As a child of the 80s I’m surrounded by friends who will routinely throw out the old TV advertising line “But wait! There’s more!!” to indicate they are expecting some other gem to drop from the mouth of the person speaking.
With just over 21 days until our next federal election, I’m pretty sure that line is going to be well used as both major parties try and sweeten their electorate appeal by offering all of us opportunities to benefit financially.
Already we are seeing promises abound, from the Coalition’s pledge to introduce a $20bn regional Australia future fund to Anthony Albanese’s pledge to commit $10m to education and tourism funding for the Great Barrier Reef.
But as the dollars seemingly rain down, I can’t help but wonder: how much do the party pundits think a vote is worth these days? And if we buy what they are selling, how can we be sure what was promised will actually be delivered?
It was American president Bill Clinton who said: “It’s no wonder Americans hate politics when, year in and year out, they hear politicians make promises that won’t come true because they don’t even mean them – campaign fantasies that win elections but don’t get nations moving again.”
In this context, I wonder if we would all be better placed if those who wish to “rule” us made promises about how they would wield that power in ways that go well beyond just how they intend to spend our tax dollars.
If you’re going to sell us anything, let it be a vision of our country that might take 10 years to achieve and may involve some personal sacrifice along the way, but which would ultimately ensure our kids are able to live in the homes they want, do the jobs they aspire to, have the families they imagine, all in a beautiful and healthy environment.
In the absence of that, our media continues to report each day on political promises made at both the national and local level which frequently involve little more than the blunt instrument of cash.
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Whether it’s sports facilities or equipment for clubs it seems the major parties believe that they can avoid the difficult conversation around where we are headed and what sort of nation we want to be – as long as, like a parent trying to distract a wayward child, they offer something sweet.
This really hit home for me recently as I listened to an interview with the member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, who is seeking to be returned by his electorate in South Australia.
It appeared that he was simply repeating the promises he had made to his community back in the 2022 election.
When challenged as to why he hadn’t delivered on those promises, his response was along the lines of: well, you didn’t put my party into government!
And therein lies the rub. Surely MPs should not commit funding for projects in their community on a basis that is predicated on their party winning government. If you promise it, you should be able to deliver it. And if you don’t deliver it, you should not expect to be returned.
As the dust settles on the first debate between the current two major-party leaders, what hits me is the fact that bringing that level of “transactional” promise-making into our election process has actually weakened our democracy. Instead of seeking to inspire us with promises of bold long-term visions, our leaders sink to seeing who can throw what at whom and, as any parent will tell you, that sort of sugar eventually wears off and the come down can be brutal.
Those who wish wield the power of our government in our next parliament should be asked much deeper questions on how they intend to tackle the truly existential threats we face as a nation: such as climate change, continued violence against women, the breakdown of our social cohesion, the high rates of distress of young people and the extraordinary level of poverty across our nation. Because, quite honestly, my vote is worth far more than anything currently being offered and should never be for sale.
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