American versus Australian Politics

First, this weekend is Australia’s national election. WHO WOULD HAVE KNOWN???? I have only seen two commercials on TV (although I rarely have the box on), have seen approximately 12 signs on telephone polls, and no yard signs, bumper stickers, pins, or any of the overwhelming propaganda that we see in the United States. The only reason I would know is the occasional mud slinging article in the news papers here. Australians hold their represented officials much more accountable then we do; they also require in depth plans to their promised policies which are discussed in biased newspapers (aren’t they all really).

The other major difference in American-Australian politics is the actual issues being considered. I feel in the United States, the major issues always discussed or weigh heavy on people’s hearts tend not to have a major impact on government concerns (I am having a hard time wording this). I think most people would agree that abortion and gay rights are always the two hot topics (with the exception of the war this past election) in an election and that a large amount of voters exist who allow those two issues to determine their votes. It seems in the past couple of years; the economy, foreign policy, education, taxes, the environment, and our energy policy take the back burner and sometimes do not even surface in people’s minds. I understand that people believe abortion and gay rights have an impact on society (no matter which side you agree with) and our standard of living, but if we run out of energy, start a nuclear war, or destroy the environment, does it matter that two men or two women are “married” and raising kids? I wish we would see an intellectual discussion/debate between the two parties and the general public on these major issues, not just 30 second sound bites or brief, general blurbs in written form. These often sound the exact same to one another and I usually cannot tell the difference in a Republican’s standpoint and a Democrat’s standpoint…I am now off track and will try and get back on track.

In Australia, the major issues are water (major drought), global warming (having a huge impact on Australia…the temperature and weather patterns can definitely be felt here and are officially recognized by the current government…uuhhmm USA), transportation (today a study was released classifying Australia’s transport system the worst in the world), and David Hicks (Guantanamo Bay prisoner that went uncharged for five years). There are no hot topic “morality” issues, but issues directly affecting life styles (again not insinuating abortion and gay rights do not affect people’s lives).

The one similarity is that people still do not trust politicians and are fed up with their governments.