Unremarkable leaders failing to win my vote

For the first time in my adult life, I am thinking I might give next Saturday’s federal election a miss, as, try as I might, I can see no evidence of great leadership anywhere on the Australian political landscape.

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For the first time in my adult life, I am thinking I might give next Saturday’s
federal election a miss, as, try as I might, I can see no evidence of great leadership anywhere on the Australian political landscape at the present time.

A long-time swinging voter who was brought up by staunchly conservative parents who believed the needs of the Australian farmer came first, hence voted for the Coalition, my heart tells me there is currently no one in the race to be Australian prime minister who has the smarts, guts and heart to be a great leader.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Alex Coppel.

If there was a woman at the helm of the ALP the decision might be made for me (I’d like to vote for a woman and Penny Wong intrigues me) but in Shorten I see a man loaded up with ambition but lacking the passion and spirit for which great ALP leaders — change-makers Ben Chifley, Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke — were known.

The Liberal Party for me is without any great hopes at this time.

Financially, I will fare better with a Liberal government in power, but how can I forgive their inaction over many critical years on climate change?

I can’t. My children won’t let me.

My youngest daughter, my “drought baby” as I call her, now 11, has seen so little rain in her lifetime she darts out to play in any downpour or rushes on to the back veranda to watch until the rain has stopped, astonished by the sight and the miraculous “force field” properties of our corrugated-iron roof.

Last week we celebrated the swapping of summer doonas for winter ones as Sydney’s overnight temperatures dropped to a relatively mild 11C on two nights — interpreted as a sign at my place that we might get a winter this year after all. We had started to give up.

Bill Shorten. Picture: Liam Kidston

While I understand the importance of global trade — of growth, prosperity and economic stability — it seems to me the Coalition’s unfettered willingness to trade our exhaustible natural resources to the rest of the world is shortsighted and will ultimately leave us short-changed.

Why previous governments haven’t invested heavily in renewable energy and filled our
Red Centre with wind farms and our oceans with wave energy converters I don’t understand,
nor can I explain to my older daughters being taught at high school that our planet’s future is bleak and that it is my generation — and yours — that is destroying the environment with our excesses and inactivity.

Do I think the ALP has an idea about how to save our planet? No, I don’t.

Worse still, I don’t believe the Australian Greens have an actionable plan either and, truth be told, I actually had to Google the Greens to find out who their current leader is. (It’s Richard Di Natale, a man I will probably have to Google again tomorrow should I need his name again.)

Is there a great leader among the independents standing for the next election?

Richard Di Natale. Picture: AAP Image/David Crosling

I hope so and would like to believe there is, but in my electorate they are campaigning not for major reforms or policy change that might tempt me — not on health, education, tax relief, care for our aged relatives — but rather on stopping the major parties achieving their objectives and frankly that doesn’t inspire me much either.

Over-development is again a sensitive issue in my electorate but now that our local infrastructure is failing — and I have Sydney Water’s number in my phone — I feel I largely and single-handedly have the street’s sewer overflow issues under control and really don’t care that much about the preservation of neighbourhood views. I really just want to live in a poo-free street.

According to the AEC website, 180 is the maximum it will cost me if I don’t cast a vote next Saturday — and that’s what I will be paying unless a politician or party manages to connect with me in the next six days.

Originally published as Unremarkable leaders failing to win my vote