| Spotlight On: Aussie Politics |
[Sep. 15th, 2004|11:38 am] |
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The Australian elections are coming up early October, and the mud-slinging and terrorist threats are in full-swing already. Here, I take the opportunity to turn a cheeky link about Aussie pollies into a brief introduction into Australian "politics".
Australian Government
Australia is a constitutional democracy, with 2 major parties that recognises Queen Elizabeth II as it's head of state. Therefore, it has a Prime Minister and not a President, and also has a figurehead position called the "Governor-General" that acts as a representative of the Queen. Theoretically-speaking Australia should no longer have any links with Britain, since the Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901; but because up until the 1970s the majority of migrants were from Europe, the links to Britain remained strong (though they were steadily decreasing). This continued, until migrants from all over the world transformed the population of Australia in the 80s and 90s, and now the vast majority of Australians support turning Australia into a republic. Which brings us to the shenanigans of one of Australia's least respected groups: politicians.
Australian Politics
I don't believe I exaggerate when I say Australians don't trust politicians AT ALL. Not only do they believe "pollies" lie all the time, but they simply don't have much respect for them. This appears to be cultural - Australia shares with Britain the traditions of larrikinism, with it's love of nose-thumbing at authorities and it's lampooning of "respected" figures. This contrasts with the American attitude towards their politicians, who they expect to be upstanding, respected and... moral. Heck, Americans even believe some of what their politicians say. Here, we elect politicians to office and expect them to lie on their way to get there, and no one is surprised when pollies are discovered to have been using public funds for private holidays (travel rorts - a regular staple of Australian politics). Needless to say, Australians look at George Dubya Bush with a high degree of suspicion, and newspapers love to show the current Aussie Prime Minister, John Howard, as Dubya's dog, Barney.
Which brings us to the 2 major political parties of Australia, Labour and Liberal, with Liberal currently in office. Which party stands for what is lost to me and everyone I know - Labour used to be "for the unions", but the unions have since broken down in the 90s, and now Labour and Liberal don't seem to have much difference in their positions. What is ironic is that Liberal's party head, John Howard, is a known conservative who believes in God, the Queen, shoe polish and Uncle Sam. Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader (Labour's party head) Mark Latham, puts himself up as young, up-and-coming reformist who will change the way the old-cooger John has been running things for the past 4 years. Voting for these two is like voting for the lesser of two evils. Checkout the hairstyles of these 2 guys here:
http://www.advancedhair.com.au/2004/johnny.html
Another thing to mention about Australian politics is the secular nature of the government, something that may be news to Americans used to their politicians invoking God and Righteousness. God has no place in politics, and despite 70% of Australia being Christian, they would react negatively to any mention of God in a politician's speech or in the constitution. This secular nature also extends strongly to regular Australian life, where religion is seen as a personal issue. The fastest way to become unpopular at a party is to start talking about God, especially trying to spread the Holy Word. People believe it's inappropriate, and even rude. Explains why Mormons are so unpopular ever since they penetrated the country in the 90s. |
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Whoohoo! Politics! *sigh* I love election years. . . ;_;
And that last paragraph . . . I wish the US were like that. *bah* Separation of Church and State my @$$.
Actually, the US is interesting because it ISN'T like that. :)
Australia's not the only secular state around - New Zealand (which follows Australia), Canada and Britain are all pretty secular when it comes to government. You don't hear Tony Blair talking about God in regard to Britain's role in the Iraqi war. Europe is difficult to generalise because it's got so many different governments, but France and Germany are pretty secular too, as are Socialist governments like Switzerland (which has every reason to be secular). The Moving on from Europe; Korea, Japan, India, and Singapore are secular. The vast majority of democratic first-world countries are secular, and even authoritarian governments like China and Russia are secular.
I guess the speeches of George Bush stands out alot because of this, with his unintentional references to God, Axis of Evil, Crusades, Evil-doers, Righteousness and Triumph of Good Over Evil. In Australia, politicians referred to the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Java as "vulgar" and "obscene", which is better than saying it's evil (though that word is used sometimes). It doesn't at all mean America is an extreme-Christian country, but the politicians sure makes it seem like that. Remember the senator singing "Amazing Grace" in the Senate a few days after 9/11? That was... a nice gesture, but why such a Christian song...? (It is instantly followed by proclamations of "God Save America"). The rhetoric of American politicians don't reflect the religious diversity of America at all.
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