Missing the points

It is clear that consideration of morality is lacking in this federal election. There are two outstanding matters, neither being properly addressed by the media or the two major parties. The first is the imprisonment and torture of asylum seekers. Kevin Rudd declared that any who arrived by boat would never be allowed in and would be subject to offshore detention, which translates as “prison somewhere out of sight”. The Labor Party allowed the outsourcing of responsibility and tried to keep us citizens ignorant of the effects. When the other party got in, the mantra “stop-the-boats” was used to justify the continuation of imprisonment and mistreatment (and torture) but not a sensible naval presence. The responsibilities of imprisonment were again outsourced to foreign countries and foreign companies. We recently saw their attempts to deny medical attention. The second matter is the dithering about climate change. Both parties dumped leaders who dared to act. The use of renewable sources of energy is now cheaper and less polluting than the old methods, despite the efforts of vested interests to stop development. But the inaction continues, with “The Economy” being the centrepiece of arguments against sensible action about carbon.

This is, again, a moral failure by both “parties”, because it neglects the wellbeing of humanity into the future. In both matters, Australia is in conflict with United Nations conventions and international agreements. Both parties have made Australia a bad citizen, denying our responsibilities to the world of humans, and the actual planet. The upshot is, if a citizen has any moral sense, they should not give their first or second voting preference to the Labor or Liberal–National candidate in their electorate. Remember that such a candidate, if elected, must act as the party directs. If citizens voting against the two big parties means Australia gets a hung parliament or minority government, all the better. Moral aspects might then be considered by some nonparty, independent crossbenchers whose support is needed.

– Warren Brisley, Dorrigo, NSW