Electioneering Australian Style

We're in the throes of a general election campaign that has been going on for nearly 9 months. The official campaign is 6 weeks long and we're half-way though that, which is suprising given that Commonwealth Parliaments last a maximum of three years.

This has been among the nastiest of campaigns, reaching new heights of dishonesty, slagging opponents, and bribery. It's enough to turn anyone off the concept of democracy and the thought of joining any political party. The problem is that an ageing and very tired government with a history of deceit and numerous incompetent ministers is desperate to hang on to office and affronted that the electorate might turn away from a government presiding over Australia's greatest economic success in about 120 years.

Unfortunately for them, the electorate isn't inclined to show gratitude. The polls this year have consistently shown a landslide to the Australian Labor (sic) Party rejuvenated by Kevin Rudd and campaigning under the slogan Kevin07. He's difficult to attack as he's a Blair substitute: articulate; professional wife; Christian credentials; centre of the road; promising to keep the good ship Australia on a steady course. His would-be ministers are accident-prone, but that matters less in a contest dominated by leaders, ground chosen by the incredibly narcissistic Howard. It's clear by now that his entire career is dominated by compulsion to win and gain office and letting nothing stand in his way. That served well in imposing discipline on a previously fractious Liberal party, but it is not working when the world is moving on, policy imperatives are changing and he's trapped in the past.

So we're regaled with daily exaggerations and absurdities, the most priceless of which is the story that the ALP front bench is inexperienced. Of course it would be after 11 years in opposition, but if one believed this crap the opposition should never win power and we'd be better off with a one-party state. The Liberals have made promises totalling perhaps $25 billion, matched for the mostpart by the ALP. The showering of dollars seems to have left the electorate underwhelmed once it was realised that the Liberals had been hoarding cash for the purpose and was bribing voters with their own money. In effect they had been grossly over-taxed!!

And so it goes on. No wonder that politicians are despised worse than used-car or insurance salesmen or real estate agents. Laws regarding honesty in advertising do not apply to them, which is just as well for their bank balances given the litany of untruths.

Thus, I'm going to vote independent yet again. Our region is the heartland of independents - there is no representative of the three major parties at either the Federal or State level. Armidale is served by two good acquaintances of mine, both with honour, integrity, and a record of acheivement. For this reason, Richard Torbay (State) reaps an 80% two-party preferred vote and the highest majority of any politican in Australia; Tony Windsor (Federal) gets about 70%. If you're not represented by an independent you should try the experience. They live on their ability to serve people well and can weigh up issues free of party hacks. Richard is a businessman and former mayor of Lebanese background. His daughter is the belly-dancer admired by Max. Tony is a farmer.

Stop press: the latest opinion poll has the ALP on about 54% and the Liberals on 46% and going backwards.

AS

Locked Out of Central Sydney

For the best part of a week, Central Sydney is off-limits to the locals because of the APEC meeting. For the uninitiated, APEC stands for Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation, and it's the second biggest group in the world after the United Nations! Members include all countries in East and Southeast Asia (except North Korea); Russia; Australia, NZ and PNG; and the North American Free Trade Area. This is home to roughly half of humanity. It's the group trying to stitch up the Pacific Century, and it's well on its way to that goal.

Well, this meeting is BIG, mainly because the talking is not left to ministers and bureaucrats, but heads of state. So, we have Presidents Hu, Bush, Putin, Yudhoyono, Calderon etc, (China, US, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico), and Prime Minister galore including Abe, Lee, Harper, Badawi, and Clark (Japan, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, and NZ). Bush alone arrived with an entourage of 700 and a fleet of cadillacs - including Cadillac 1, which met Airforce 1. At the moment, this meeting looks a bit like a love-in. For example, Hu has crossed the country signing huge resources deal that make China our biggest trading partner and the leader of the opposition, Kevin Rudd (and very likely next prime minister) addressed Hu in Mandarin Chinese, much to the amazement of the Chinese delegation. Meanwhile, George had a very friendly set of of meetings with John Howard, now his main friend in an increasingly friendless world. Putin is also rumoured to have set up lots of trade deals, greatly increasing Australia - Russia cooperation. This event is making the EU look rather provincial!

Anyway, most of central Sydney is cordoned off for security reasons and tomorrow the citizens have been given a day off. The event has also had its lighter moments. There is a popular satirical TV show called the Chasers War on Everything run by a group of under-30s. The team stages all sorts of stunts to send up powerful interests. For example, it booked two plane tickets for a Mr Al Kyder and Mr Terry Wrist (get it?) booked them in for a flight and they didn't show up. So, the airline paged Mr Al Qaeda and Mr Terrorist to join the flight, which sent the terminal into paroxisms of laughter - and even the announcer got the message that the airline had been set up. Well, today they hired some flash limos, decorated them with some official signs and ran a motorcade past two check points right up to Bush's hotel. And one of the characters who stepped out was no less than Osama bin Laden - well an actor playing the role. They were all arrested, but the stunt will probably be hushed up. Anyway, they showed up lax security!