The exit of the United Kingdom has led to a leadership collapse in both the Conservative and Labour parties. In the United States, two very polarized constituencies are dealing with two candidates with high negative public ratings. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton energize the bases of the other's party.
In Australia, another leadership crisis has arisen dealing with some of the same issues of a globalized economy and migration of people seeking refuge and economic opportunity - issues that roil the politics of both the U.K. and the U.S.A. Accomplished author and playwright, Stephanie McCarthy shares her take on the challenges immediately facing her county of 20 million persons, the majority of British and European heritage dealing with a a changing world. - GNH
Stephanie McCarthy Reflects....
Australians go to the polls tomorrow, and like you Americans, this vote will perhaps be more about which PM we want to see in place for the next three years, rather than which party has the best or worse policies. For me the problem is complex, because both major parties have policies I abhor or hugely admire.
A big issue for many mainstream Australians is the control of our borders which, because we are a huge island, means ‘stopping the boats’. We can trust the Liberals to do this, but not Labour and certainly not the Greens, who warble on a lot about conserving our reefs and forests etc, but also feel that Australia will somehow flourish with an endless stream of immigrants.
However, Labour is adamant that our health system must stay as it is, a system of medicare which means that if you haven’t the money to pay the doctor, you can go to a ‘bulk-billing’ clinic, and if you can’t afford to go to a private hospital, you can get treatment at a public hospital and not pay a cent. The Liberals, though they deny it, have made worrying noises about privatising Medicare, and if that happens, we’re on the road to the American system which horrifies everyone here in Oz. If you have money, you get help. If you haven’t, God help you.
Mind you, having said that, our public hospitals are groaning under the weight of sick people, and if you haven’t got private health cover you have to be almost dead before you are admitted quickly, or admitted at all. This is the result of overpopulation in a country with infrastructure (roads, hospitals,) simply not coping and factories and mines closing down all over the place.
The Greens want to get rid of coal mining, (and so say all of us clear thinking people) but they can’t seem to prove that our regular base load can come from renewables alone, and yet they have swept the idea of nuclear energy plants off the table.
My state of South Australia is far removed from tectonic plates and is one of the most geologically stable places on earth, and yet the scare tactics against nuclear, and the myths and lies, have frightened me because they are so hard to correct. It’s like trying to argue reasonably and quietly with an hysterical mob. Same with Labour – pandering to the populist view that all nuclear is bad and sweeping it off the table. BUT, Labour seems less keen on foreign ownership of our farmlands and properties and outback stations than the Libs, and most of the mainstream are extremely worried about so much of our lands and food bowls being owned by China, America, etc.
The Upper House candidate we have been letter boxing for is a man called Nick Xenophon, and his chosen team member in our electorate for the lower House. (TEAM X) Nick is a well-loved senator in this State, and because he is now Federal and not just State, he is becoming known throughout the country as genuine, trustworthy, hardworking, and all this with a lovely sense of humour.
You might have noticed I chose him to write the foreword for my book TOM PRICE – he of all the modern day pollies most reminds me of Tom. He began his political career on a ‘No Pokies’ platform because the poor people were being tempted by the wealthy clubs and pubs further and further into ruin and debt. The Libs and Laborites are now scared stiff of Nick’s team stealing many of their once-safe seats, and they’ve been digging up any little bit of dirt they can find about him and running expensive smear campaigns which I hope backfires on them. He has made a pledge never to attack the man, only the policy, so he cannot counter attack, but it just seems to make him more powerful and more popular. Not all of his policies I agree with, but these are relatively minor.
Tomorrow night as the count begins we will be up late, hearts in our mouths.
Meanwhile, Britain continues to wobble. America and Britain especially, seem to be divided into such extremes from within, that I fear there can never be even the appearance of unity again. Not a healthy scenario for the future. - Stephanie McCarthy, Australia
Comments always welcome....
July 3, 2016 - Postscript from Steph....after the vote.
Both of our major parties fear a hung parliament. What I predicted has come true. People are so fed up with both of them that they voted independents and small independent teams in, most of which say they won’t form alliances with the major parties, but will take each case/proposal/policy as it comes and make a ‘sensible’ decision. And I reckon that’s not such a bad thing.
Whoever governs will be held accountable, and both major parties will be forced to sit up and take notice of what the people are wanting and thinking. For example, one lady who has got herself back with a team this time, after she herself was exiled to the wilderness for many years and even sent to prison on a technicality, is Pauline Hanson. She once owned a fish and chip shop, and pushes her agenda plainly to the point of bluntness, and the agenda is largely anti-immigration and anti foreign ownership of Oz land. All of which once brought her a heap of mocking abuse, but she hung on in there and has made a comeback which have rocked the two major parties to their cores. So what is the message from a large number of people? We like what she’s saying even if we don’t admire the way she says it.
Interesting times.
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