It’s now just over two weeks since the Federal Election was called, and last night, nominations closed.
I don’t think that it is just me – it seems that virtually everyone does not care two hoots about this election.
The level of apathy appears to be much higher than I have ever noticed (or not noticed) before.
I guess that there are a few reasons for this.
One is that traditional news media – in the form of television news and newspapers – is dying out. I for one do not own a TV anymore, and do not bother watching the TV news at all. Nor do I bother buying or reading a physical newspaper very often (I do read it on those days when I visit the Savage Club, as I did yesterday – where they offer The Age, The Herald-Sun, The Australian, and The Australian Financial Review).
I don’t think that I am unique in my attitude to the news anymore. Instead of watching the news on TV, I might just relax on my couch with my tablet and stream some Netflix, totally news free. I do subscribe to The Age online, but I mostly just skim that or the ABC News website. Nor do I bother with the Newscorp site much, unless I want an update on celebrity gossip.
Indeed, unless something relates to the share market (where my eyes are constantly turning), I don’t really bother much with news.
Another factor in the apathy is that this election is that involving a first term government. The last time a first term government lost an election was Mr Scullin during the Great Depression. That in itself was what Nick Taleb might call a ‘Black Swan’ event.
The Albanese government has not exactly set the world on fire – it has been very slow and bland, unlike the dynamic and sometimes turbulent first terms of previous Labor Prime Ministers after winning an election (who can forget Mr Whitlam, Hawke, or even the somewhat deranged Rudd?). But in being slow and bland, it has only made one misstep – the Voice referendum. It’s defeat makes people like me a little more reassured that Albo will not stick his neck out with other more radical constitutional referenda, such as proposing a Republic (I am a staunch monarchist after all).
So the current government has not really upset anyone, and as I do not bother reading Coalition campaign materials too closely, I am struggling to find anything in particular which Albanese has done wrong. Indeed, the revised tax cuts benefit me, as a self funded retiree, a bit more than what the Coalition offers.
A third issue is the lack of reformist zeal or actual policy on the part of either side. As I have mentioned above, Albanese is leading a very bland government which has done very little. This is unique in peacetime Labor governments, all of which have previously striven for radical and courageous change. Aside from some minuscule tax cuts which will benefit most tax payers equally, I cannot see much on offer. Where are the big ideas?
Dutton, as opposition leader, is not offering much of an alternative. His big idea is to softly talk up the idea of some constitutional referenda, including one to give Federal Ministers the power to strip certain dual nationals of their Australian citizenship if they are terrorists. That idea is definitely not liberal in its origins, and does remind me more than a bit of Bob Menzies’ most illiberal attempt to ban the Communist Party in the early 1950s.
Red baiting might have been electoral gold then, but it did not convince citizens to support rewriting the Constitution to ban the communists – people are rather skeptical of giving government too much power to abuse. Dutton dog whistling about Islamic terrorists might appeal to a small part of the electorate, but to me, it is a disturbing attempt to open the door for some very draconic laws unfitted to an Anglo-phonic democracy.
So here we are, with an election which we do not really care about, and parties whom we do not respect or admire.
Is it any wonder that the major parties are losing primary vote?
And should we, as citizens, be more worried about all of this?
I would be – but at the moment, sadly, I don’t give a damn.
Lost For Words! 