A Donkey Vote For Australian Politics!
Yes, women are different. We keep the toilet seat down and we tend not to make snap decisions. We do actually follow the news, have opinions, differentiate between policies and promises and mistrust politicians.
Is there any reason why we shouldn't?
As a female voter I recognize when I’m being talked down to and I deeply resent it. I don’t read the fashion pages and I consider cooking a chore, not an interest.
I see through the ‘policies’ designed by focus group. I ignore ’The Doorstop’ political quote of the day. I have a good idea of how much there is in the kitty, so I know when a policy/promise has a chance of ever seeing the light of day. To me, point scoring and personal attacks against an opponent, shows that politicians have contempt for the electorate. That in itself proves a distinct lack of intelligence in their ranks.
In Australian politics, we are forced by law to vote for a party. We do not get to vote for the leader of that party. The parties nominate the candidates and choose the leader. The days of party principals and beliefs are long gone. The only difference between the two parties seems to be the difference between the compositions of their focus groups.
For the second election ever, I am again faced with an impossible choice.
1. A party that is led by a woman who has been vilified and denigrated for the past two years, but who unfortunately leads a party that shows no commitment or direction and has driven us into debt.
Or 2, a party that is led by a misogynist who always leaves me feeling bullied. As to policies, there is very little to set the two parties apart.
By not allowing the public to vote for a leader, political parties can place themselves twice removed from the voters. The further away the better. They want to distance themselves. The system allows them to ignore us till the next election approaches and that’s exactly what they do.
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