{"id":23117,"date":"2014-10-23T05:13:37","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T18:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=23117"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:56:26","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T13:56:26","slug":"participation-antidote-to-cynicism-the-indivotes-democratic-revolution-by-adropex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/participation-antidote-to-cynicism-the-indivotes-democratic-revolution-by-adropex\/","title":{"rendered":"Participation an antidote to #Auspol cynicism: the #IndiVotes democratic revolution, by @adropex"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat do rowers and politicians have in common?\u201d asked Dr Simon Longstaff AO, Executive Director of the St James Ethics Centre. \u201cThey both look one way and go another.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr Simon Longstaff AO, Executive Director of the St James Ethics Centre. Photo: Wayne Jansson<\/p><\/div>\n

This resonated with the 265 attendees at the  \u201cIndi talks Democracy\u201d event who came to listen to Simon Longstaff and, \u201cthe warhorse from the inside\u201d, former Federal Independent Member for New England Tony Windsor, discuss the ethics of politics. As the two men delivered their words, listened and answered questions, it was clear that it wasn\u2019t so much what they said as the conversations that were being had that were paramount. The attendees were reminded of what they already knew but had, perhaps, put aside in their frustration and disappointment at the way politics is being played out today. Democracy is government by the people, for the people.<\/p>\n

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Simon Longstaff and Tony Windsor answer questions at #IndiTalks Democracy. Photo: Wayne Jansson<\/p><\/div>\n

No politician or political party owns the parliament. The parliament is a public institution and it is ours. A political party is simply a private organisation. The persons of the government are the ultimate authority and they are there, by consent of the people, to exercise that authority not to wield power. Power resides with the people.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe only authority I have, is to go to Canberra and vote. The power is ours to make the community the one we want it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Cathy McGowan, Federal Independent Member for Indi<\/em><\/p>\n

When we cast our vote for our preferred candidate we are giving our consent to be represented by them. The making and keeping of promises by the candidates is paramount in the process of informing us, the voting public. If election promises are not kept the process is a sham. We have not been properly informed; in fact we have been misinformed. That is not democracy.<\/p>\n

We need to rethink what our democratic system is doing. The party machine does not champion the constituents. Career rewards are given to politicians because they are good party members not because they are good parliamentarians.<\/p>\n

\u201cMajor parties have vacated the position with respect to ethical commitments and honoring commitments.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tony Windsor<\/em><\/p>\n

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Independent Member for Indi Cathy McGowan MP and former independent Member for New England Tony Windsor. Photo: Wayne Jansson<\/p><\/div>\n

The attendees at the Inditalks event were asked what was their motivation for coming. Overwhelmingly the message was that they were disillusioned, disappointed and disenchanted with the current political system and political media coverage. They were disgusted at the culture of mud slinging, the lack of respect and the spin. Former publisher of the Mansfield Observer, Joan Tehan, commented that she worked in media at a time when it published people\u2019s opinions but now \u201cmedia had turned into a superpower\u201d.<\/p>\n

Competition is the  major driver of the political process today and the prime objective is to obtain power. Marginal seats, which Indi has now become, are the focus of the party machines because they can make or break a party\u2019s power. Safe seats are invisible. You just need to look at what is being offered up by both Labor and the LNP to the marginal Victorian seats of Geelong, Cranbourne and Prahran in the run up to the state election and compare that to safe seats whose names don\u2019t rate a mention in the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe major political players have lost their philosophical drive. What we have now are management teams vying to control the country\u2026some people would prefer to see an electorate go backwards for political advantage.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tony Windsor<\/em><\/p>\n

Social, health, education and environmental issues are constantly described in economic terms, a practice that has crowded out our language and infected political debate. Prosperity is framed by materialism and security is framed by fear. Ethics is not valued in the decision-making process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is run by those that turn up. If you don\u2019t bother to turn up you will end up with a world run by others.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Tony Windsor<\/em><\/p>\n

People need to begin to be proactive and move from wanting something done to doing something in a way that works for them. Participation is an antidote to cynicism.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can be the change we want to see in our world.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jenny Podesta, Labor candidate for Benambra<\/em><\/p>\n

To effect change, enough people have to want change and to find agreement on a set of shared interests. Simon Longstaff tells us that:<\/p>\n

\u201cEthics is not about mindlessly conforming to a set of rules\u2026it is about thinking about what you are doing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On finding common ground, Tony Windsor asks us to challenge ourselves:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I really disagree, or do I traditionally disagree\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When people have a voice, are listened to and really listen to others they feel they have some form of ownership in the outcomes. It is a conversation they are a part of.  Disparate groups can find points in common and can coalesce to have a strong voice.<\/p>\n

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Kate Auty of Strathbogie Voices also spoke and participated in #IndiTalks Democracy. Photo: Wayne Jansson<\/p><\/div>\n

Voice for Indi\u2019s genesis came from the same sense of disillusion and disenchantment with the electoral process described by the people who attended IndiTalks. Voice for Indi was not a collective of people who magically agreed on all points. They were members of a community who came together and defined an ethical framework by which they wished to operate and by which they wished to connect with the wider community and their elected representative. They were proactive, worked by consensus and invited community conversations. They operated on values of respect, equality and accord. The electorate of Indi\u2019s voice was heard in the 2013 election. It was not always listened to respectfully, but it was heard.<\/p>\n

True to the Voice for Indi model, IndiTalks promoted discussion through participatory conversation, respectful listening and finding common ground as a way forward. The Voice for Indi model has evolved. In line with the value that every voice is important, it is now Voices for Indi and this event heralds the transition from facilitating community conversation to encouraging community activity, IndiTalks to IndiActs.<\/p>\n

Community engagement is not only necessary but it is also our responsibility. The ways in which we engage with our political representatives are important. We have to insist on conversations that go beyond the economic imperative. The parties will have to do the listening and be attentive otherwise an independent will step in.<\/p>\n

Jenny O\u2019Connor, The Greens candidate for Northern Victoria, attended and later tweeted:<\/p>\n

Great to see engaged people from across the political spectrum put difference aside and find common ground – our communities #inditalks<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jenny O’Connor (@JennyJenocon) October 19, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n