Desperation, Democracy and Dog Whistles

What a time it is in our once fair nation, eh? In all my decades of political watching, I’ve never seen a shit show as complete as this election. At a time when so many Australians are doing it so tough, it feels like we voters are a political play thing solely to fulfil the personal ambitions and interests of boorish and insentient politicians desperate to cling to power for its own sake.

We’ve got a Prime Minister spiralling to such a degree he’s told us “I can change” kinda like an abusive partner does when they’re on their fiftieth last chance. And so much dog whistling* going on that it’s hard to focus on any single issue. Which is entirely the point of it as the badship LNP sinks. Just today, Dutton is hysterically telling anyone who’ll listen China have a secret warship off the coast. My eyes rolled so hard with this one they went the full 360! If you’re voting based on this nonsense I can’t help you.

*Dog whistling is sending out coded messages that are directed to and understood by a specific target audience. In the dictionary now next to Dog Whistle Politics there is a photo of Katherine Deves, the Liberal Warringah candidate (well there should be!). The whole point to Deves is to send messages to other less progressive marginal seats Morrison needs to hold or win. Imagine using the trans community in such an abhorrent way. Well imagine not because that’s just how low politics has become in Australia with Morrison and Co.

Then there’s the undermining of democracy itself. The Teal Independents are really copping it with the mass destruction of electoral materials, harassment and the extraordinary lies by Liberal MPs under threat of losing their seats. Alarmingly, Josh Frydenberg alleges that Labor will ‘sneak in’ to Government. How Josh? Do you believe our electoral process is corrupted? Of course you don’t, but you imply it is. That’s dangerous stuff. That’s Trump level rhetoric and it undermines the foundations of our democracy.

Political campaigns are always tough and the truth is always rubbery. But we’ve never seen this level of outright lies largely unchallenged or accepted as truth after a period of repetition (say it enough it becomes the truth!). In the worst political debate in the history of the world on Channel 9 last Sunday, Morrison actually claimed he was the whistleblower that led to the Aged Care Royal Commission. What now? That’s not just gilding the lily. It’s a monstrous lie. Here’s a bloke who has done absolutely bugger all about the desperate state of aged care in our country, who didn’t want a royal commission and has done nothing about the recommendations while our elderly die from neglect.

Meanwhile, as inflation is heading upwards, wages are stagnant, consumer confidence is down and interest rates are rising for the first time since 2010, we’re full tilt now in a cost of living crisis. The pandemic isn’t over despite our hopes and dreams. And housing affordability and debt makes most of us lose sleep. Not to mention the war in Ukraine, our toothless climate policy and Morrison’s extraordinary regional diplomatic failure in the Pacific. These are serious times and we need a strong and visionary parliament if we’re going to come out the other side OK.

At this point, my best advice is try to cut through the noise and find out what the policies of your local candidate are. Read, research and go into the polling booth armed with knowledge. Vote with integrity because that’s all we’ve got that really matters. Vote for the most vulnerable and for the future. Oh, and for a really really good Federal Integrity Commission!

I’ll be back in a few days with more — let me know your questions and feel free to message me over at Twitter @pollypolitics99

Vote wisely x Polly