Being stuck in the Canberra bubble and seeing how dysfunctional our political system has become, generates equal measures of disappointment and despair.
I am disappointed because the political class is failing the very people they are elected to represent. Interminable petty point-scoring passes as an excuse for political debate. Identity politics and whining victimhood statements are the primary discussion and meanwhile, Australia’s way of life goes down the gurgler.
The despair comes because there are no signs that the main players are willing to fix the obvious problems. In fact, it’s more as if they want to get together in a pact of mutual self-interest.
Let’s consider one recent example. The government promised to release a report on religious freedom when it was completed some months ago. They haven’t done so but aspects of the report were leaked by a malevolent force during the Wentworth by-election. Those leaks highlighted the freedom of independent schools to enrol, hire or retain students and teachers in accordance with their standards.
There has been no evidence that this right has been misused but because it potentially infringed upon the rights of the rainbow alphabet brigade, it was deemed an urgent matter that needed to be addressed.
Under pressure from the militants, the PM promised to fix this non-problem and Labor forced his hand by hijacking the Senate to debate the change.
Some wise heads on the crossbench pointed out that there has been no examination of the scale of any problem to determine if it is a rainbow storm in a teacup. This is usually done via Senate committee and as no one would be affected by allowing this to take place, it seems a prudent course of action.
The government thought so too, until Labor Senate Leader Penny Wong complained about her hijacking of the Senate agenda being hijacked by others – even if it is about good process. Labor bemoan reason and logic taking preference to emotion and feelings. That’s what the parliament has been reduced to.
And what was the government solution….capitulate to the whining and whinging of Labor and the Greens.
That’s why I say the political fix is in. Labor and Liberal both know that they will swap sides inside the chamber but as long as it is kept between them, they’ll act to protect each other.
It means we will have continuing failures no matter who forms government. Any differences between them will be on the margins lest they mess up the cosy duopoly.
The result will be further erosion of your freedoms, bigger government, higher taxes and ballooning debt. Immigration will continue unchecked, the cost of living will continue to rise and our way of life will be forever changed.
We can’t meekly accept that future for Australia. No matter how difficult the challenges we face, more government is not the solution. It just layers more problems on top of the existing ones. That’s because they don’t care about you, your family or the country. The major parties only care about themselves and how they can hang on to the reins of power.
For the insiders, it’s a cosy little club. For the rest of us, it’s a dangerous protection racket.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
