Faulkner slams Labor's 'anaemic' culture

GIVE US A VISION

In a recent speech Labor Senator John Faulkner has lashed out at his "anaemic" party, which he warns risks losing a generation of followers.

I think Faulkner has hit the nail on the head here about, not only the the Australian Labor Party, but all parties who are acting more like businesses attempting to model their goods and services to attract a target market.


What colour packaging would catch your eye Mr Consumer? Do you like it crunchy or smooth? Ok, we will go off and try to put together something that you will buy!

"We commission focus groups to find out not just what people think of what we say, but all too often, what we should be saying at all," he said.

The job of a political party, as Faulkner alludes to, is to prove to the electorate that it can lead, that is it has the vision and capability and the guts.

Yes a successful party being elected in a democratic country must reflect the views of the electorate, that is what a democracy is all about, a government being the servant of the people.

But people realise that they can not hope to be expert on all elements of government, the day to day minutiae, that is why we have elected officials and wall to wall public servants. The electorate, the people of Australia want "Big Picture". It is craving for vision.

When was the last time you heard a "Vision Statement" in Australia from a major political party. Stuff your day to day operational stuff,  don't ask me if I would vote for Julia Gillard if she changed her hairstyle and stopped wearing red. Tell me where you, our political parties, propose to  lead us to in the next 20 years.

Tell me what kind of country my children and grand children be living in? Who will we be aligned with? What will we stand for in the world?

Don't ask me in a focus group.

Tell me where you believe Australia should be and the road we must follow to get there then ask me at the ballot box if that's the road I want to go down and the destination I want to arrive at.


Faulkner slams Labor's 'anaemic' culture - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)