Assignment 1 - Essay question: To what extent can Australian values be said to exist? PDF

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Essay question: To what extent can Australian values be said to exist?...

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Essay Question: To what extent can Australian values be said to exist?

Unlike the revolutionary circumstances of America’s founding or England’s long spanning institutional struggle, Australia’s system of liberal democracy was founded after federation in an undramatic and concise manner. The implementation of an Australian bicameral parliament, a tried and tested colonial political system, seemed so unnoteworthy that it contentedly stood as an act of British parliament in its first instance. Such political mellowness has seemingly been ingrained into Australian ideology or perhaps it is the defining factor of our cultural belief as Australians. Without a proper system of governance set out in our constitution, a constitution mirrored off the British and their codified government, maybe it is inevitable that Australian values are contained within their shallowness. The founding fathers of America were heavily against an elected government that still had the potential to become a despotic institution and thus focused strongly on limiting the accumulation of power. Such “sense of constitutionism”1 cannot be seen in Australian politics however. Our system of governance is beset with fatal flaws which enable an unclear chain of accountability. Whilst we boast of the benefits of our “responsible government”, the division of legislative responsibilities makes it unclear whether the senate of commonwealth should be held accountable. In addition, the senate’s executive ability to block and change amendments serves not to balance power and keep check on the house of representatives but rather its existence dilutes democracy through restriction of decisionmaking power. Yet, we accept the false belief that our responsible government does incur a chain of responsibility despite all evidence pointing to the opposite- the result of entrenchment into conservative core beliefs and disregard for democracy. Australia’s unclear vision for democracy is exemplified by the dismissal of the 1975 Whitlam government. This calculated effort by the tiny elite to deny legitimacy to a majority-backed government using flaws in the constitution to act as obstacles “placed democracy itself under question” 2. The lack of resistance against the status quo places Australians and their acceptance of well-resourced vested interests heavily shaping public opinion under question. Why was there no regulation and limitation of campaign donations and backdoor lobbying? Perhaps the Australian sense of democracy is only a lingering thought. Similarly, our sense of liberalism is equally as diminished. The clear lack of rights and freedoms that face our country go unchallenged or are effectively ignored by the elite few who hold the reins to governance. Institutionalised policies such as mandatory detention of asylum seekers, mandatory sentencing, indigenous intervention, freedom of press (or rather the lack thereof) reflect a lessened public interest in whether or not our liberal freedoms are being violated. It may be a point of contention that Australia’s cultural beliefs while seemingly empowering also limit our liberal values. The nationally recognised saying of giving everyone a “fair go” seems more of a Marxist exercise in false consciousness rather than an ideology that promotes ideas in order to try and transform society. Divorced from reality, Australian values uphold none of the societal reshaping they ought to. Australians have come to protect status quo for practical reason rather than critique existing society and develop new ideas.

1 Miragliotta, N., Errington, W. & Barry, N. (2013). ‘Democracy and liberalism in Australia’ in The Australian political system in action second edition, 1-19. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. 2 Maddox, G. (1996) The nature of politics. In Australian democracy in theory and practice, 1-38. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education...