The federal Liberal Party is truly pathetic, but never let it be said they won't explore all options to avoid doing the right thing. So now we are spending 120 million on a national opinion poll (calling it a plebiscite is a little generous). I’m not going into the idiocy of such economic vandalism, as that is pretty self-explanatory. I’m also not going go back over just how absurd and in full breach of the Australian Constitution, arguments against marriage equality are. I’ve done this in full elsewhere.
But since the Liberal party has decided that some issues are too important to trust to parliamentarians to legislate on without listening to the electorate in the most harmful and non-binding way possible, can we get our money’s worth out of this sham process and put a few other questions on the ballot. I don’t suggest we can really get value for money out of this ridiculous charade but I would say there are some other issues that are equally important to the Australian people that we should perhaps be asked about before we are quizzed on our ongoing right to discriminate against people based on their sexuality. If the government is serious about listening to the electorate when it comes to truly important issues, here are a few other things they might add to the ballot paper: Should the federal government continue to ignore the spectre of climate change by continuing to pour subsidies into the coal industry? Should politicians’ pay, entitlements and superannuation be pared back to address our government’s failure to manage the economy (maybe it would be enough to at least pay for this stupid plebiscite)? Should there be an inquiry into the banking industry? Should the tax system be reformed to stop ultra-wealthy individuals and large corporations avoiding their tax obligations? I'm sure there are many other issues the electorate would love to have a say on. The point I am making is that there is no compelling reason to make marriage equality the subject of a postal opinion poll, anymore than we need one for any other issue. But since our government has forgotten about ballooning government debt and is in the mood to spend money on plebiscites, what else do you think the electorate needs to be consulted on?
1 Comment
Jenna
8/20/2017 12:50:17 am
They could add a question about becoming a republic since that comes up all the time!
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