In the past couple of decades, a serious issue has befallen the Australian nation. Whilst its rise has been slow and subtle, its effects have been far less inconspicuous. According to a recent study by the Australian National University, satisfaction with our democracy dropped by 14% between 2007 and 2014, and 20% of eligible voters failed to cast a formal vote in the 2013 Federal Elections.
The issue at hand here is the unbearable apathy that we, as Australians, seem to display towards our precious democracy. It has been stifling our national self-esteem and democratic process for a long time now, and alarmingly it's only getting worse. Put simply, every year, Australians care less and less about politics and our future. We as a nation are giving up on democracy and are growing fat with cynicism. In my opinion, getting rid of Australia's apathy problem is of utmost importance to us all.
It doesn’t take much time to realise that Australians are largely apathetic towards politics, their nation and to be honest, almost any major topic of national importance. This is extremely sad, frustrating and even a little embarrassing at times. We are so lucky to live in a country with such a fair and non-corrupt system of government. In comparison to the rest of the world we are incredibly rich and have very little to worry about in terms of major infringements of rights and freedoms. As someone who has travelled internationally, and who has many contacts overseas, I really cannot stress how good our country is. This is thanks to many great people, decisions, and no amount of luck. But it is coming under threat. Our national psyche is sick. We simply don’t care about a great deal of important things now, and if we keep that up, we are going to let many serious problems get a lot worse, and allow for even more problems to develop.
There will be two sections to this article, the first will list the causes and effects of apathy here in Australia and the second shall discuss what we can do about it, and how we, as the Australian population, can make a difference. So without further adieu, let us dive into the issue.
The Causes
Any Australian will tell you that currently, the state of our political scene is atrocious. Confidence in the democracy which has protected our rights and freedoms for decades is quickly been worn thin by many politicians in Parliament who are too focused on party rivalries, factional disputes and their own interests (or reelection) to fully commit to serving the Australian people. This is by no means a problem unique to Australia, which is worrying, since Australia used to pride itself on having a healthier government than the majority of nations, but that’s just no longer true. I acknowledge that there are many, many politicians in Parliament striving to do the best for our country, but sadly, it has not been enough. In six years, we have had four Prime Ministers with three of those being backstabbed by their predecessors and/or successors. It is ridiculous, and it has severely undermined the trust of the Australian people in their democracy.
In case that wasn't damaging enough for our combined self-esteem, the likes of Clive Palmer and Tony Abbott began to drive us into a state of national embarrassment and shame. This was especially true for Abbott, who during his time in office, probably managed to insult at least half of Australia on different occasions, and made such a fool of himself that sometimes, he would have fit right in on an episode of Mr Bean, though the famous character never went as far as eating a raw onion on camera. The media had many a field day over his shocking actions and comments, which almost became routine, but since the stories were only highlighting the awkward nature of our politics and national condition, they hardly motivated anyone to try any harder to fix what was going on. It is clear that another major contributor to Australia's political apathy is poor leadership, especially by individuals such as Abbott.
Another reason why we have so much political apathy in Australia is the poor delivery of politics to the general population by the media. Very often, political events are covered in a very non-engaging way, and complicated issues are not explained in a way that common Australians can understand, thus alienating much of the population. This is one of the reasons why politics is seen as such a boring thing in Australia, it simply isn't conveyed in an interesting way. As soon as Australians start to switch the channel on their TV away from politics, they are switching away from politics in their own life. However, media that explains politics is at least better than that which totally avoids the subject and instead focuses on trivial issues. It is media such as this which distracts people from problems that are actually serious, and instead focusses on, for example, a neighbourhood battle over a water main. Human beings naturally have a certain amount of energy dedicated towards trying to make change, and this energy should not be squandered on caring about non-events. Imagine if after the news, instead of seeing a TV investigation about how to get your next bargain on a product, we were confronted with an interesting and engaging issue that was being debated in Parliament. The nation would be in a lot better place if this were the case. Instead however, every day, Australians get riled up about the latest crook they saw on A Current Affair, instead of learning about issues such as corruption in their own government.
But it is not just adults who are unintentionally conditioned to not care about politics, it is also the next generation. At schools across the nation, students are taught the basics of mathematics, geography, science and English, and yet they are barely taught a thing about the government of their country, and how they can have a say. How can we expect someone to get involved in something when they hardly understand a thing about it? What little that is taught about our political system is imparted in a very boring way which only pushes children further away from the democratic process and instead teaches them not to bother with such a dry and unengaging subject. This should be considered a near national tragedy, as it estranges many youth from ever caring about their nation's politics.
At this point in the article, I've laid a lot of blame on external factors for making the Australian people so apathetic about politics. Much of the blame lies with our politicians, lack of political diversity, bad media representation of politics and poor education, but a lot of the onus needs to go to us, the regular Australians. Whilst we've got a great many reasons to be tempted not to care about politics, this does not mean that we have an excuse not to care. At the end of the day, it is our fault for giving up on our democratic system. We are the ones who have lost faith in democracy, and we are the ones who have taken it for granted. We have contributed just as much to this loss of faith as Bronwyn Bishop, who squandered tax dollars on helicopter rides when we simply think to ourselves "gee I hate politics" or "politics is so boring". That thought undermines the country. Caring about politics is not a hobby, it is a responsibility. Many of the problems that affect this nation could easily be fixed if everyone made the effort to get involved. So how can get rid of political apathy?
The Solutions
We are all partly responsible for what has happened to our society. We have allowed our politicians to become like this. It is us, the Australian nation, which has not spoken up. If we had, we would have better political parties, more diversity in government, and media that interesting portrayed our political scene. Had we not taken our democracy for granted, this would not have happen, and we could have held our government to account.
But, we were not just wrong to allow this situation to get out of hand. We were also wrong to give up. Despite all of the factors I've talked about, at the end of the day, it is us, the Australian nation which has collectively given up on our democratic process. Whenever we think or say "I hate politics", we undermine the health of our nation. This is a battle in our hearts and minds. We cannot afford to give up on the democracy and political system which has made our country so great, and which has allowed us our rights and freedoms. The situation is bad, and it might seem as if the odds are stacked against us, but we have no choice but to fight to care again.
What does this fight look like? Firstly, we must endeavour to change our attitudes to politics and democracy. It starts by putting away apathetic thoughts, and by making a conscious effort to care. We must also encourage each other to care, tell your family and friends, and give them a hard time when they slacken off! Once we begin to care about issues again, we will see a national conversation being generated, not on non-issues but on matters of real importance. It will be a peaceful revolution within society. Politicians will be pushed to be proactive, not reactive and would put the nation above their political careers. It would be an end to party feuds, petty bickering and constant jostles for cabinet leadership. What's more, since the Australian people would care about all sorts of issues with a genuine passion, dozens of new, potentially major political parties would spring up. At long last, every voter would have a side that they could fully agree with. Lastly, the media would react to the new public interest by talking about serious topics in a serious, but interesting matter. This would only serve to further boost the awareness of the population, and strangle apathy and blissful ignorance.
I genuinely believe that if people just started to care and make their voice heard instead of giving up on the very democracy that protects them, our whole nation would be revitalised, and a new era of reform and debate would be born. So I would like to throw down the gauntlet and make a personal challenge to you, the reader. During the following days, weeks and months, try to care. Speak up on issues you care about, hold your politicians to account and educate yourself on things that matter. We can all make a difference, but that starts with actually bothering to, so give it a go. The future awaits.