It’s been less a week. Less than a week into the election and I am completely sick of it. Actually – sadly enough – I’m pretty sure we’re all sick of it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love politics. I love engaging in debates about issues and political theory and I am truly passionate about who will lead our country for the next three years. I’m really passionate about ensuring it is the right people and I will spend the next weeks campaign hard to ensure that is the case. The issues at stake in this campaign aren’t just important, but they are essential to our future.
But god it has been an awful week. We’ve seen two more than ridiculous front covers from the Daily Telegraph. Yesterday’s (the Hogan Heroes cover) attack on the ALP was all because apparently because having a beer with a former colleague is the worst of all sins. It seems like we’ve all decided it’s a sin, but no one has the capacity to say why. Well, I guess Christopher Pyne did – according to him Albanese and Thomson were potentially discussing deals for the next hung Parliament. Because yes, they would do that in a pub where they can be photographed. And then there was the hair sniffing incident (to be fair I tweeted about that), and of course the hair flicking. Our future Deputy Prime Minister said that she was worried about our Prime Minister’s ‘state of mind’. And of course, we had the articles that tried to create controversy because Kevin Rudd apparently avoided traveling to Lindsay yesterday because of a gaffe by the local member. Hey, we even have a page now where we can look at all the gaffes of the past, as if they are really important. And, and don’t forget the incessant Tweeting yesterday from politicians and journalists alike, commenting that the election of Peter Beattie into the House of Representatives will create future leadership tensions for the ALP from day one. It seemed like tension between Beattie and Rudd was the only thing we could talk about.
Fucking hell, what an awful week.
I think we’re all sick of it. I know so many people who have just had enough. I have never seen a community that is so despondent, and I think we all feel it. Predictions of the percentage of people who will vote informally are sky high. And it’s not that people have stopped caring – I’m pretty sure we all still care. But we are all just sick of the ridiculous trivia – whether it is politicians spending all their attacking each other, or the media spending all their time talking about leadership tensions, hair sniffing and beers with former colleagues.
But do you know what I am sick of more? The excuses. We all, politicians, journalists and public alike know that there is something wrong here. We all know that people have had enough. That we’ve lost the essential focus on policy. That we’ve lost the debate we need. Yet we all blame someone else.
Just have a look at the politicians. In 2010 it was Tony Abbott who said that we need to have a ‘kinder, gentler polity’. Yes, the same Tony Abbott who spent the last three years attacking Julia Gillard (in particular) for everything under the sun – the most negative campaign I have ever seen. The vitriol has been shocking. Coming back into power Kevin Rudd called out for young people to get back engaged into politics, and when he announced the election called out Tony Abbott for his negative campaigning. The same ALP that has a stream of negative attack ads at the top of their Youtube account.
But it’s worse than that – for years politicians have been complaining about the media coverage – that they simply don’t get the coverage of the policy that they so desparately put out. Our former Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner even wrote a book about it (I haven’t read it). Yes, the same politicians (obviously not Lindsay Tanner) who spent years attacking Craig Thomson, Peter Slipper and Julia Gillard’s dealings with the AWU. The same politicians who just spent the last three years infighting incessantly over leadership.
But journalists, you’re not going to get off scott free. We’ve heard it a lot in the past few years – the cuts, and deadlines, and increasing pressure have all made journalism extremely difficult. And I have no doubt that this is the case. Journalism is not an easy job.
Well do you know what? No one forced you to all spend a significant amount of questions on Wednesday, and newspaper inches yesterday on a casual beer. No one forced you write articles about Beattie’s and Rudd’s potential leadership tensions instead of what sort of experience Beattie may bring to a future Government. You may have been given the leaks from politicians, but nobody forced you to write and/or publish articles continuing speculation on the ALP’s, and more recently the Coalition’s, leadership. And even though there is a lot of policy detail to cover, and I appreciate the time constraints, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask questions. Hey, the Business Spectator have already developed a list of climate change policy questions you could ask Tony Abbott. How about we start with those? I’m sure we could all work together to develop some more.
And to the public. I’m sick of it. You’re sick of it. We’re all sick of it. But that doesn’t mean we have to give up. It’s about time we all started to demand better. It’s about time we stopped, said ‘no’, and demanded a new way (to steal an election slogan). And we can do it. There are plenty of politicians who don’t engage in the mud slinging and genuinely care about policy (these politicians comes from all parties). Maybe we could vote them in? There are plenty of journalists and news sites as well who are genuinely focused on the issues – I reckon we could start paying them more attention and giving up on the others.
It can be easy just to give up. I know I feel like it. But instead we need to demand better. It is the only option we have.