A note about the roundups
I have produced these roundups every week, with the occasional short break, since late 2018. At first they were an aspect of Pearls and Irritations, but P&I became more specialized in defence and foreign affairs, and uses a different format, publishing whole articles rather than links to other publications.
My intention has been to provide interpretations, and different frames of thinking, about domestic policy matters that overworked journalists in the mainstream media may have missed, and to ensure that readers, wherever possible, have links to original source material such as ABS statistics and organizations’ submissions to government inquiries. Most journalists, pressured by tight deadlines, just don’t have the time to fit their stories into broader or longer-term contexts.
During the Covid pandemic, because there were many numbers flying around, I tried to pull them together to provide some consistent account of what was happening, and to point readers to reliable sources.
One particular journalist bias I sought to counter was the established idea that our democracy is a simple two-party system. That public idea has had enough inertia to hang on too long, in defiance of evidence to the contrary. Perhaps today’s election will confirm that our political world has changed.
I have tried to bring to the public policy debates my own experience as an electrical engineer and as an academic who has taught and researched public economics and finance. In my judgement the government’s energy policies are not perfect: the National Energy Market is poorly designed, and we should have a carbon price rather than so many complex arrangements. But if it can be carried through without deliberate obstruction, the Albanese government’s program for an energy transition will deliver low-cost and reliable energy, while meeting our climate change commitments. The Coalition’s ideas on energy fail badly on engineering, economic and environmental grounds.
Like many people I have been concerned by the rise of right-wing populist movements, offering simple solutions to difficult problems, while dismissing established guides to public policy – reliance on evidence, logical argument, and the informed opinions of impartial experts.
Our elections have always had scare campaigns and ridiculous assertions about the consequences of voting for the other side. It’s far from an ideal situation because it confuses rather than informs voters about policy choices, but it’s kept partly in check by Australians’ well-honed capacity for bullshit detection. The Voice referendum, however, saw the emergence of something more worrying – what some call post-truth politics. Particularly chilling was the repeated message “if you don’t know vote no”.
That was a violation of the moral frameworks by which most people lead their lives. We have a duty to be as well-informed as possible when making decisions that affect others’ well-being. Our choice at the ballot box is perhaps the most consequential choice we make.
Dutton used that referendum not as an opportunity to put forward an argument, but as an opportunity to lay a blow on his political opponent. The same behaviour has persisted into this election campaign, where he has taken the Coalition on a path closely resembling that taken by Nigel Farage, Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump. Any student of history knows where that path leads.
That’s why I see the political behaviour of Dutton and his close followers as a threat not only to our democracy but also to our future prosperity.
I stress that my warnings in these roundups have been about Dutton’s behaviour, not his character. He has no doubt reaped political rewards from promoting division and appealing to people’s ignorance, but that does not justify such behaviour. I believe that anyone who consistently and deliberately exhibits that behaviour is not suited to hold office in a democracy.
The outcome I hope for today is good government – that is a Parliament and an executive government of policymakers and lawmakers guided by evidence, logic, and concern for the wellbeing of Australians and those with whom we interact. A government formed by the federal Coalition in its present form would not fit that requirement.
There will be a short roundup next week, and then a break for a month or two, after which I hope to return to my preferred work analysing and commenting on energy policy and other aspects of economic structure, without the distraction of a Trumpian threat to our democracy.
Disclosure I belong to no political party. My only political donations this year have been to Climate 200.