BRUCE C WEARNE reflects on the ousting of Julia Gillard, the return of Kevin Rudd and what recent events reveal about the state of federal politics…
Despite all the kerfuffle in the ALP parliamentary leadership change, we should not forget that government of this federal polity, for which all citizens are accountable, is a God-given duty.
Our political system may be wobbly and this latest wobble may in fact be just another political distraction that too easily makes citizens cynical about their political responsibilities. But the challenge of Micah stands, as it always has, and this word comes particularly to us as followers of Jesus: “He has shown you clearly enough, oh man, oh woman! What does the Lord require of you? Just to get busy doing justice, lovingly embracing kindness and proceeding down the humble path with your God! (Micah 6:8)”
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Parliament House, Canberra. PICTURE: David Adams “The Australian Labor Party and the Coalition…need to find some coherent political commitment that can then be given form in a genuine party that seeks to have their elected representatives accountable to electors. Political life in western “liberal” democracies simply gives too much room to a view of the political party as an electoral machine. These machines may try to justify their existence by “getting things done” in Parliament, but they effectively undermine the political morale of the citizens.” |
Any thought that this crisis is merely an ALP party problem, is to misread the situation. But here, let us consider what this crisis tells us, from a Christian standpoint. What is the state of parliamentary democracy in our country?
Here we see the confusion that results from an attempt to marry pragmatism and neo-liberalism. In our context it is the ALP which has been the political harbinger of neo-liberalism, and meanwhile the Liberal-National Coalition has developed as the pragmatic “we can fix the economy” party. The mish-mash of ALP liberalismparading as “progressive” and Coalition pragmatismparading as “conservative” is part and parcel of the political confusion that confronts us.
But how are we to properly understand what is going on in our political life? We do not experience this crisis in democratic governance on our own. The well-known Christian journalist for the Washington Post, Michael Gerson, has written an opinion piece for the Post, “The GOP’s leadership reform challenge”.Gerson puts forward an argument that may have resonance with many struggling with Labor’s seeming endless confusion about itself. Gerson says that the GOP needs its own Bill Clinton or Tony Blair who will help it erect a “Big Tent” and avoid falling into the narrowing political vision of UK conservative David Cameron.
In Australia, it may be from the other side of politics (that is, the left) but we also hear these kinds of “Oh for a large enough tent!” sentiments here, and this has been on display in Labor’s two most recent leadership changes. When Kevin Rudd was initially deposed he stood aside, giving his support to the party after caucus had expressed its preference for his replacement. Likewise, Julia Gillard, in accepting the decision of her colleagues, bowed to the will of the caucus to help maintain Labor’s “big tent”. Both of them have now shown their allegiance to the traditional Labor view that all elected members under the ALP banner “must be united in caucus solidarity”.
We can concede their genuine concern for their “side” of politics. Both of them, as well as their colleagues, hold out the hope that their beloved party can rediscover themselves as “a big tent”. But just what is this “tent”? Just what is this “broad church”? Would it be that Julia, the lion tamer of the parliamentary circus, has now given way to Kevin the evangelist? There are actually competing views within Labor as to what the “tent” is, and now it would seem that the only thing left holding Labor together is a commitment to a vanishing ideal of party-unity. This they hope will help to convince a confused electorate that the ALP merits electoral endorsement.
Michael Gerson’s argument is that the GOP should recapture the Reaganite vision of building an ideological “big tent”. This, he suggests, will give the “right” a greater prospect for maintaining ongoing political stability, in other words from right-of-centre. And if a Christian view is only ever a matter of accommodating a political system in which not only parliamentary representation but also political conviction is replaced by a constant eye on the number of Facebook “likes”, successful interest-group brokerage and the dominance of electoral machines calling themselves parties, then yes for those Christians that will appear to be a most sensible path.
But the question is this: should such an accommodation be part of a Christian political option? Or could it be, as Micah suggests, that there is a path to public justice waiting for us to walk by our organised political action? It might be said that such accommodation should be avoided for the long-term. But let’s get serious about what such accommodation in the short-term means? Is it not effectively to ask the Lord Himself to wait a little until we can gain some popular support for our political obedience, until our Facebook page registers sufficient “likes”?
The fact that both the ALP and the Liberal-National Coalition attempt to include all shades of political opinion under their respective “big tents” is presumptuous and has become ridiculous. They should instead take note of how they, as parties, have squandered their historical power as well as the public monies that continues to pour into their coffers for electioneering. They have simply failed to engage in coherent political argument, and the much needed public education about the political responsibility of citizens in our federated commonwealth that should be required if they are to receive such funding for their campaigning. The Australian Labor Party and the Coalition, don’t need stronger stakes to keep the sides of their expansive tents from flapping in the twittering breeze. They need to find some coherent political commitment that can then be given form in a genuine party that seeks to have their elected representatives accountable to electors. Political life in western “liberal” democracies simply gives too much room to a view of the political party as an electoral machine. These machines may try to justify their existence by “getting things done” in Parliament, but they effectively undermine the political morale of the citizens.
Our democracy exhibits a kind of parliamentary supremacy that is continually beholden to the supremacy of parliamentary parties over their own rank and file membership and their own party’s platform. This won’t be checked without disciplined political party policy formation and public education that seeks to persuade all citizens about the demands of public justice. Micah 6:8 is an excellent place to start a fundamental rethink.
