Amid the frantic polling and statistics being thrown around in the final weeks of this election campaign, one number stands out like a boil on the nation's derriere: 13. This is the number of endorsed party candidates who have been forced to resign their candidacy due to inappropriate behaviour or statements.
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Nine Liberal, three Labor and one One Nation candidate have failed to meet their party's standards of behaviour and speech; and certainly not the standards expected by the public of our potential representatives. This number doesn't include several United Australia Party candidates whose behaviour or comments, while reported as inappropriate for people seeking public office, presumably don't bother the party leadership.
How did it come to this? Are political parties so desperate for candidates that they'll pre-select anyone who puts up their hand? Do these candidates honestly believe that the mere fact of pre-selection allows them to air views that are unacceptable to the vast majority of the population?
The major political parties in this country have long and proud histories. Both Labor and Liberal were founded on values as relevant now as they were in 1891 and 1949 respectively. Among these values are decency and respect. Yet somehow candidates are being endorsed whose comments on, among other subjects, women, multiculturalism, sexuality and religious diversity are slipping into the party process seemingly undetected until it's too late.
There are five reasons under Section 44 of the Australian Constitution that disqualify a person from parliamentary office. Being a racist, misogynist or homophobic are not among them and certainly, we know such people already occupy seats in our parliament. In most cases, these are confined to independents or minor parties who find that once in the halls of power, they resort to inflammatory comments to gain attention.
The major parties are a different matter, and the fact that between them, they have managed to endorse a dozen candidates who have been found unsuitable to represent the party only after endorsement should be a worry to all of us. It is no small wonder that, given this development, people are cynical and disengaged from the political process. Or is it a chicken-or-egg situation? Has public disengagement led to party cynicism? Perhaps we need to lift our game as well.
