holiday weekend here. I suspect that, as usual, all the Republicans took the day off. I glanced at the Honours List. My name was not there. Nobody is ever likely to honour a cat but I do like to know if there is anyone I know on the list. There has been in the past.
It would be embarrassing to fail to congratulate them.
There were some Republicans on the list. They do not seem to mind that bit of the monarchical past they so object to. As Australia is, technically, a republic it does make me wonder what they really want. I suspect it is more power. They probably see themselves as President. "Governor-General" does not have the same ring to it - and there are plans for the President to have more power. I do not like it. Things work well the way they are now. I know, I know there are problems in Britain. The Westminster system is under fire. Reading carefully however I suspect that it is not the Westminster system which is the problem but some of the people who were elected to be part of it. We have the same problem here. We may even have a bigger problem here because we have what is called 'compulsory voting'. There is in fact no compulsion to vote but there is a compulsion to attend at the ballot box and most people believe that is the same thing.
I am opposed to such a system. People should be encouraged to vote but they should not be compelled to attend at the ballot box. It is a system that allows politicians to be lazy about policy as well as the people they are supposed to serve. They know most people will vote the same way for life. They only need to concentrate on the small number of 'swinging' voters - those who can essentially hang the politician in question. It also discourages political education.
The Honours list was interesting too. The men (about 370) outnumbered the women (170). Does this mean that women contribute less to public and voluntary life? I doubt it. I suspect that women contribute at least as much and, quite possibly, more. Some people also get honoured for strange contributions too....like their contribution to the Carbine Society. I do not know what that is. I need to go and look. It might be worthy...and then it might not.
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There's been non-stop political stuff on the radio & in the newspaper these last few days here too. It was only by listening to the radio in the last couple of days that I realised that Australia had a 'compulsory' voting system. Is that quite a new thing?
Mind you, turn out at the Euro elections in the UK was only 35%, so I wouldn't be surprised if it gets suggested here too sometime soon...
I'll have to look the date up but it has been a very long time.
I suspect that the honors have to do with the submission process. Those in power have a tendency to nominate those they know.
I am not sure that women who could nominate are as likely to do so.
In any case, to get an honor, someone has to write up reams of paperwork....
And nominate those who already have a high public profile... the President of the Society rather than the women who do the work... such is life!
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