We are two weeks into the 2016 Australian Election and I have waited in vain to hear any policies of vision and conviction from either the Coalition, the Opposition or the Greens that will stir my passion as a proud Australian who wants to build and expand the quality of our nation.
Sadly, I have stared at a barren waste.
Our politicians have missed the heart beat of the nation. They are talking to the old fashioned electorate of yesteryear that no long exists.
Nevertheless, there is little to be gained by being an armchair critic. So, I must put pen to paper and comment on some crucial policies that are lamentably missing from the political rhetoric. I reckon they will set alight our national fervour if we can discover just one political leader who will run with them and make them happen.
The first is to recognise that the rapid ageing of the population will destroy our nation economically and socially unless we urgently develop and implement a visionary plan to turn grey into gold.
So crucial is this issue that it is both lamentable and irresponsible that it is not a priority for any party.
A Minister for Longevity must be appointed and have powers to coordinate a strategy to develop visionary policies on pensions, superannuation, savings, mature age employment, age friendly housing, health, nursing homes, home care services, homelessness, transport, technology, volunteering, philanthropy, discrimination and intergenerational partnerships etc, etc.
This Minister must have Cabinet status and be located within Treasury with power to coordinate the efforts of every Minister who covers any of the issues listed above so ageing can be turned into an asset within five years.
There is no more important issue facing the nation. It is a far greater challenge than Climate Change and I say this as a staunch environmentalist.
At the same time, we need a massive investment in water to make our nation droughtproof. The challenge has been before us since the first fleet arrived 225 years ago. We found the driest continent on earth and have concentrated on plundering it.
We waste 90% of the water that falls on the continent and do our best to contaminate the remainder.
It will take only a small investment to divert tropical water into the Murray Darling and Lake Eyre river systems as well as the Pilbara. Additionally, there is huge capacity to build new dams in isolated areas of agricultural productivity.
Instead, we just make many welfare handouts every time there is a drought, which is very often. This is the dumbest of dumb politics as our capacity to feed the world will pay for the water investments in the medium term.
An initial investment of 25 billion dollars will get it going. That is just two years of the money that Australians waste on gambling.
Then, we must make a major assault on Affordable Housing. Australia is 500,000 units short due to the fact that negative gearing has caused reckless investment of conventional units that are too costly. They are not designed to meet the special needs of those who are old or handicapped or students, all of whom are priced out of the market.
The problem can be solved by confining negative gearing solely to affordable housing and by governments making airspace above railway stations available free of charge so that accommodation towers can be built with a mix of accommodation for students, the aged and the handicapped.
There are many more major issues that we can tackle but I intend to concentrate my personal election efforts on those three.
But, I will also lend a willing hand to those who are backing a number of significant social concerns. For example, just a few of them are,
*Treating refugees as human beings of value, while ridding our nation of the blot of unjustifiable hatred against them when they have the potential to become productive innovative Australians. We can do it by not electing politicians who go to extremes to win the racist vote.
*Becoming a Republic with a new flag that omits the Union Jack. We are long overdue to stop grovelling before British Royalty and grow up. Those who don’t want to be proud independent Australians might be happier if they migrate to England.
*Allow Same Sex Marriage. Heterosexuals have made an awful mess of marriage but pompously want to sit in judgement of others and tell them who they are allowed to fall in love with.
*Recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution. They occupied this continent for 50,000 years before the British invasion and kept the environment in better shape than whites have done.
What I am really trying to convey is that the Australian Election of 2 July, 2016, is the ideal time for the greatest of all democratic revolutions where the Coalition or the ALP are forced to work in partnership with the Greens, Xenophon & Independents to come to a consensus on the great issues that challenge our nation so we become a shining light to a world that struggles desperately to find peace, stability, prosperity and justice.
Yours at Large
Everald Compton
If you want to read my book on nation building – The Man on the Twenty Dollars Notes – please visit my website – everaldcompton.com – and click on the book title.
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