CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - FEBRUARY 26: Barnaby Joyce (front centre) watches on during Question Time at Parliament House on February 26, 2018 in Canberra, Australia. Veterans Affairs Minister Michael McCormack was voted in as the new leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia in a party room ballot held this morning. The position was vacated by former National Party leader Barnaby Joyce who resigned last week. (Photo by Michael Masters/Getty Images)
Parliament by some accounts is the embodiment of the sovereignty of the people.
In older epochs, emperors, kings, shahs, maharajahs, tsars, and pharaohs were the embodiment of sovereignty in their lands. Absolute rule with advice from the court or imperial council was the norm.
Now, most countries have some form of parliament in place with voting to choose those entrusted with the sovereignty. There are countries like Saudi Arabia which is an absolute monarchy that have a feudal version of parliament (Consultative Assembly) which cannot make laws.
The transition from feudal absolute rule to parliamentary system with universal suffrage has been long and painful. At first it was the landed gentry and property owners (men) who had the right to vote and be elected. At the start of the 20th century in Australia, men and women were given the right to vote in state and federal elections. This was the result of the Eureka rebellion and constant struggle by people for a voice in government. But note, the right to vote was not extended to all First Nations people in Australia until 1962.
It wasn’t until 1927, when (white) women were given the vote in the USA. However African-Americans were systematically excluded from voting in many states and localities by Jim Crow laws. This situation exists to this day with many local obstructions for enrolment and voting with what Bob Carr calls it “voter suppression”. More importantly it makes it difficult for workers, as voting is on Tuesday (a working day) with 6-8-hour queues and onerous voter registration requirements. Others are disenfranchised because of lack of identity documentation or if they have served time in prison.
In Australia, politics is focussed through the lens of parliamentary politics and politicians and all that is generated by federal, state or local politics. Their images and soundbites dominate the media.
Despite this exposure, politicians and their parties are held in low esteem by the people and the level of trust finds new depths. Nobody willingly, wants to shake their hands and the endless polls provides endless negative feedback.
For decades, academics and commentators have tried to understand this phenomenon. It is complex task to untangle all the threads. One issue is political corruption and where do you start. The infamous names of Bjelke -Petersen, Askin, Eddie Obeid, Ian Macfarlane, Maguire-Berejiklian and come to mind.
More subtle forms of corruption favoured by the ruling class is by appointment to the board.
Alexander Downer , Howard’s foreign minister joined the board of Woodside Petroleum, after he retired from Federal Parliament. This came hard on the heels of extracting a grossly unfair treaty with Timor Leste over maritime boundary rights in the Timor Sea. The prize was oil and gas fields. Downer used ASIS spies to listen to Cabinet meetings of the Timor Leste government while boundary negotiations were underway.
Needless to say, that Woodside was the prime winner. Timor Leste is rebuilding after 300 years of Portuguese colonialism and Indonesian occupation. It is ranked 133rd in the Human Development Index. (53% of the people live on less than $1.25 a day).
Extensive information about the countless ex-politicians appointed to the boards can be found at www.michaelwest.com.au/revolving-doors/
As well as open corruption and the corporate golden handshake of joining the board. The other stinking disparity is the fact that the background of present-day politicians does not reflect gender, class or the broad range occupations of the Australian people. Ex-staffers (LNP 49% and ALP 55%), party hacks and businessmen make up the majority of members of parliament.
Gone are days of former PM Ben Chifley, ex-engine driver or Mick Young ex-shearer. It’s a cesspit of self-serving careerists. People enrich themselves in parliament late. Ex-ACTU president and late PM Hawke 1983-91 died a millionaire. He wasn’t the first nor the last politican to do so- just take a look at ex-cop Peter Dutton multi-millionaire Minister for Home Affairs.
In Crickey, Aug 10, 2015, it was estimated that the cost of running Federal Parliament was over $506 million or about $2.24 million for each M.P. These costs are buried in the Portfolio Budget Statement. Politicians never have to put their hands in their pockets- everything is paid for . When questioned about their long absence from Canberra during the COVID -19 , ex-minister Cormann whined that “We are working hard!”
For what one might ask when they sit for 67 days each year spread over 20 sitting weeks for a total of 627 hours per year. All their election costs are borne by the tax-payer. They fly or are driven across the country in the government fleet and live it up in hotel care of the tax-payers of Australia . Now imagine if the costs of your job seeking (travel, food, accommodation and expenses) were borne by the boss!! The state and territory parliaments are no different.
At the same time they take time to savage the poor and unemployed with (until COVID -19 ) miserable dole payments of $40 a day. Ex-Treasurer Hockey labeling the “unemployed as “leaners” in a typical piece of hypocrisy wrapped in spin designed to divide and rule. I
Yet when we consider what actually gets done by parliaments in Australia the cost benefit analysis looks bad. Endless theatre – as debates, committees, reviews, surveys, meetings and votes. And all they piously claim to proud to be serving the people of Australia.
Does parliament serve the people by building a health prosperous true commonwealth? We are a second world nation endowed with vast resources ,we have 25 million people with potential waiting to be unleashed. But 3.25 million people live in poverty. Our First Nations people are over-represented there and with poor health outcomes seen in third world countries, lower life expectancy and higher imprisonment rates. Countlesss parliamentary enquiries have been held. Nothing eventuates.
Democracy is stunted and deformed. The parliament we inherited from the British imperialists is used as a fig leaf, a facade to cover up the real rule of the US imperialists and the local monopoly class. More and more parliament is seen as irrelevant or needlessly meddling in people’s daily lives or attacking the wages and conditions of workers and their organisations, and kowtowing to the US and local monopolies.
Where are we going ? What do we need to do?
We need a national body to nurture the people, to serve the people, so the benefits of their toil go to the workers and working people. We need supervision to ensure health, safety, and excellent education of the Australian people is directed and not wasted or corrupted.
We need to see that Australian resources aren’t gifted into multinational corporation profits. We need to see the wealth serving the people in services and facilities based on need and not profit.
We need an independent democratic Peoples Republic of Australia
