a nation getting back on track?

mood: pretty happy.
state i'm in: tidy.
tune: david bendeth 'feel the real'.


as each day and week pass by i am becoming just a tad more optimistic. about what? no, not this federal election in particular, but about the state of australian society. it seems as though there are many reasons to believe australians and australia as a society is re-evolving and emerging from its selfish hibernation of the post-keating / howard years. the impression i receive is that of a nation slowly re-engaging with the political debate and with what it means to be part of a society.

what gives me this impression?

most days when i read the paper or watch the nightly news i read articles and see stories that convince me people are just a little more willing now to take part in their democracy than what they might have been a few years prior. for example, whilst on the subject of television, current affairs programs are once again rating in the top ten programs on air, something not seen since the mid-1990s. it will be interesting to see if these programs also become as intelligent as what they were at that time - what must jana wendt or mike willesee think of the current state of current affairs?

just yesterday, statistics emerged showing an enormous rise in the number of youth enrolled to vote in comparison with the 2004 election. the government's decision to legislate to bring forward the close of the electoral role to the evening of the commencement of the election campaign has been met with fierce opposition from many angles and countered by some effective measures to remedy this assault on democracy. groups like GetUp have had a substantial impact on lifting youth enrolment figures, but it is the australian electoral comission (AEC) that must take most of the credit. spending $15 million of their own money, the AEC's campaigning at high schools, universities and, in particular, their clever 'rock enrol' campaign pushed at music festivals and over the airwaves via 'triple j' have exposed younger australians to the idea of voting as being their right and a right that no government should be able to take away or prevent from being fully employed.

'boutique issues' are now being approached with a degree of seriousness which is promising. for example, climate change has become a far bigger issue than i had anticipated in this election. on the potential for nuclear power plants in australia, it appears that the government has shifted its aspirations for this to the back burner, in an attempt to neutralise this as an environmental and election issue. i have also been surprised by the lack of sympathy that the electorate has shown to the government's position on african immigrants, in particular refugees, and their tribulations of integration, and on its excuses made in the treatment of mohammed haneef, whose detention under the auspices of anti-terror laws has now been described by so many parties as having been based on wafer thin evidence. dr haneef's appeal to the federal court before the election in november, if successful, might make matters even more troublesome for the government. are we really thinking a little more rationally now, or just immune to the onslaught of another 'foreign hordes' fear campaign?

all of this aside, i think the greatest sign of a potential re-engagement is the number of people wiling to put their money where their mouth is. betting agencies have taken more money in bets on the outcome of this election campaign in its first two weeks than was generated in the entire 2004 campaign. with possibly more weight than the weekly net and phone polls in predicting an election outcome, betting has been heavily skewed towards a change of government.

opposition leader kevin rudd, rather than being able to take a great deal of credit for this phenomenon of re-engagement, is largely just harnessing it for his party, and of course has been very successful at avoiding wedge issues thus far, such as the african integration issue. it seems as if he and his advisers have sensed the change of heart and are keen to remind folks that they are the party more adept at confronting the electorates new-found concerns. bob hawke and paul keating (especially mr keating, after "the recession we had to have") have been making many a surprising cameo appearance at campaign launches and on television and radio, having seemed also to have sensed this shift, and are keen to remind us all of the achievements of their (labor) governments, changes that are still bearing fruit time and time again.

just as important, in a significant undoing of their previous successes, it seems as if the government has lost clairvoyance for the shifting mood of the electorate. the government, over its time in office, has consistently taken measures to reduce citizens' engagement with their governance and for the greater part of their time in office these measures have gone unnoticed. now, finally, it seems as if people are sitting up, rubbing their eyes clear, and taking a harder look at their society and its direction. many a heavy albatross is coming home to roost around government minister's necks, and no more than around the prime minister's himself.

how many times did you say interest rates have risen since 2004, mr rudd?

---

images: public