Is Australia a nation of lazy voters?
This is a question that was posed on the OzPolitcs blog in relation to political polls and the interpretation of poll results.
Well it got me to thinking that maybe in some ways we are.
Do we rely too much on the media for information upon which to base our voting decisions?
Who we give the nod to, to look after our interests in Canberra in federal elections, and our various state governments, are probably amongst the most important decisions we have to make on a reoccuring basis. Do we make those decisions too lightly? Are we equiped with the best impartial information from which to make our value judgements?
I started thinking, do we as a voting population in a western democracy actually posess a sufficient general knowledge of our systems of government? The answer that hit me was no. What could we do to change this situation? The answer that hit me was Education.
If we introduced politics in a general conceptual form from the earliest age that our kids were capable of assimilating that knowledge, I reckon that:
- We would all benefit from a more knowledgable population,
- Elected governments would have strengthened mandates to carry out their electoral programs,
- It would result in a greater degree of consensus in parliament,
- Less valuable parliamentary debating time would be wasted with useless name calling and oneupmanship, and
- There would be less need for expensive government media advertising.
At the very least, a politically savvy, educated population would be better equipped to make those very important decisions every 3 years or so.
That’s my take on the subject. What’s yours?
December 9, 2006
Industry, what industry?
The new opposition leader has indicated that Australia’s now nearly defunct manufacturing industry will be the target of some sort of renewed focus. I would contend that his approach is only about 30 years too late!
For those that either don’t know, or don’t remember, Australia is a signatory to the International Lima Convention. What is the Lima Convention? Well basically the Lima Convention effectively signed over Australia’s manufacturing rights to up and coming so called 3rd. World Countries like China.
Who would have been mad enough to do this? Yet another right wing visionary – Malcolm Fraser.
Australia’s manufacturing industries have been systematically run down, priced out of the market place, or have been moved to these 3rd. World Countries that presumably Fraser felt were more deserving of having a manufacturing industry than Australia.
This is a matter of history. It can’t be undone! The Lima Convention is an International Treaty of which we are a signatory and as such can’t be renigged upon.
What can we do now?
Well for starters, we must look at what exactly we are doing now, what we are good at doing now, what we are capable of doing now and what we must do in the future.
Water, we’re surrounded by the stuff and it’s called the ocean, but the BIG problem is that it can’t be used. Fresh water in Australia has become the new precious commodity. So what exactly are we doing with this precious resource? Well we are insanely growing two of the most water intensive and water wasteful crops in the known universe! Rice and Cotton.
70% of water stored and used in the production of cotton, and approx. 75% of all water stored and used in the production of rice evapourates to fall as rain over the afore mentioned ocean! Insanity!
Well that sort of insanity couldn’t possibly be happening right? Wrong! It is!
If Rudd is serious about Australia’s manufacturing capability he must turn around years of neglect and downright dumb decisions that have been the legacy of BOTH sides of politics in Australia, and look to the future.
Australians have always been per capita the most inovative bunch of people on the planet. Pick just about any field of endevour, and you will find an Australian at the forefront of research and development in that field. Take Solar Research for instance. Rudd has to turn around the deliberate and sustained starvation of funding for research that have been the hallmark of the Howard Government’s approach to supporting Australian inovation. The number of brilliant men and women working in the field of Solar research that have been snapped up by overseas countries and companies that DO recognise Solar’s potential, is astounding to say the least.
When will the Howard Government realise that which has become patently obvious to multi-national companies around the world including BP, that solar energy is the future, and start a concerted effort to keep our brilliant researchers in Australia to benefit Australians with both export income and employment!
We might not be able to do anything about the stupidity of being a signatory of the Lima Convention, but we CAN do something about the stupidity of the Howard Government virtually dismissing the Australian Solar Industry.
WB
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