Written by Hannah Worsley – Country To Canberra Teen Blogger
Now that the dust has settled on the 2016 election and we finally have a new prime-minister, I want to talk about how minority and marginalised groups in Australia are used as pawns at election time. I believe that this explains a great deal of the ‘apathy’, ‘disinterest’, and ‘disengagement’ we are seeing in Australia surrounding voting and politics in general.
Especially when we step outside election time, Australians that fall into such groups are beginning to feel a little disillusioned -they slip under the radar, or are pushed under the radar, for years of a government’s term of office. When they emerge, or are dragged unceremoniously from their forced hibernation, the surrounding discussion is insensitive, focussed on the short-term, and guided heavily by the media.
Calls for a removal of the ridiculous tampon tax are either ignored, or even worse, met with a complete lack of understanding by the male-dominated cabinet. It’s almost like they’ve never actually realised that women not only have, but pay for their periods. Discussions of domestic violence and the negative discourse encouraged by sexist jokes are dismissed as “hysterical”, by cisgender, heterosexual, white, middle-aged, privileged men.
The Safe Schools Program is targeted not only by hate-mongering community groups, but also by prominent political figures and groups who frankly should know better than to fall victim to actual hysteria. Penny Wong explaining that a plebiscite is simply going to create a detrimental cocktail of backward religious lobbying, harmful community views on same-sex relationships, and legitimised discrimination in word and action, is simply met with the aforementioned privileged males saying “well yeah, but same tho”.
Targeted responses to rural mental health are few and far between, and there’s a whole lot of talk about ‘farmers, farmers, farmers’ and how they’re the backbone of Australia, only to be met with poorly researched free-trade agreements and strange claims of abuse in the wool industry by organisations such as PETA. We are a group represented by a bunch of blokes in Akubras (I’m looking at you Bob Katter and Barnaby Joyce), misrepresenting the amazing determination, intelligence, and diversity in our rural communities. For the backbone of Australia, we might as well be paralysed.
What I’m trying to illustrate is that the tokenistic way minority and marginalised groups are treated and referred to, simply encourages a cycle of political disinterest. The 2016 election tried to really hit home that ‘every vote counts’, but it seems odd that we almost have a tradition of wilful ignorance. It’s not easy to admit that our national cultural attitudes contribute to a society conducive to domestic violence. It’s not comfortable to talk about notions of sexuality that not too long ago were illegal. It’s far more simple to just accept that country people are ‘just’ country people, rather than to come up with innovative ways to support our agricultural industry.
We need greater representation of pretty much everyone besides the cisgender, heterosexual, white, middle-aged, privileged men. We need greater confidence when telling people like Steve Price that their views simply aren’t welcome anymore. We need innovative and agile health policies, not innovative and agile evasion of important but uncomfortable questions on the 7.30 Report.
For crying out loud, we’re a country renowned for our “mateship, courage, and loyalty”. Yet our political parties can’t even work together on issues like domestic violence, courage isn’t a word in the political dictionary when it comes to speaking out against sexism, and a simple lack of loyalty leads to a constantly changing leadership and a lack of interest from, well, just about everyone.