The Last Word
David Carvosso | APRIL 2012
Now that Ms Gillard has been confirmed by caucus as the leader of the Australian Labor Party and hence Prime Minister of Australia, I hope our parliamentarians will get on with governing our country.
I fear however the media will continue to probe the issues surrounding the recent dysfunction of Government and this will continue to distract politicians from their real role as they respond to this continual media barrage.
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I have been appalled at the behaviour exhibited by both sides of the House in Federal Parliament. I held out hope with a new Speaker we might see some discipline and decorum during question time. The Speaker dressed more traditionally and some rules were emphasised but this has had little influence on the behaviours and standard of debate in the House.
The shallowness of the debate in our Parliament is lamentable.
Questions from back benchers to their front bench colleagues are no more than thinly disguised cues for party media statements. Cross the floor questioning is probably more rightly termed muckraking or ridicule. I cannot recall character assassinations and a sense of hatred of such intensity as has been aired in Parliament and consequently in the media over the past few weeks. I cringe when I hear the Speaker introduce a foreign delegation into the gallery of the House during one of these unpleasant verbal stoushes. What must they think?
We deserve better from our parliamentarians and the parliamentary process. Where have such values as courtesy, consideration and respect gone?
I enjoy the occasional jibe and the wit politicians have exhibited in the past. We will all remember politicians from both sides of the political spectrum with particular talents for this. These were uttered without malice and were more light hearted interludes in the debating process.
Frankly, I have observed better behaviour in a class full of Year 9 testosterone charged boys than in our current Parliament!
Our country’s leaders need to lift their game and demonstrate leadership, intellectual rigour and values that we as seniors recall as the “good old days”!
Despite all this we still live in the lucky country. I was reminded of this when I observed a tweet on the bottom of my television screen during a recent ABC program which commented “…better this metaphorical blood-letting than the reality many people in other countries have to endure with the state of their political systems”.
PS In March, I met with the federal Minister for Ageing, Mark Butler, who emphasised the Government’s commitment to aged care reform. I shared with the Minister the key and consistent messages coming from the National Seniors membership during its recent aged care forums and polling. The Minister is keen to ensure ongoing dialogue with our organisation.
Now that Ms Gillard has been confirmed by caucus as the leader of the Australian Labor Party and hence Prime Minister of Australia, I hope our parliamentarians will get on with governing our country.
I fear however the media will continue to probe the issues surrounding the recent dysfunction of Government and this will continue to distract politicians from their real role as they respond to this continual media barrage.
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I have been appalled at the behaviour exhibited by both sides of the House in Federal Parliament. I held out hope with a new Speaker we might see some discipline and decorum during question time. The Speaker dressed more traditionally and some rules were emphasised but this has had little influence on the behaviours and standard of debate in the House.
The shallowness of the debate in our Parliament is lamentable.
Questions from back benchers to their front bench colleagues are no more than thinly disguised cues for party media statements. Cross the floor questioning is probably more rightly termed muckraking or ridicule. I cannot recall character assassinations and a sense of hatred of such intensity as has been aired in Parliament and consequently in the media over the past few weeks. I cringe when I hear the Speaker introduce a foreign delegation into the gallery of the House during one of these unpleasant verbal stoushes. What must they think?
We deserve better from our parliamentarians and the parliamentary process. Where have such values as courtesy, consideration and respect gone?
I enjoy the occasional jibe and the wit politicians have exhibited in the past. We will all remember politicians from both sides of the political spectrum with particular talents for this. These were uttered without malice and were more light hearted interludes in the debating process.
Frankly, I have observed better behaviour in a class full of Year 9 testosterone charged boys than in our current Parliament!
Our country’s leaders need to lift their game and demonstrate leadership, intellectual rigour and values that we as seniors recall as the “good old days”!
Despite all this we still live in the lucky country. I was reminded of this when I observed a tweet on the bottom of my television screen during a recent ABC program which commented “…better this metaphorical blood-letting than the reality many people in other countries have to endure with the state of their political systems”.
PS In March, I met with the federal Minister for Ageing, Mark Butler, who emphasised the Government’s commitment to aged care reform. I shared with the Minister the key and consistent messages coming from the National Seniors membership during its recent aged care forums and polling. The Minister is keen to ensure ongoing dialogue with our organisation.
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