POLLIES, LEARN FROM LEGO MASTERS
THE mud-slinging, the backstabbing, the insults back and forth. Just when did our politics become so like reality TV show Married At First Sight?
We are being subjected to an extraordinarily bitter and nasty election campaign. Like MAFS, it is an oddly gripping yet nausea-inducing spectacle.
The chief protagonists, Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten, attempt to appear above the fray, but beneath them a dirty war rages.
I recently spoke to a small business owner on the Gold Coast who was horrified at the prospect that Labor might be elected, because they intended to impose a 40 per cent “death tax”. She needn’t have worried, Labor vehemently denies having any such plan. But the claim has spread like wildfire on social media with the tacit encouragement of many Liberals.
Similarly, I spoke to a teacher on the Coast who had turned against the Coalition because
$14 billion has been “cut” from the budget of public schools. Also untrue – spending has actually increased substantially in recent years. Last year budget papers had it up 9.5 per cent. But the smear has been spread by both Labor and its union supporters.
It is “fake news” writ large, changing votes, affecting an election. But it is a zero sum game. During this campaign, Mr Shorten has cried foul about “dishonest scare campaigns” regarding the likely cost of his policies. Liberals who still harbour
enormous anger about Labor’s blatantly dishonest “Mediscare” campaign during the last Federal election will have little sympathy.
There may be more serious unintended consequences. The mistruths and distortions add fuel to a raging ideological fire, imbuing hyper-partisans on both sides with the idea that their opponents are not just fellow Australians who disagree with them on policies, but dangerous extremists who must be vanquished at all costs.
It is an environment that fosters not debate, but hate.
A hate that has seen Tony Abbott have faeces delivered to his door. To Labor candidate Belinda Hassan’s car being subject of an arson attack. To Nazi imagery, including swastikas, being scrawled on the campaign posters of multiple candidates.
It may seem like typical behaviour for a reality TV obsessed, social media age, but it is dangerous for democracy.
At the very least, if fair and truthful information about the positions of political parties is hard to come by, voters can hardly be expected to make a properly informed choice.
At worst, the normalisation of such behaviour risks opening the door to ever
WHEN THE DUST SETTLES ON THIS ELECTION CAMPAIGN, THE OCCUPANT OF KIRRIBILLI HOUSE, WHETHER MR MORRISON OR MR SHORTEN, FACES AN ENORMOUS CHALLENGE.
greater extremes. Senator Fraser Anning, for one, is publishing material on his Facebook page that would have been unthinkable for any candidate until very recently.
When the dust settles on this election campaign, the occupant of Kirribilli House, whether Mr Morrison or Mr Shorten, faces an enormous challenge. To resist the more extreme voices among their own supporters and soften the ugly national mood.
Voters would do well to consider which party, and which leader, has the best chance of providing that leadership.
Hoping it can be done is, perhaps, hopelessly naive in the times we live in. But even reality TV in recent weeks has shown there can be a better way. Topping the ratings is another reality show, one that has entranced the viewing public despite exhibiting none of the melodrama or infighting normally associated with the format.
One where hard work, mateship and ingenuity win the day.
It’s a simple wish, but how good would it be if our politics was a bit less like Married At First Sight and a lot more like Lego Masters.