A day in the life

We need someone to move this country forward. Sadly, neither Julia or Tony have the policies to do this or a capable of doing so. This is not entirely their fault, both leaders are products of the Australian political system, which I believe is fundamentally flawed and will require serious changes before we see genuine policies that move this country forward.

There are two serious failing with our democratic system which is holding this country back:

1. Our next government will be decided on a limited few “swinging” seats
2. Lobby groups have too much influence on policy and keeping the status quo

The key seats of Bennelong, Eden-Monaro, McEwen etc. will decide this election, regardless of which party gets the majority of votes across the country. As a result, the votes of some Australians count for a lot more than the votes of others.

This has a direct impact on policy as shown with the “Illegal Boat People” debate. Take the seat of Bowman as an example which is held by the LNP by 0.01%, where the residents believe that “Illegal Boat People” is a real issue. (BTW: It’s not an issue, because 96% of asylum seekers arrive by plane, not boat and only 10-15% of boat asylum seekers are found to be non-genuine)

Lobby groups are the other key issue impacting progression in this country and come in many forms. From religious lobby groups to large industry bodies that have large financial interests to influence government policy.

These groups exist to protect their constituents and interests, which is clearly at odds with government which exists to act in the best interests of every citizen, not those of a select few. These groups are almost always opposed to change as it will have an impact on their influence or the financial interests of their members.

So, assume we had a proper system of government that was influenced only by facts and logic, rather than a few swinging seats, lobby groups and 10 second news bites, what would I like to see on the agenda?

• Genuine tax reform. The Henry Review made 138 recommendations, the government only took up 10
• A new approach to the war on drugs. Despite billions spent on policing drugs, there is no noticeable decline in drug usage or in drug related violence
• Equal rights for same sex relationships
• A halt to government support for polluting industries with the savings placed into incentives for new renewable technologies
• Investigation of innovation in the political system to leverage new technology for enhancing the democratic process
• Equal investment in the education of the next generation, regardless of class
• A sensible debate on a sustainable Australia - for both the environment and economy
• A sensible debate on population and immigration
• A massive overhaul of government processes designed to optimise for efficiency rather than expenditure