Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” Steve Jobs, 2005
Voices, opinions and narrative shape a society in a free democracy. This is a crucial underlying construct of our ‘Australian Culture.’ It is one of the essential freedoms we enjoy as a country. Our voices, my voice, your voice shapes us.
The right to use our voice to protest. The right to use our voice to use social media and other platforms to speak up loudly for or against issues. The right for journalists to report on sensitive issues and to criticise the Government. The right to nominate as a voice in our parliament and the right to vote for that voice.
Sometimes debate in our country is a lovely, manicured clear pathway and sometimes our debate is a thick forest with bruising scrub, dry arid land, harsh conditions, thorns that cut and grab and where we have to step around snakes with fear and angst.
However, it is our inner voice which allows us to block out the loud opinions of others and look up above that noise to the wisest of owls who will guide us out, beyond the snakes and to the other side to a place of peace and tranquility.
Every single person’s landscape of peace and tranquility is not the same. Some will find that peace in a conservative landscape, an authoritarian landscape, a socialist landscape, a (small l) liberal landscape or a libertarian landscape. For some people, depending on the issue at hand, they might find they have unfolded their deckchair and soaked up the sun in different landscapes over time. For example, some may sit in the socialist landscape for worker’s rights, but will also sit in the punitive and conservative landscape to advocate for the death penalty.
There are also some people who don’t fight through harsh scrub and snakes, they have no wise owl to guide them to their landscape, they are trapped forever in a 70’s disco doing ‘The Shrug’ to the tune of ‘meh, meh, meh, meh, meh.’ Sometimes they might reach out and take a few steps down the easy manicured path of debate, but you will never get them near the forest.
Sadly, today, there are still many loud voices which drown out the opinions of those in minority groups who are suffering from harm. More and more people look to the wise-owl of their inner voice, to guide them and set themselves down in the landscape of the minorities in solidarity and that is a good thing, because it is so important that these voices are the loud and heard.
I do not support the argument that the only voices we should have in our parliament are the Independent voices and that the parliament would be better without the major parties.
I do not believe a parliament of independents is the panacea to some of the issues we have in parliament today. There are only so many frames of political ideology and to have the necessary legitimate and at times coercive power, blocs would be formed, representing that ideology.
The theories which explain power in relationships and politics are complex. Power can see people struggle over finite resources, some have the ability to use referent power, some can use power to make other’s dependent upon them and some can use coercive power. A party of Independent MPs or Senators is not the nice walk down the manicured path, some believe it to be.
What I strongly advocate for, is that all citizens should have the freedom to vote for a party who has either a solid platform they agree with, or a vote for an independent voice, which may take a myriad of conflicting positions.
My strongest argument is for informed voting. Although I am not a supporter of the Liberal party, I would prefer to see a voter vote conservative/LNP who has a truly informed conservative position they align with. They are informed and fully understand the damage that this party’s ideology and policies will do to certain groups of people, how their authoritarian nature will aim to suppress our voices and that they favour punitive measures above all else. I support that this voter is comfortable with being a bastard and owns it and wears it on their sleeve with pride.
I would rather this than just voting because of the aesthetical appeal of an individual politician, or they find a slogan catchy, without knowing what that party or person is really about. I want to turn the music off at the “Meh, meh, meh” disco and fill the disco full of owls to be followed right out of there.
I argue strongly for this, because this is critical in shaping who we really are. The voices who end up on the other side of power (whomever that may be), end up battling through the forest and/or sitting in solidarity with groups of minorities. They know their collective needs to grow stronger and their voices need to be more persuasive and louder. This enables robust debate and shapes our country. This is important as we do not want to just stretch out on a deckchair and catch a few rays in our ideal landscapes, but to build a house on it for life.
In the debate of democratic voting, the majority of people have built their house on the landscape of democracy. The Greens, the Xenophon party and The Liberals want to knock down our democratic houses. They have done a dirty deal to silence the voices of the independents in the Senate. They are essentially forming a bloc on this issue to use legitimate power to drown out the inner voices who sit in their landscape and in solidarity with the Independents.
The Greens, the Xenophon party and the Liberals want to knock down your house of democracy by relying on the voters who are bopping away to “The Shrug” to the tune of “meh, meh, meh, meh.” This is the key to their success and the key to suppressing the independent voice.
.
Bill Shorten’s Labor is sitting in solidarity in the Independent’s landscape of democracy.
