With the blanket media coverage over same sex marriage (SSM), you’d think it was the most important issue confronting Australia. Former PM Bob Hawke recently went so far as to say:
Feisty former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke has called the same-sex marriage postal survey the worst economic decision since federation as Tony Abbott hinted he thinks Mr Hawke is a “silly old bugger”.
The Federal Government’s voluntary survey of whether Australians want to change the marriage laws is estimated to cost about $120 million.
Mr Hawke damned the idea on Wednesday during an appearance at the National Press Club in Canberra.
How Australians think about same-sex marriage, mapped
Polling consistently shows most voters support same-sex marriage — but how do views vary across the country?
“I genuinely believe that the decision by Malcolm Fraser (apparently meaning Malcolm Turnbull rather than his old political foe) to have this postal vote is the worst economic decision made by any prime minister since federation,” Mr Hawke said.
This, as a rampaging energy cartel ravages the east coast economy, a housing bubble rips the heart from young Australians and out-of-control population growth crush-loads eastern cities. I mean, come on.
The truth is, the SSM debate is mostly distraction, affecting only 4% of the population. I would prefer that our policy makers focus on issues of genuine concern, and I am not alone, from The Daily Telegraph:
AUSTRALIANS of all ages and political persuasions agree on what we should be talking about — and it’s not same-sex marriage.
A new national survey of what people consider to be the most pressing issues reveals energy costs, terrorism and housing affordability are way out in front.
When asked to select three priority areas for the Federal Government, 54 per cent of respondents to a Galaxy Research poll for the Australian Futures Project included energy costs; 48 per cent nominated terrorism and security and 46 per cent said housing affordability.
Just 16 per cent put same-sex marriage in their top three. Job security, education, the environment and stable government all outranked same-sex marriage.
“With same-sex marriage it’s a case of how many people is it going to affect, especially economically,” said Galaxy Research managing director David Briggs. “It’s not really going to have a direct impact on a lot of people.”
“What we are looking at here is a hip-pocket response,” Mr Briggs said. “Energy costs is the issue most likely to affect people. They are seeing their bills increase and there seems to be no solution in sight”…
The poll, which was weighted to reflect the national population, also found 44 per cent of Australians consider themselves worse off now than they were five years ago, while just half that number think their lives have improved. Green voters and millennials are most likely to say they are better off.
None of this should be a surprise. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places necessities like housing affordability, job security and utilities well above things like SSM:
Don’t get me wrong, I support SSM and voted “yes”. But it is a peripheral issue to the national interest and the focus it gets in our national discussion media distracts from crucial larger debates.
Let’s move on!
