SEEKING REAL DEMOCRACY; Debunking the Two-Party System. Susan and Iman Safi 29 May 2021

SEEKING REAL DEMOCRACY; Debunking the Two-Party System.  Susan and Iman Safi 29 May 2021

One wonders whether Australians realise that the Constitution does not stipulate that a political party must win the majority of seats in the Lower House in order to form Government. This is a fallacy created by the major parties, not only in Australia, but in all other democracies. The political parties won’t disclose this fact as they are equal partners in crime, feathering their own and each other’s caps.

Whilst this is a global problem, Australia can pave the way in restoring true democratic processes and turn these undemocratic practices on their head.

By their own definition, these political parties give the impression that a hung parliament is a disaster.

Some voters will not vote for either party, no matter what. 

 

Some are indeed loyal, and they will consistently vote for one party regardless of any other considerations. But these are not the ones who make or break governments.

 

Another section of voters are those who swing between the two major parties, and election campaigns of the major parties try to swing them to their favour.

 

Then there is another group of voters who argue that they can see little difference between the major parties and that they are dissatisfied with both. The election campaigns focus also on this group to present to them arguments that allege that there are fundamental differences between those major parties. However, when dissecting and analyzing those claimed differences, one can clearly see that they are marginal. The parties often split hairs and argue about trivial matters when in fact both are almost identical at the core.

 

They both have the same stand on COVID and its management policies.

 

They are both supporting the so-called ‘new normal’ and all that comes with it, all the way from diluting family values to gender confusion, taking political correctness to ever increasing, often bizarre extremes and many additional ‘new normals’ that erode commonly held values and beliefs based on morality, trust and altruism.

 

They both support the Great Reset.

 

They have identical foreign policies.

 

Neither possess the sophistication required to deal with China; acting tough on one hand and pleading for good trade relationships on the other.

 

They both squander public funds, right left and centre, giving little importance to building national infrastructure which strengthens our country, politically, economically, strategically and security -wise.

 

Both, despite one claiming to have a coalition member that is rural based, ignore rural Australia, our national backbone, giving scant regard for serious and meaningful policies or a commitment to a robust agricultural sector which also provides food security, let alone national security. Both parties show a gulf of ignorance when it comes to understanding the need to develop initiatives to make rural life attractive and dynamic again.

 

This duopoly demonstrates little, if any interest in supporting local industries and generating conditions for producing far more goods locally. As a result, Australia has lost most of its industrial base and become highly dependent on imports, not befitting of a nation considered as ‘developed’, and posing as a security risk at all levels.

 

Both sell-out to any stands or commitments made should they ‘need’ to pander to the Greens, even if those policies go against their purported values and even if they are destructive to the interests of the nation. 

 

Despite the scientific community being divided over the nature of ‘climate change’, and the actual problems and solutions, both parties sing from the same hymn book and stifle any intellectually rigorous debate. Most importantly, both parties care about one thing and only one thing; getting elected and re-elected with the national interest sidelined or even betrayed. 

 

The above examples just touch on some of the congruencies of a political culture that presents itself as offering alternatives but really are in bed together and concerned only for the few.

It is clear from the above, that a vote for either the Coalition or the ALP will not change any of the above bipartisan policies. So, if Australians want change, they must keep in mind that a vote for a major party is a wasted vote.

 

When Don Chipp established the Australian Democrats as a third party, his objective/slogan was to ‘keep the bastards honest’. After the Greens hijacked his voter-base, together with bad management issues within the Democrats’ leadership, resulting in the party’s demise, the Greens became the third political force and often the holders of the balance of power. However, instead of the Greens adhering to the values of keeping government accountable, the reverse is occurring, and one can say that in many cases The Greens are keeping the bastards dishonest.

 

Returning to the subject of hung Parliaments; a hung Parliament is in fact a great democratic win for the people. It is a manifestation that screams of the voter-base being dissatisfied with both parties. It is indeed a disaster, but only for the self-appointed custodians of duopoly; the two major parties. 

 

Recently, we have seen many election wins based on a one seat majority. It is a travesty of justice to see that the actual will of the majority, if this is what democracy is all about, is decided by one seat; especially if this seat was won by a few preferential votes.

 

It is time to turn the tables around; and not only on the Coalition and the ALP and deliver them hung Parliaments. It is time to turn the tables around on the Greens as well. Why should they be allowed to continue to hold the balance of power in their deceptive dance with the big powers. We should prevent both major parties from getting more than 50% majority, hence ending their game and scam.

 

The major political parties have created a loophole in the Western system of democracy, and it is a farce and a tragedy. It results in a fair percentage of decent, level-headed Australians from all walks of life, left dis-empowered, unrepresented and disenfranchised in a rotten political system. 

 

Australians deserve proper representation in Parliament. The silent majority need to speak out, be heard, and have their vote count in a meaningful way and not vote half-heartedly on the basis of giving No.1 on the ballot paper to the party that is least harmful.