Another ‘Democracy Sausagefest’ is over and the people have spoken. At the time of writing this counting continues and the outcome of who is to form the next Federal Government is uncertain. What is certain is that this outcome is what our community wanted. I have been mightily amused by comments by all sides of politics such as ‘This is not what people voted for’ and ‘The people don’t know what they want’. I am even more shocked at the arrogance of some politicians that are continuing to campaign and advocate for policies that were clearly not given a mandate by the Australian people. Regardless of which major party gets to form Government they will do so with the slimmest of a majority or in a coalition with minor parties. So where does this leave us? Well, in my humble opinion. It leaves us in a good place. I believe the election has shown us that many voters would like to ‘cherry pick’ policies from the major parties and see them implemented. For example, I believe that business people would like to have healthy, well educated staff and a tax cut. I believe that many would like to see a more humane refugee policy and have our borders protected. I believe that young and old would like to see more land released for development and changes to negative gearing. We would like to see policies to enable people to stay in the workforce longer and changes to generous superannuation tax breaks. It’s called a ‘mixed economy’ for a reason folks. The two major parties have supported and strengthened this concept for over 100 years – and you know what? It works. The Labor Party doesn’t want to nationalise the means of production and the Coalition doesn’t want to abolish the social safety net. They do want to tinker at the edges though. And I believe, if the truth be known, there are policies that either party would like implement that belong to their rival. So, I see the future as a positive one, where whoever gets to form Government, will have a strange and refreshing mandate to take a strong new path … dare I say ‘a third way’.
Tim Benson, Publisher
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