Matt Down Under

In two weeks Australia will hold the 2010 Federal Election. As I am not an Australian citizen (yet), I’m not eligible to vote. Nevertheless, as a person living here and interested in national and world politics and as someone who’s job it is to be up-to-date about everything related to online, I’m consuming a lot of news every day, and I’m following the political campaigns closely. Here’s my take on which party to vote for.

Introduction

First of all I must say that there are a lot of similarities between the political systems in Germany and Australia. Both nations basically have two major parties or coalitions, the centre-right conservatives on the one hand and the more progressive centre-left social democrats on the other. In Australia it is the Liberals/Nationals coalition versus Labor.

The main difference is that in Germany over the last decade there has been a notable shift away from major parties towards left-wing parties such as the Greens or socialists - largely due to increasing frustration over government and an overly capitalistic economy. In Australia it seems like there is no real party-based left-wing movement apart from the Greens who are getting increasing traction, as seen recently in the Tasmanian state election where they received almost 22% of votes.

Moving forward, but where to?

The Liberal Party

Looking at the policies of the Liberal Party on their website, it seems like the highest priorities are economy, business and national security, while education, health and environment are listed at the end of the page. This doesn’t necessarily mean much, but their campaign also sees an increasing use of simple, populistic paroles like ‘end the waste, stop the taxes and stop the boats’, something Tony Abbott is repeating over and over again but it couldn’t be more unspecific. Clearly this is targeting at people who don’t take the time to read the fine-print.

Another major part of the liberal campaign is to discredit the existing Labor Government - on a personal note, I always prefer politicians who convince people with ideas, not by listing someone else’s failures. One of the most popular topics here is the economic stimulus spending, something the Labor Government under former prime minister Kevin Rudd decided. While it is not great (and probably uncommon for Australians) to have national debt, I must say that compared to other nations worldwide, I’m surprised how well Australia coped with the economic crisis. The Australian national debt is a fraction of the debt in Germany for example (which is near $2.500b), so the perspective of Australia is outstanding.

One particular issue I have with the Liberals is that they plan to stop the National Broadband Network. For me as someone who works in IT and capable of understanding what that means, this is totally irresponsible. If you look at the current broadband situation with Telstra and all, it shows that it would take ages for the private sector to come up with this sort of fibre network.

The National Party

The Liberal Party’s coalition partner, the Nationals, mostly focus on regional development and rural/agricultural business. They were originally called The Country Party so their roots are clear. Apart from the focus on regional areas their program seems to be similar to the Liberal’s and they also dedicate a large amount of page space for attacking the current Labor government.

The Labor Party

Judging from the agenda page on their website, priorities seem to be healthcare, renewable energy, families and working class. So their focus clearly is on improving the conditions of life for people, not primarily for businesses. No surprises here, it’s the typical well balanced agenda that is common for modern democratic socialist parties.

A particular idea that I like a lot is the Cleaner Car Rebate, where owners of old cars get financial benefits if they buy a new, environmental-friendly car and at the same time recycle their old one. The exact same program was run in Germany during the economic crisis and it was a huge success. Thousands of people took the opportunity to buy a new car and have their old ones recycled.

One major (unmentioned) flaw in the Labor agenda is that they still support the implementation of an internet censorship system. This alone should be reason enough not to vote Labor. It is the product and idea of incompetent people who prefer to cover up a problem rather than fixing it at the source.

The Greens

The Greens made headlines earlier this year when they managed to get two seats in the Tasmanian state cabinet. Contrary to what many believe, the Greens aren’t just a group of environmentalists anymore, today they have a well balanced agenda covering all political and social areas, which is great. However their main principles are still based around preserving environmental resources, sustainable living within the limits of our planet, human rights and protection of animals.

Summary

If I had to summarise each party’s position in one sentence, I’d write

Coalition: if in doubt, prioritise economy

Labor: if in doubt, prioritise people

Greens: if in doubt, prioritise environment

The liberal position is to put economy above everything else. History shows that fundamental reforms usually are not achievable in conservative governments since among their main priorities is to preserve the existing. Groundbreaking policies to tackle climate change or protection of the environment are unlikely to happen in a coalition government, if these policies would mean a loss of existing jobs, e.g. in logging industry, fishing industry, mining etc. So jobs are more important than environment. Change is seen as a risk, not as a chance. Wealth is seen as the solution for most problems, so they focus on economy.

The typical labor position is to put people above everything else. Labor governments are capable of realising fundamental reforms or projects, even if it may hurt the local economy, e.g. signing the Kyoto agreement which may not be great for some local businesses but necessary nevertheless, or the National Broadband Network, which is highly beneficial for people but may hurt Telstra’s position.

The Green’s fundamental principle is to put the environment above everything else. It seems they think further ahead than anyone else since they realise that our current way of living is not sustainable and therefore needs to change - even if it hurts. We are over-exploiting our planet and if we don’t stop it, species will become extinct, the ecosystem will get out of balance and our ways of living will be affected irreparably. What may sound like propaganda to some is just a realistic view on what happens at the moment. Traditionally the Greens have been facing harsh opposition, as their policies would often mean a loss of existing jobs, e.g. in logging industry. However you could as well blame the workers for being unable to adopt to new conditions.

Conclusion

A strong economy is important, but there won’t be a strong economy without qualified, healthy people who drive it. So it makes sense to focus on the people, on education, on families and on healthcare like Labor does, instead of prioritising economy, upperclass and wealth like conservative/liberal parties tend to do. Wealthy people don’t need support, they are strong enough to support themselves. It’s the people who create their wealth, who deserve the most support. The laborers, the working class, the families, the students. If they are doing well, a strong economy is a logical consequence.

But what about the environment? Climate change is hitting Australia hard, problems like overfishing (think of tuna) and pollution (Australia had its oil spills too) are worrying people, while iconic animals like the koala or the Tasmanian quoll are facing extinction due to loss of habitat. We’re all dependent on this ecosystem we live in. Only a government that protects the environment rather than allowing its exploitation will provide the base to still allow future generations to enjoy the Australian way of life such as going fishing or bushwalking and afford to start a family.

In the end, it is clear to me that it all goes back to protection of the environment. It’s the foundation of it all and if that foundation is wrong, you can’t build a house on top of it. No economy without people, no people without environment.

My personal philosophy is always to fix problems at the base and not at the top, therefore I encourage everyone to vote for the Greens, or at least Labor. If I had a vote, I would vote Green. Without people like Bob Brown, who knows how much of the Tasmanian wilderness would be left for me to enjoy today.