Australian Education Minister Can't Say No
Photo: Peter Rae. Source: smh.com.au
Why is it that politicians are not allowed to have a past? One they're in Government it's expected that they deny their shortcomings or 'real life experiences' from the past, keeping them locked firmly in a closet.
Australian Minister for Education Verity Firth is experiencing this first hand as she deals with the media onslaught after her husband was charged for having purchased a single ecstasy pill in late January.
When probed as to whether or not she has taken ecstasy in the past Verity Firth continually repeated 'I have done nothing wrong'. She sounded distressed and angry as she repeated her self to hungry journalists wanting a more honest answer.
The way Ms Firth responded to media would suggest that she has something to hide, but why in 2011 must a Minister need to hide the fact that they've dabbled in party drugs. However illegal it may be, recreational drug use is wide spread and many people experiment with drugs, particularly in their youth.
I doubt that many young people hold back on trying new and slightly risky things because they know that one day they will be a parliamentarian.
Please can we allow our politicians to be more real, this inauthenticity needs to stop. Politicians are leaders, let us see them in their humanness, imperfections and all.
I would like to think that our politicians have had very real experiences so as they understand the issues affecting our people. It's not to say they need to have taken drugs, but if a few of them have then that might just make them all the more wise to the issues around recreational drug use.
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