It’s been a few months and the only answer that seems to have any currency is that Australians are “racist” but is that true? As long as Labor refuse to bring up the failed referendum we’ll never know. It’s like some sort of curse, something that you never wake up from like one of those movies where the lead characters is doomed to repeat exactly the same steps from waking in the morning until he’s killed again and again. With another Australia Day coming up it’s probably a good idea for Albanese to bit the bullet, publicly confess to having botched the poll, and start a discussion about ways forward that will actually help to improve the situation.
Knowing Albo however – he’s a seasoned political player – this won’t happen. Meanwhile the gap is as large as ever and while other people grow rich and prosperous Aboriginal people continue to experience poverty, high rates of incarceration, and low academic achievements for youth. Aren’t these things more important than the fortunes of a political party?
It seems not.
Politicians are addicted to power, it is the fuel that keeps the engine of government running, not anything like human rights, individual liberty, or equality of access to social benefits. Power is the goal of every politician who enters Parliament to ostensibly “serve” the people. What they want and what they get are people serving their interests. If you manage to get to the pinnacle of the structure, for example as prime minister, you will be particularly well served.
Once you have that access it’s difficult to give it up. It would require qualities in a person that the job of politician is singularly well engineered to weeding out. Nobody with the general interest at heart has a gnats chance in a snowstorm of getting to the top. Albanese for all his apparent sincerity is just another power-mad creature.
What I mean by all this is that to even ask the right questions is something that the business of politics prevents. Since it’s not possible to be a Good Person and a politician at the same time (since to rise to the top you need to be a gaslighting narcissist) then it follows that the interests of the people ostensibly served will instead be ignored in favour of the narcissist’s own interests.
So here we are in 2024 no closer to closing the gap. Instead the gap is used as a cudgel to beat the Opposition around the head because that’s politically expedient. No movement on important metrics, no improvement, nothing. Because it’s against the interests of the very people who have been elected to fix the problem. As long as there’s a problem it will be exploited in order to cause pain to the people on the other side of the Chamber.
No Voice?
The Opposition are racists. It follows like night follows day. This is the only possible takeout. The government will continue to blame the Opposition for not supporting the Voice and there will never be any reconciliation. Reconciliation is not feasible where, in a Westminster system, opposition is the modus operandi of all players.
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