Earn your pay

SURVEY after survey shows that among other issues, the majority of Australians support equality in marriage, action on climate change and action on the excesses of our big banks. We pay our politicians a very healthy salary (their bases, in the range $203,000 to $529,000) to exert leadership and make decisions for our community, not to constantly look over their shoulders to the next election. The rejection, by the Senate, of the election promise of a plebiscite on the marriage issue surely releases the Coalition to forge another path. In the past, when it suited Coalition governments to change the Marriage Act or undo the Northern Territory’s euthanasia processes, there was no need to go to a plebiscite, the Parliament voted. The proposed postal vote, which won’t necessarily fairly sample the population and cost $122 million, will be non-binding on members. Senator Abetz indicated he will vote no, regardless of a postal vote or plebiscite.

Politicians should earn the money we pay them, show leadership and deal with this in Parliament, and spend the saved money paying off debt, building three or four new schools, opening closed hospital beds or making progress on much-needed fast-train tracks. Tony Abbott made me laugh when he insisted on sending the plebiscite legislation back to the Senate over and over again, as the Government must not break an election promise.

Helen Gourley

Mt Rumney