With the circus sideshow of American politics reaching critical mass, it's very easy to forget that other nations, including the nation we live in, also have politicians. It's also very easy to forget that politicians who are consistently in the public eye are a very unique kind of person; ambitious and driven enough to slog through the dehumanising gauntlet of party politics, savvy enough to secure top spot and yet, somehow... consistently unlikeable. In recent memory, I cannot name a politician who came of as a person I would like. There have been funny ones of all different flavours, and even a couple of effective ones, but none I can honestly say I liked as people.
Ignoring names for a moment, let us reflect on the narrative that has been Australian politics these last two terms. A divisive but ultimately respected and long-serving Liberal Prime Minister is replaced by yet another divisive figure; the intelligent and media-savvy Labor leader who had (and possibly still has) the unfortunate personality quirk of being a stubborn, arrogant, unpleasant, self absorbed and controlling douche. Said Labor leader steered Australia through the GFC, arguably thanks to the economic stability that the Liberal Party gave Australia during its reign. You could argue this specific detail until the words lose all meaning but whether the Labor leader was just a lucky passenger or an economic mastermind is largely irrelevant; Australia handled the GFC better than a lot of other nations while the Labor Party held power. Fact.
Then... well, balls were dropped. The industry bigwigs who pull the strings of the Labor Party (this isn't a conspiracy rant, Labor is largely run by union leaders and lawyers rather than politicians. Kinda cool in theory but fucking awful in practice) were unhappy with how their figurehead leader was acting more like a leader than a figurehead, so even though his mining tax scheme failed (mostly due to the spectacularly poor decision to seek support from the Liberal Party rather than The Greens), the Sword of Damacles inevitably fell, and his simultaneously historic (due to her gender) and disappointing (because of her voice, leadership style and public persona) successor stepped in.
Then, election time, and the Battle of Banality began. Both leaders, the irritating and ineffectual Labor leader and the hauntingly pious, moronic and sexist Liberal leader fought it out via "heartfelt" (read: shallow, pandering and a little bit racist) advertisements, while fringe parties from all ends of the political spectrum received an increased amount of attention due to the largely disaffected masses. Labor won by striking an accord with The Greens and two independent candidates, and what is, on paper at least, the most left-leaning government in Australian history.
The characters, narrative and set pieces are all perfect for some great comedic political storytelling, but whereas the American system almost invites, by virtue of its free and largely unregulated workings, edgy and intelligent insights, the much more fair and reasonable Australian system coats the whole proceeding with an air of beige central-ness. Which is a shame, because hot damn if our politicians don't need the Jon Stewart treatment.
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