 Political
Corrections
with Margo Kingston
Taking back your democracy
I've been convinced that our democracy is a sham since John Howard sent Australians to invade Iraq on two lies - the lie that he had not promised Bush he'd go to war long before public debate began on the matter, and the lie about why he wanted war. To me, in a democracy, unlike a dictatorship, our soldiers risk their lives for us, not for our leader. Yet the process of voting every three years, the skeleton of democracy, did not punish Howard, but re-elected him.
Some say this was because many Australians thought the war was over - thus the strong opposition to Howard more than doubling our deployment this year after telling us we would not commit more troops and did not have the capacity to do so anyway. Again, he will send our soldiers to war without our support; again he has abrogated his duty as a democratic leader to first persuade his people of the rightness of the cause.
Others say that Australians knew very well that Howard was a serial liar, but also knew that the opposition would be no different in government so voted on self-interest. Others say the Opposition was simply not good enough to govern.
Whatever the reasons, true believers in democracy must face the fact that ours is sick. That's the easy part; but what to do about it? I'm discovering as I edit Webdiary and travel around Australia speaking to people that many Australians have stopped consuming mainstream media completely. They find it depressing to read the bad stuff knowing there's not a thing they can do about it, and depressing that the big issues either aren't being addressed or are deliberately being squashed. Yet this response means that those who would destroy our democracy have won without a fight.
Over the last year I've read and re-read Sir Robert Menzies' Forgotten People speeches on democracy, broadcast on commercial radio while he was in opposition in 1942 during the depths of World War II. He said this in 'The nature of democracy':
"The problem of democracy began when democracy was achieved. If government were by a despot, amiable or vicious, we, as the governed, might well shrug our shoulders and resign ourselves to fate. But when government of ourselves is by ourselves, we must bestir ourselves.
"If, then, there is tyranny, it is our own. If there is injustice, we have ordered or permitted it. If there is hunger or unemployment, we must look to ourselves for the remedy. For when we are the masters as well as the servants, we cannot either wisely or usefully blame others for bad direction or faulty planning or fumbling execution.
"To stand erect and say, 'I am one of the rulers of my country' - there is a position of dignity and of responsibility. Yet, they are a dignity and a responsibility which democracy, properly understood, gives to every grown man and woman in this nation."
My starting point is that those who rule us get their way partly by dividing us, and that the belief in democracy has the potential to unite us in its defence regardless of who we vote for and what else we disagree on. So I've started, with the help of volunteers, a new website called Your Democracy to see if this is possible. It aims to build through citizen journalists a strong alternative media to the mainstream media, which has ceased taking its responsibilities to our democracy seriously and has instead become a mouthpiece for the powerful. It also aims to bring Australians together to campaign hard for our democracy and its essential ingredients - ethical politicians who serve the public interest, transparency and accountability of government to the people, readily available information on what's going on so the people are informed; an independent judiciary; and civil liberties so we can participate in our democracy, including free speech.
If you have a look at Your Democracy you'll see that it's really a blank page, and a messy one at that. It will develop through reader ideas and what readers want to do with it, and the process will be transparent and open to all. I'd like a series of blogs on aspects of our democracy providing information, analysis and reader input. Thus a pool of people interested in a certain topic could give us all early warnings of pending threats to our democracy and trigger Australia-wide campaigns to stop them in their tracks. I'd like local 'defending our democracy' groups in each seat to directly question local MPs and to endorse and support candidates who promise to act in accordance with democratic principles, not just say yes to what their party leaders tell them to do. I'd like local communities not served by strong local papers like The Northern Rivers Echo to start one, for this is essential if communities are to redress the power balance a little in their favour.
In my dreams, I'd like reader donations to fund Your Democracy reporters in Canberra and the states to ask questions and research stories on behalf of readers. And I'd like donations to fund Freedom of Information requests and track the results.
Already, the new Greens Senator for Western Australia has asked to do a blog tracking her experience as a new Senator after July 1 and answering reader questions and comments.
OK, fat chance. Still, worth a big go, I reckon. Democracies are not stable. The people fought for them over centuries and the powerful are always trying to roll them back. As Menzies' said in the task of democracy:
"What, then, must democracy do if it is to be a real force in the new world? In my opinion, two things. It must recapture the vision of the good of man as the purpose of government. And it must restore the authority and prestige of Parliament as the supreme organic expression of self-government.
"The sovereignty of Parliament. That is a great phrase and a vital truth. If only we could all understand it to the full, what a change we would make! Sovereignty is the quality of kingship, and democracy brings it to the poor man's door."
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