34 days... and life still goes on

(Instagram 11.9.13)

The 2013 Federal election was technically 34 days long. On Saturday September 7, Australia peacefully changed governments and brought in Tony Abbott as our new Prime Minister.

Much of this is actually incredible considering the other political situations in the world like Syria, Egypt, Burma, K.Rudd's best mates China etc.

I am sure many of you were expecting me to write a post earlier than this. However, I have needed a few days to process all that has happened. And I also felt I needed to wait to see what would happen. It is interesting the process of voting. A few numbers on a piece of paper is all we have to do. But the ramifications of these numbers as a collective have massive consequences. I don't think many of us can or do realise this.

But life still goes on. I actually can't think of one thing that has changed in my life since Saturday except for the contents of my Facebook newsfeed. There is still laundry to be done, work to do, children to teach, train and feed; friends and family to love.

Here are some thoughts on the election results and post-election that I can poetically inscribed within an appropriate acrostic VOTE:

V - Victor. The victor of this election is Tony Abbott. Someone who, I confess, I have said to The Man a few times "if he ever becomes Prime Minister, can we leave the country?" Yet, in fact, this hypothetical has become a reality. I saw it coming but for some reason did not wish it to happen. Many of this is because of his policies on the environment (see previous posts). He probably has personal values that actually reflect my own more so than K.Rudd. I found this article very amusing.
One victor of  this election is also the Liberal member for my electorate who just won by an extremely small margin. (The sitting member was Labour) It has taken over 3 days for my electorate to be called. THREE DAYS!! Quite exciting!! This means they would of have to count every single number place on that green paper! I am glad the member is with the government as opposed to opposition.  Holding the seat with such a thin margin should guarantee he will read my (future) letters  (maybe rants) about climate change/asylum seekers/environment etc etc.

O - Opposition. I have a strange fascination with how the opposition will rebuild itself after defeat. You would hope they would listen to the electorates and tackle the issues of disunity and dysfunction. My interest in Labour does centre around what role Tanya Plibersek will have in the new opposition.  I have found her to be an impressive person in the way she conducts herself when she speaks both in a formal and unprepared way. When Ben Pobjie of the Guardian described her potential prime minister-ship as her "glorious regime", I realised I felt some infirmity with that. Not that I am in her electorate nor would vote for Labour just for her (though she would be a good draw card.) At the moment it appears the opposition leader could be Albo or Shorten. Neither seem impressive. But, it is a wait-and-see game. The way the Liberals were able to rebuild after they lost under Howard is pretty amazing.

T - Time. Being politically engaged takes time. A lot of time. Just trying to keep your finger on the pulse with not just what is going on but reading opinions that both agree and disagree with your own takes a fair amount of time that I don't think the ordinary person has. Or, at least the mum of two children who works 3 days a week and participates in extra-circular activities like me can do. I am glad that I gave my vote the time and thought it needed.  This vote was probably the most thought-through vote I have cast in the 15 or so years I have been able to vote. But it does take time. So I can see why the "sound-bite" policies and one-liners works for people. It would be good to be able to go to one place to get  information in a relate-able, human way. It also takes time to blog about this stuff.

E - Engaged.  Or more importantly, stay engaged. Going through this process has made me see that being engaged needs to be more than just one day, one vote. A lot can be done over the next three years and my minister is now accountable to me for decisions made on my behalf as the government. They won't know what I want unless I tell them. It's empowering as well as burdensome.

With that said, I think this may not be the last post on this blog. I had originally thought I would finish at post #34. 34 posts for 34 days of the election campaign (nice huh?) But I need to stay engaged and so I think I may keep posting (though maybe in a somewhat adhoc fashion) anything helpful I read.

Plus, the NSW State election is in less than 2 years time. Which made me realise... I don't even know who the NSW Opposition leader is... (Thanks in advance Google).