Politics in Australia: ill-fitting suits, blue ties and silly bickering

The sartorial snootiness of our nation’s leaders is dragging politics to a new low. What we need is more real people and less Canberra elites turning their nose up at cheap clothes.

“Bill Shorten stands there in his ill-fitting suit…”

Yes, Treasurer Scott Morrison really said this on national radio this morning.

It echoes UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent barb to the leader of the opposition: “I know what my mother would say. She’d say put on a proper suit…”

Such sneering sartorial snootiness is a distraction. It debases robust debate and drags politics to a new low.

It’s also classist. It shouldn’t matter how much your suit costs or whether it’s the slickest cut from Saville Row tailors. Tell us your policies. Listen to us. Engage more. What we need is more real people involved in politics and less Canberra elites, using choppers instead of buses and turning their nose up at cheaper suits.

Would you consider this suit to be cheap? Or ill-fitting? Actually, a better question is why are we talking about it at all? (Pic: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)

Whether or not you agree with his politics or the flawed system that got him there, it was refreshing to hear [Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator] Ricky Muir confessing he didn’t own a suit before entering the Senate. Finally, Parliament reflecting the real people it serves.

The irony seems to be lost on ScoMo. In the same interview today, he argued that, as a country, we need to be more frugal with spending — yet condescendingly implied Shorten needs a more expensively tailored suit. Meanwhile, Cameron’s comment led to this hilarious #growuppolitics video featuring kids in the playground acting as politicians.

Column inches have been dedicated of late to Richard Di Natale’s turtleneck (one commentator said he looked like the black Wiggle tasked with telling kids their goldfish wasn’t just having a deep sleep), Malcolm Turnbull’s GQ cover and Nick Xenophon being asked to leave the all-nighter in the Senate for wearing his PJs. It’s as if looking like a real person wearing real clothes will mean you’re not taken seriously. We want more authenticity from politicians, not clones of Canberra elites in blue ties.

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale, otherwise known as the black Wiggle. (Pic: Edward Mulvihill for GQ Australia)

The remarks reflect a desperation. Men in blue ties and suits — however they’re tailored — are feeling their power erode and their influence wane. Technology is redistributing power away from Canberra elites and into the hands of real people. All you now need to create change is a laptop and fighting spirit. And you can do that in your tracky dacks, without being judged.

The whole “my suit fits better than yours” debate happens while a 14-year-old domestic violence survivor, Josie, uses tools like Change.org and her Nan’s laptop to get domestic violence prevention lessons in schools. Which do you consider more important and impressive? It’s coming to something when you look utterly immature and pedantic next to a 14-year-old girl. This is just one example of many diverse people across the country using free tools to build their power and achieve change.

Just as cabs are no longer just white vehicles with a light on top, power is no longer men in suits in one building. Power rests with us all, because real politicians are too busy sniping and mudslinging to exercise it properly. So it’s up to us to make the changes we want to see ourselves. Wearing whatever we damn well feel like while doing it.

Karen Skinner is Head of Change.org Australia

@changeaus