The time is approaching where there will be a change on the
political landscape. People are tired of the two-party system and the influence
that corporations, unions and other major players have on the decisions that
are made by our politicians. As a community we need to be asking more from
those who represent us in parliament. We need to have representatives who
believe in the things that we believe in, the freedom to express ourselves the
values of equality and fairness, and a desire for our politicians and our
governments to be transparent.
There is an unrest in our community. It is fueled by the
dissatisfaction that we have in our political leaders, and their inability to
be able to understand who we are, what want, and a failure to deliver. In each
community the dissatisfaction is pocketed in secular groups, where people can
be heard crying to prevent Muslims from entering the country, or the
construction of more coal mines, or the eradication of the Great Barrier Reef,
or simply dissatisfied because they notice that their income is decreasing year
after year. Some of these pockets are those who have given up on the Australian
dream of owning their own home of having their own business or being able to
send their kids to a better school.
As divergent as all these areas are there is one common
thread and that is the lack of voice that these people have to be able to
express what they think and how they feel in a way which resonates with those who
make the decisions. It may not be possible to meet the demands of such a
diverse group, but it is possible to listen to the arguments that they present
and assess their value based on the decision-maker’s ethics and principles. The
problem is however, that often we don’t know what those ethics and principles
are, or who drives them and manipulates them.
In the United States they are holding town hall meetings
where constituents are presenting to their representative complaints about the
current policy direction and decisions being made. Many of these town halls
turn into a disaster where there is only shouting and arguing from both sides.
It is rare to see a meeting where the politician just listens. It is
fascinating how politicians are more interested in the next election cycle than
they are in the issues which concern their constituents. They often find
themselves confronted by a set of values and beliefs which they themselves don’t
hold. They then argue and berate others with the view that that will change the
others point of view. My experience is that the first thing we need to do is
simply listen. Only then can we begin to ask questions.
There are many people in the community who will not change
their view regardless of what we say to them. They want to believe that the
world is flat, so we must accept that that is how they see their world. There
is another group of people though who hold the same beliefs that you may or
similar principles and ethics, but they also hold other views that perhaps are
not factual or realistic.
I am reminded of a woman who recently stated that the new
healthcare act in the US is now cheaper and means that her son will be able to
receive the medication that he requires. She expressed her gratitude to President
Trump for making this change. However, the new healthcare act is still being
debated and she is currently living under the affordable care act and it is the
affordable care act which has made those changes that have impacted her son.
People will believe what they want to believe no matter how inaccurate their
beliefs may be.
Recently a woman contacted me complaining about our adoption
policy. She has a foster child and clearly would wish to adopt this child. She
presented the biological mother as being highly inadequate as a parent and
therefore never having the right to parent her child. It may be well true that
from her perspective she had the right to adopt this child because the mother
may never change. Even though that premise needs to be accepted what was not
understood was that not all situations are the same as hers. As we have
discovered at the Child Protection Party, one policy, one idea, one initiative
does not meet the needs of the whole. What was important for me to understand,
while having this conversation, was the basic principle that we are all acting
in the child’s best interest.
We may vary on our interpretation but it is the principal
that needs to be supported. As a political party the Child Protection Party is
committed to the principles of equity, fairness and transparency. There is no
wavering from these principles. Every decision that we make is directed by
these important principles. The foster mum believes that she is acting in the
child’s best interest, and we understand that and we support that value.
Because our policy states that a child should not be considered for adoption
until they have been in care for five years, those people who wish to adopt
immediately once they became the carer of the child will find that aspect of
our policy unacceptable. However, in this case, the bulk of our policies around
foster care need to be considered and not for the foster care policy to be
discounted because it just doesn’t fit with this person on this one occasion.
It is imperative to understand that what is important is the
fundamental principles we hold, that we are not beholden to any other
influences, that we believe in the direction that we are taking, all of this
with one singular view, to improve the outcomes for all children.
We ask ourselves therefore, how different are we from the
other political parties, major and minor? We believe that we are as different
as day and night. We will never be compromised on our principles. We can’t be
bought nor manipulated. We understand that where we are at the moment is
nowhere near where we wish to be. As a political force in fact, we have no
influence or power at this particular time. We are more than dreamers, because
we believe that all children should feel safe and be cared for appropriately.
It is this goal which drives us. Nothing will prevent us from attaining the
power and influence we need in order to assure each child in this country that
they will be listen to, they will be heard, that their parents will be listen
to and will be heard, and that politicians who make the decisions that affect
children will hear what you have to say.
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