Election "promises" are now coming

even though the election date has yet to be revealed. We Downunderites have to go to the ballot boxes by May 17th and it seems the present government could now run for the full term. The only alternative date is May 10th because of Easter and then Anzac Day.  Either is possible.

My guess is that the election date will be announced after the Budget has been handed down. That Budget will, despite the warnings from economists, be full of election sweeteners. The Opposition will then be expected to match those and, if possible, do better. It is no way to run a country but of course it has been going on ever since governments were elected. 

In all this there are more demands from the so-called Greens. Here, among people who bother to find out what the policies of the various parties are, the Greens are sometimes known as "the watermelon party". They are seen as "green on the outside and red on the inside". Their policies for "free this" and "free that" and Robin Hood ideas about "taxing the rich more to pay for the poor" sound good to many. That many of these ideas, however good they may sound, simply would not work even in a communist regime is of no consequence to them. They can say whatever they like in the full knowledge and confidence they will never have to actually carry them out or even attempt to carry them out.
The power of the Greens lies in the fact they will, if the polls are correct, have the balance of power. They are going to be able to dictate to the government. " You need us to vote with you to pass that legislation. Make that amendment to it (or spend more money on it) and we will help you pass it."

I spent part of yesterday at a meeting talking to a group of people with disabilities. They will be voting for the first time in their lives and it was my responsibility to be sure they understood what they had to do and how they had to do it. It was not my responsibility to tell them which party or person they must or should or even might like to vote for. Several of them were under the impression that they "must" vote for a particular political party - the one which is usually seen as social welfare friendly. Two of them believed that the Greens were all about trees and the environment. Only one of them was politically aware and he was the one who eventually spoke out. 

His speech is poor but he made every effort to make himself understood. He spoke very carefully and the others listened. He told them some actual facts he had bothered to research. He did not suggest they vote one way or another all he said was, "Just think and find out."

"But don't they have to keep their promises?" one of the other participants asked. She is only just old enough to vote. Her intellectual capacity to do so is borderline. She understands the concept of choice but someone else will have to mark her ballot paper for her because she will not be able to read it. If someone "promises" her something she expects the promise to be kept. 

Explaining this does not necessarily happen left her confused and concerned. It left me wishing that election "promises" are and were never made.