As a member of the Labor party, I am glad that this is where my party sits, as it is where I would be sitting regardless.
I will end this article, not with my own conclusion of why this is so wrong, but I will leave you with a must watch video of Anthony Albanese speaking out against the changes to the Senate Voting system. I hope that the voice in this video, encourages you speak up against these voting reforms with your pen on election day.
The Red Window 
Very well said Trish as per usual. Some people overlook the fact that Nick Xenophon is just another politician who wants to establish his own eponymous party full of wannabe politicians eager for a free ride on the taxpayer. I don’t fall for the rubbish that they want to make a difference if they did they’d join a real party & work their way up through the “ranks” doing the hard work required. Nick is also a conservative who will vote for the reduction in Sunday penalty rates & he is also only interested in SA, nowhere else in Australia so he won’t be working for us all despite putting up candidates throughout the country.
The Greens have proved to be only interested in themselves, still coasting along on the good name & popularity of Bob Brown. They have been whiteanting Labor since he left. Milne & now Di Natale have made it clear they were/are quite happy to work with the LIberals. This coming election they are throwing their resources into trying take Anthony Albanese’s & Tanya Plibersek’s seats. Also targeted will be the seats of Page & Richmond. Only Page is a Coalition seat but the Labor candidate is a popular former MP for this seat which is currently held by a seat warming Nat so the Greens will be helping him by campaigning against the Janelle Saffin the hard working Labor andidate . The Greens seem only happy taking seats from labor & not going after Coalition seats. Too much like hard work I guess. The way they behaved during NSW’s state election was an outright disgrace. Once upon a time I did used to vote for Greens in the senate but no more. It will be Greens second last all the way.
LikeLike
Posted by SirJoy Libs Lie | February 27, 2016, 1:50 pmThank you SirJoy. I have always put the Green’s party second. I have also put the LNP last. However, now they will be both last and second last. I have been appalled at the Greens, particularly since Di Natale took over.
LikeLike
Posted by trishcorry | February 27, 2016, 1:53 pmMalcolm Turnbull deprived future generations from participating in the 21st century economy with his tool kit from pre-bronze age (copper)technology, if that was not enough he made smashed real action on Climate Change, and now he is going for the biggie smash democracy, Senate reform just because he can’t take the bat and go home. We can build on the current badly managed Climate Change plan not sure how, well the ship has sailed for NBN fibre to the home, we will never if ever recover. Messing with democracy well that is another ball game. Australia is not the family farm where his Lordship can change the farm gate entry rules just because he does approve of who enters. These rules will and can ramifications way beyond the current shortsightedness and Turnbull off with his safety parachute.
On another note listening to Question Time he bangs on about a Transitioning economy as if he just discovered the word, jeeez Gillard and Swan was banging on about it long before he discovered the word, and they tried to future proof the country and the people, education pension reform, healthcare, etc now he behaves as if he invented the thought concept. Although he did say he is quite happy to steal someone else ideas.
My frustration is why can’t Bill Shorten just shut him up and say “even though you would like to prolong the sound of your voice the economy and Country has been transitioning for the last 4 years and you gift Australians and the economy pre-bonze age tool kit technology. How the hell do you expect us to compete Sir”. Shorten needs to connect the dots all these issues are connected to 21st century economy. If nothing else hits home to Labor all these dots can confirm that Turnbull has no idea of what Future proofing means, it is a wordplay for him. To use when he thinks it sounds impressive.
Turnbull does wordplay (use words for effect only because it sounds impressive and good for him) very very well and most journos than goes away feeling wow he is very smart and you can actually see him do it. He starts with a phrases and say let me start again and rephrase than go on ad nausea with saying nothing, but he his disdain and contempt for the journos is very evident and they cannot even detect it, silly buggers. Jeez Shorten can take the Doctored Professor apart bit by bit by just using the Doctored Professors own words on him. It is not rocket science, really Einstein “the more the knowledge the lesser the ego, lesser the knowledge more the ego” simple, Turnbull is overloaded with information and tries to impress with this overload, but has very little knowledge.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Jenny Jacobs | February 29, 2016, 2:07 pmExcellent comment. Completely agree
LikeLike
Posted by trishcorry | February 29, 2016, 2:12 pmSecond re post no sure what happened must have swallowed Turnbulls copper age, btw every Labor MP needs to say, whenever your local Liberal MP shake your hand, visit your local fete do the local charity etc etc, remind him/her they are also shaking down/running down their services hard fought for over time, healthcare, education NBN (the digital divide is only going to get wider), aged care. They need to look at what is happening behind the handshake and local fun run buying the local pavlova they, it is not nice and no fun and having a fire sale on the country’s 21st century economy and future prosperity
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Jenny Jacobs | February 29, 2016, 2:34 pmJenny wouldn’t want to offer my hand for our electorate’s Nats MP to shake, probably wouldn’t get it back. he’s taken, without any shame, credit for every piece of much-needed infrastructure our previous Labor MP had gained for our electorate. Won the seat by the use of the very worst & most disgraceful negative adverising paid for with Gina Rinehart’s money The idiots fell for th lies & the same is about to start again shortly. They are running scared.
