After witnessing six months of blanket media coverage over same sex marriage (SSM), we are now having to endure similar narrow coverage about Australia Day, with Labor’s Anthony Albanese over the weekend calling for referendums on the republic and indigenous constitutional recognition to be held on a January 26, as a way of creating a national “platform of unity’’ (see H&H’s post yesterday).
Yesterday afternoon, Bill Shorten’s ally, Richard Marles, entered the fray, offering support to Albanese’s proposal, stating it was “really interesting” and “worth thinking through”:
“I think dealing with our great questions of national sovereignty and indeed the place of First Australians within the status of Australia are really important, and we’ve been saying for some time now that I think the question of a republic needs to be looked at again”…
This latest voter distraction comes as a rampaging energy cartel continues to ravage the East Coast economy, a housing bubble rips the heart from young Australians, and out-of-control population growth crush-loads Sydney and Melbourne.
Indeed, an October Galaxy Research poll of what should be priority areas for the federal government found that energy costs (54%), terrorism (48%) and housing affordability (46%) were way out in front, dwarfing SSM (16%). Job security, education, the environment and stable government also all outranked SSM in importance.
None of this should be a surprise. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs places necessities like housing affordability, job security and utilities way out in front:
Don’t get me wrong, I support each of these issues and would vote “yes” if put to a vote. But let’s be honest for a moment: these are peripheral issues to the national interest and the focus they receive in our national media discussion distracts from crucial larger debates that Australia needs to have.
The referenda and plebiscites that we really need include:
- What is the appropriate level of immigration in the national interest?
- Should Australian gas assets be nationalised?
- Should money supply remain in the hands of serial bubble-blowing banks?
