Gillard that she had enough committee member votes as canvassed by the brokers to replace Rudd , Gillard called Rudd to advise that she had enough votes to replace him. To avoid an open showdown and preserve the image of party unity in the face of a looming election Rudd was forced to resign forthwith.

This scenario has proved that the Labour Party power brokers can remove the incumbent Prime minister at will regardless of the Australian voters' choices that would have been manifested in the forthcoming election. Furthermore, the personal integrity of Gillard was called into question as she had openly expressed to the press that she would not become Prime Minister by challenging Rudd a few days before she got the job on the behest of the power brokers.

Kevin Rudd did have a lot to do with his own downfall. The final straw came with the proposed super tax on mining companies. Prior to this, the spending rot on the failed 10 billion plus roof insulation scheme and solar panels rebate project that had led to 5 under skilled roof insulation workers being electrocuted and numerous house fires resulting from improper installation work had taken their toll. How could it be possible to properly train enough skilled workers to install insulation properly in over 1.5 million homes in a few short months ? The blame was put on the former environment minister, Peter Gerrard, a past member of the pop music band Midnight Oil.

Then, there was the complete waste of another few billion dollars on rebuilding school facilities many of which are not yet due for redevelopment. It has been reported that some schools are forced to rebuild their facilities against their protest and some had to close classes early in the school year to enable reconstruction to start right away in line with the incumbent Labour government's crash plans to support the economy by creating numerous job in the face of the 2008 financial tsunami no matter what. This is a highly irresponsible attitude which is all geared to the empty fame of becoming the only economy in the developed world to avoid recession. This is so typical of politicians to get their names in the history book at the expense of the ordinary, honest & hard-working citizens. When I see single mothers at the supermarket check-outs returning candy bars meant for the kids and cutting their basic necessities due to the shortage of just one or two dollars I simply jump in anger for the tremendously irresponsible wastes such as the above spending rots not to mention the huge army of the entourage of some 130 members ( including a personal official photographer for Kevin Rudd ) at the Copenhagen World Environment Summit in 2009 bearing in mind that even the USA contingent was smaller than that of Australia. In the face of such sheer waste of taxpayers' dollars, Rudd's downfall ( most probably due to his easy win against John Howard of the former Coalition government back in November, 2007 that has gotten to his head ) is inevitable. Power corrupts and intoxicates. I see few exceptions in politics. Other examples of self-destructive egos can be seen in John Howard and even Margaret Thatcher.

Coming back to the working of the democratic process I am glad to say that it is alive and kicking in my adopted country which I reluctantly accepted due to the the June 4, Tiananmen Massacre and the totalitarian regime in my homeland. According to the latest reports there has been a swing of over 400,000 ( about 3% of voters ) of the primary votes from Labour to the Coalition. However, this should not be construed as the Coalition's success but rather a protest vote because the Coalition has no better offer in terms of policies. I originally plan to cast a blank ballot paper but on second thought that would be dodging my responsibility as a voter. So, I voted for the Green Party instead with the hope of getting a hung parliament which is the way things are heading. Whoever forms the next coalition government cannot have an absolute majority and absolute say in terms of their own party policies. That will be a check and balance on any ruling government run on inflated egos. Democracy means holding your government accountable and I am glad that citizens can still do that effectively in Australia. The great saying of President Abraham Lincoln still rings loud in our ears : - " No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent . "

The readers' comments and inputs are warmly welcome !


JKHC

( 22/8/10 at 12.45 a.m. Australian East Coast Standard Time )