LikeLike
Posted by SirJoy Libs Lie | February 29, 2016, 2:51 pmSirjoy, they need to fight back the local ALP standing “have you no shame etc etc,” and than keep saying how long are you going to fool the community, there are lies and than is outright deceit which one do you prefer thank you, and please explain (have the facts and figures ready ad Feeney did when he challenged the Defence spending, he did it bit by bit sentence by sentence) you know where you stand. Labor needs to fight back. Turnbull is very effective using words for effect and all Libs MP made an art form of talking over the opposite candidate. If it was me, I would say “school bench lesson one, excuse me have you been brought up or dragged, for if you had been brought up it was rude to interrupt when not spoken too” O’Dwyer has a habit of talking over and if she could probably talk under or side ways over the other she would do, not sure why Labor does not put them in school. When it comes to Turnbull who speaks for effect rather than substance, if I was to respond to his miming Labor, would say “open wide please time for the feed of information exchange and please chew before you swallow, it improves digestion and give you some insight of what I am trying to explain in plain speak rather than trying to disseminate information that you thought Labor said and you have no idea of what it means”. Turnbull gets flustered when he has a mild put down or somebody challenges his superior intellect he does not like it, thin skin and insecurities for too long he survived as an opportunist, just look at his record pre-Partliament and than during failures and mistakes, but safety parachute always handy. There is so much material Turnbull speak has out there. Turnbull was never put under pressure if he had he would have folded by now, it looks like he is folding
His strategy, put downs for others and veiled insults with insults even the journos but turn it round and he is gone, Take him on Shorten and see how he really shrinks and lose his cool. As for the journalists they are all in either a blush of a crush or star struck as they were with Abbott (see how they are stepping away that them ever supported him when they heralded Australia needs Abbott, now nobody want to know him, new Messiah and remember when it looked like Cameron was going to lose the UK election and edict from the media mogul went out “if they cannot win the election than we just have to win it for them” it was all there reported front page, text and email leaked.
LikeLike
Posted by Jenny Jacobs | February 29, 2016, 3:57 pmAgree Jenny Believe when I say Bill Shoren & his team are fully up to the challenge of taking on Turnbull & his motley band of hasbeens. Bill was on fire at the recent NSW State Labor conference. It was great. No one not even the partisan media, Has given Bill due credit for the tight team he is leading. No leaks, scandals or blatant disloyalty with contradictory statements made by various shadow ministers apart from the self serving Gary Gray but he’s always just looked out for number 1. In contrast the Turnbull gvt is leaking like a rust bucket flag of convenience tub & is is in total disarray with the hard right religious nutjobs taking control. As for our wonderful Labor candidate she is highly experienced having been in both the Rudd & Gillard gvts just doesn’t have the financial resources the first term seat warming Nat incumbent has. We will be fighting for her every inch of the way. which she thoroughly deserves
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by SirJoy Libs Lie | February 29, 2016, 4:30 pmand another thing, with the up coming debates whether it is local or Turnbull vs Shorten if it was me on the other-side, this is how I open up “moderator know the rules have been already been set, can I just ask for clarification here from you, are we going to show the community/people/audience that we are all very nicely brought up and not dragged up so we not going to talk over each or interrupt, let the other finish is that right”, show the moderate up and put him/her also in school nicely.
LikeLike
Posted by Jenny Jacobs | February 29, 2016, 4:26 pm* Rats the T on my keyboard is sometimes reluctant to display, grrr. Of course it’s Shorten!! not Shoren.
LikeLike
Posted by SirJoy Libs Lie | February 29, 2016, 4:34 pm