Welcome to this week’s editorial,
The election hasn’t been called but you wouldn’t know it. Across the media the Prime Minister is on the hustings and the campaign is well under way to promote his Blue team and to denigrate anyone else who might want to stand against him.
The tactics are already pretty poor. Trucks with placards showing the Chinese leader voting for Labor are apparently allowable by the Australian Electoral Commission on the proviso that the box has a “1” in the box and not a “tick” that might inadvertently advise someone to a vote that would be deemed informal.
One would hope that any politician standing for Parliament was required to be truthful and honest in their campaign and accountable to a governing body such as the Australian Electoral Office. But it turns out that the Australian Electoral Commission has no power to limit the spread of misinformation because the AEC is bound by the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, which does not cover the actual content of political advertising.
The AEC was made aware this week that the Queensland Liberal National Party had acquired the domain name of albanese.com.au and redirected the domain to the Liberal Party website. This is illegal. But the AEC couldn’t do anything and it was left to the controllers of .com.au domain names to act, pulling down the website.
In coming weeks the shire will be littered with corflutes, as was the case during the last State election. You could protest to the AEC but they will simply flick it back.
It has long been considered that politicians are not to be trusted. There are endless jokes made about them and a trillion anecdotes that offer up stories of politicians lying, feathering their own nest, feathering their friends nest and basically looking after their own self interest rather than representing the electorate.
Unfortunately, in the melee we are witnessing in the leadup to the election being called, the voices of good people are not being heard. There are worthy candidates to represent us fairly in parliament. Intelligent well-serving people who believe that they can make a difference to lives and willing to stand and make our voices heard.
Sadly these good people do not have the millions of dollars being thrown around by the current government, hell bent on blowing smoke up their own bottoms. Instead they door knock, they appear at fetes and markets and walk the main streets of our towns.
Come election day we must consider our vote carefully and weigh that vote with Integrity, Truthfulness, Willingness and the reality of what might be promised against what can be met.
For too long we have been governed by politicians who become masters of double speak. They have become unaccountable and excel in weasel words and failed promises. Our society however relies on the system of democracy where we vote for our leaders.
Maybe this time around we might make the effort to weed out the liars, the self servers, the connivers, the mediocre, and instead vote in those who represent who we are and understand what we need as a community and a country to at least survive with dignity.
Until next lei
