...and there have been signs of life in Australia recently.
Full disclosure, my vote for Labour at the recent election was basically a vote against the LNP led by Scott Morrison. I didn't have high hopes for a Labour government, beyond less divisiveness. And having been somewhat disappointed in how this has manifested with Biden in America, I tempered expectations even more.
There have been missteps and I'm not changing my mind yet. But some credit is due. Their recent climate change legislation commits Australia to some degree of forward movement on this issue after we had been looking incredibly recalcitrant. The US had been more active from a governmental planning point of view than we had, even though a GOP government had plenty of climate change deniers. So that's good, and there was a clear mandate from the recent election.
But what was interesting is that they took some feedback and advice on the legislation from the independents...despite not needing their help to pass it (they're mostly conservative women, pro-climate change action). And the resulting legislation appealed to a broader base of Australians because of it. One of the Liberal MPs even crossed the floor to sign it, although she (fairly) wasn't about to sign a secondary bill around cancelling some infrastructure projects. Openly, she made the point that she was acting as her constituency would want, in terms of promoting climate change action.
Now, is the government choosing to play nice with the independents rather than the Greens (who favoured stronger action in some areas) as a way of plotting out future legislation where they might actually need support? Well, sure. Let's not pretend politics is all kumbayah. But as a centrist, this is what I want. Actual discussion and consideration of policy. Not extreme ideological positions. If it becomes constant compromise, that's bad. But this doesn't feel like compromise. Feels more like a good first step.
I hope that the LNP is able to regroup around some areas where they are looking out of touch. Climate is the most obvious, but anti-corruption, issues around gender and First Nations, and...with the exception of a few...promoting healthy discourse on policy rather than being automatic nay-sayers appear to be areas of immediate need.
I have a low expectation of Peter Dutton. Very low. But I wish him luck. Our democracy is better with a healthy, forward-looking opposition, whomever is in power.
Full disclosure, my vote for Labour at the recent election was basically a vote against the LNP led by Scott Morrison. I didn't have high hopes for a Labour government, beyond less divisiveness. And having been somewhat disappointed in how this has manifested with Biden in America, I tempered expectations even more.
There have been missteps and I'm not changing my mind yet. But some credit is due. Their recent climate change legislation commits Australia to some degree of forward movement on this issue after we had been looking incredibly recalcitrant. The US had been more active from a governmental planning point of view than we had, even though a GOP government had plenty of climate change deniers. So that's good, and there was a clear mandate from the recent election.
But what was interesting is that they took some feedback and advice on the legislation from the independents...despite not needing their help to pass it (they're mostly conservative women, pro-climate change action). And the resulting legislation appealed to a broader base of Australians because of it. One of the Liberal MPs even crossed the floor to sign it, although she (fairly) wasn't about to sign a secondary bill around cancelling some infrastructure projects. Openly, she made the point that she was acting as her constituency would want, in terms of promoting climate change action.
Now, is the government choosing to play nice with the independents rather than the Greens (who favoured stronger action in some areas) as a way of plotting out future legislation where they might actually need support? Well, sure. Let's not pretend politics is all kumbayah. But as a centrist, this is what I want. Actual discussion and consideration of policy. Not extreme ideological positions. If it becomes constant compromise, that's bad. But this doesn't feel like compromise. Feels more like a good first step.
I hope that the LNP is able to regroup around some areas where they are looking out of touch. Climate is the most obvious, but anti-corruption, issues around gender and First Nations, and...with the exception of a few...promoting healthy discourse on policy rather than being automatic nay-sayers appear to be areas of immediate need.
I have a low expectation of Peter Dutton. Very low. But I wish him luck. Our democracy is better with a healthy, forward-looking opposition, whomever is in power.
