We can handle the truth
WHILE most professions require some sort of legal certification to practise their trade, it seems that the main qualification in being a politician is the ability to lie.
All American presidents from WW2 through to Richard Nixon have lied to either Congress or the people (or both) as attested in the Pentagon Papers. In more recent times, George W. Bush lied about Iraq and Donald Trump has lied about – well, almost everything.
Back home, many of our prime ministers have been strangers to the truth. Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and Turnbull have all allegedly been caught out uttering untruths.
Even closer to home, Queensland Premiers Beattie, Newman and Palaszcuk are accused members of the pork pie brigade and Rob Pyne painfully but dutifully exposed dishonesty even within the ranks of local government.
It doesn’t have to be like this. There are plenty of good people out there whose self-interest is irrelevant to themselves. People who have a determined fair-mindedness about them do exist. Just look at Sarah Ferguson and Noel Pearson, for example, and there are others like them.
Each Australian of the Year nominations list will identify empathetic leaders. These people must be encouraged to take a role in the leadership of society. Then we may get a leader we deserve. Lindsay Ross, Freshwater