Singing the praises of people power
“When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!” — Do You Hear The People Sing?,
Les Miserables
IF there’s any good to come from the federal election campaign it’s that we’re inside the final month. Thank heaven for small mercies.
It is staggering to think how much — energy, money, time, newspaper column centimetres, airtime — will be expended on this election.
The Australian Electoral Commission alone is setting aside $300 million for what it is tipping to be the largest poll in Australian history.
Parties of all sizes and on all wavelengths of the political spectrum will be seeking that one thing that gives them the edge, that key to winning the popular vote.
Clive Palmer went early with an entirely forgettable theme song and rapid fire sentences. In his TV spots. That didn’t always. Seem to make sense. Or contain syntax.
Pauline Hanson continues to blame a media conspiracy and selective editing for the unsavoury remarks that apparently came out of her mouth and those of a couple of her One Nation deputies. The PM and Opposition Leader seem to be keeping their powder dry as they search for a way to win the hearts, minds and voting slips of everyday Australians. The truth is they’ve seen what moves people — twice in the past week alone — and know they are powerless to tap into it. One of the most stirring images in the wake of the Notre Dame cathedral fire was people spontaneously singing songs of prayer like Ave Maria as they gathered helplessly to watch it burn. And then there is Winx. Her farewell tour galvanised thousands of people to get to a racecourse who perhaps would otherwise not have been there. All for the chance to see history being written for themselves.
She had the adoration and adulation that any MP would kill for. And there were no longwinded speeches, no promises that would be seemingly forgotten almost as soon as they were uttered.
Someone somewhere — where there is not enough natural light and too much caffeine — is probably working out how to get Winx the No.2 spot on a House of Representatives ticket before nominations close at noon next Tuesday. Just in case.