Observations

A week of sad tragedy with a couple of Aussie personalities being killed doing what they were famous for.

 

I have been amazed at the level of coverage and outpouring for these guys.

Would it have been the same if they died quietly in their sleep, or if they had died after an illness?

 

This is in no way to belittle anyone who has a personal feeling of loss from either of these men, or was in some way influenced by their life.

 

But, when does the ‘memorial’ just become a media self-promotion. ‘We had more information / stories / angles, than you did……..ner ner ner’

 

Is it too cynical to suggest they have become more famous in death, than they were 3 weeks ago??

For their families and close friends, I hope the media circus dies down soon.

 

 

Politics:

 

An ever more interesting subject. In Queensland Beattie is returned, despite regular serious problems being highlighted. Beazley and the ACTU get caught out in their scare campaign for using union people in their ads. The pollies decide to reward themselves with a 6.4% Superannuation increase, after having previously given themselves a healthy pay rise.

 

I heard it mentioned that our politicians get ‘performance reviewed’ every 4 years. I find that interesting, in that an election is not a review, it is simply (in current environment) a choice of 2 parties. The cynical ones will say, we just choose the ‘least bad’ party.

I wonder if there will ever be a time when parliament truly allows accountability in an ongoing fashion, allowing the public to actually have an influence in how the country or state is run.

 

What would it take to get a 3^rd party strong enough to make life interesting? Is there a growing discontent amongst the ‘post baby-boomer’ generation, to garner enough support. Or do our BB still hold sway? Will it take until they no longer dominate for things to change?

 

Given the general feeling that our pollies can’t be trusted. Would absolute honesty succeed? A party who owned up to mistakes, who allowed their people to say ‘I don’t know’. Who showed that breaking promises did not get brushed aside?

Would this been seen as a weakness or a greater strength?

 

John Howard talked about the ‘gene pool’ for Aussie politics. Perhaps we miss out on great politicians not because of the money, but because genuine people could not put themselves into the current ‘system’ and accept the compromises that seem to be part of politics today.

 

Can anyone comment on if this has always been the case? Is change fighting against 200 years of history, or is this a more  recent evolution?