Mandate (noun): An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept.
There is a loud and righteous chorus ringing out in the public arena at the moment, a deafening, undeniable chant of a dissatisfied people. The message is clear: We, the people of this great Commonwealth of Australia, want an election... and we want it NOW! The most recent polling suggests that somewhere in the order of 60% of the electorate want to go to the polls early and pass judgement on the Carbon Tax. So poorly has this legislation been developed and communicated that the people of Australia want to have a second election in under a year. This is unheard of given our general dislike for elections, what with all the baby kissing and slogans and whatnot... Nevertheless almost 2 out of 3 voters want to have their say, and rightly so, I should add; after all, I am one of them...
Of course this leaves a minority, vocal as they are, who do not want an election. These are your Greens supports, extreme left wing socialists, and, of course, their mouthpieces in the liberal media, the likes of your Tony Jones and the usual suspects at the ABC. After forcing the Prime Minister into submission and gaining control of the government it is understandable that they would not want to relinquish their illegitimate rein over the parliament. Bob Brown, Geoff Lemon, Sarah Hanson-Young and Co. would probably much prefer that we never again go to an election, that we sacrifice our democratic right so as to advance their glorious green revolution. These pinko wanna-be revolutionaries are denying us our democratic right to vote on what Gillard herself has called one of the most historic and far reaching reforms in our nation’s history, all because they claim that she has a mandate to do so. This argument is flawed in several ways...
Let us assume, for a minute, that the PM does have a mandate. If she does then you cannot claim that it is a mandate from the people. Quite the contrary, actually, her ‘mandate’ is from the Greens and Independents, those few crossbenchers who, in and of themselves, only represent a tiny fraction of this nation’s population. That is not to say, mind you, that I believe that those in the electorates of New England, Melbourne or Lyne should not have a voice; I am simply arguing that this is a democracy, and a far reaching reform that will affect so many, such as the Carbon Tax, should not be permitted to pass on the backs of so few. If Gillard does have a mandate it is certainly not one obtained through democratic means...
The next point I would like to make concerns the so called Multi-Party Climate Change Committee which conceived and gave birth to this horrific beast of a tax. ‘Multi-Party’ is a bit of a stretch, only two parties are represented (after all, Windsor and Oakeshott abandoned both their party and its values, it appears...); essentially it is an invitation only affair, and the only way to get an invite is agree to whatever it is Comrade Brown wants. How can such a dictatorial system, built on exclusion and consensus by coercion ever produce legislation that will be in the best interest of the people, as opposed to the vested interests of those only concerned with their grip on power?
Let us continue to assume that Gillard does have a mandate which was achieved through dodgy backdoor deals and soviet style committees; all of this political horse-trading is, essentially, irrelevant, as the mandate itself, regardless of how it is formed in the parliament, is invalid. Gillard and the Labor party’s re-election platform was built on the undeniable foundation of there being NO CARBON TAX under their future governance. You cannot just change your mind post hoc because then any mandate which you may have actually secured is now invalid, therefore requiring you to obtain a new one. And how does one acquire a brand new, shiny mandate (I love that new mandate smell...)? Simple: an election where you are entirely upfront with the voters about your intentions should you win another term. This is all assuming that the PM has a mandate which, of course, I disagree with...
As you can see from the definition which I proved at the start of this post, a mandate is an official command, a commission awarded by those who elect parliamentarians; i.e. the voting public. Neither party secured enough seats to form government. Therefore neither side was commissioned by us – the people – to lead with our blessing and authority. Minority governments do not, by definition, have a mandate from the people. While they can function and fulfil the everyday requirements of government they should not be allowed to manipulate the system to pass dangerous, damaging legislation through the parliament for the sole goals of maintaining power and looking after their vested interests. If a minority government wants to initiate a reforming agenda, then that is fine... but first it needs to get the approval of the people by following the democratic process.
If you want a mandate, Prime Minister, then you have to get it from us, not Brown or his lackeys; only then will you be able to pass this legislation in good faith and save your otherwise damned political soul...
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