A Rare Rant
I am a member of the Australian Labor Party and have been for nearly ten years. In that time I have held many elected positions within the Party, including two terms on the Victorian Women's Policy Committee, of which I am currently President
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Having said all of that, the main reason I vote Labor and am a member of the ALP has less to do with my personal circumstances and more about what type of assistance I would hope my community would provide for me if those circumstances were different. Having grown up in a single-parent family line and lived under the poverty line I simply don't believe the Liberals line on equality of opportunity. Their ethos is that if you work hard enough you can get out of whatever bad situation you are in. When my father left my Mum with three kids under the age of seven he cleaned out the joint bank account and demanded Mum pay him for his half of the house (the mortgage of which wasn't even paid off yet). She worked herself into the ground for the next 22 years to make sure that we had food, clean clothes, a good education and whatever opportunities we needed. She's still working herself into the ground just to make ends meet. She has no superannuation and she can't get the pension for another seven years, even though she really needs to retire because she had a stress-related stroke 18 months ago and recently was admitted to hospital with chest pains. She'd earn more money on the dole but she refuses to do it. If sheer hard work and intelligence could get you out of a tight spot and ahead in life she'd be a millionaire by now. But sometimes people need more than that. People need access to education, they need jobs that reflect their personal needs (whether that is being with your kids, preserving your health, or providing money to support your preferred lifestyle), they need the same right to protect their health as the wealthiest members of society. To me, the ethos of the Labor Party reflects that - it's about equality of access and says that by helping the most disadvantaged in society you make things better for all of us.
The other thing that is important to me is leadership. I want a leader who can take stock of our society and then stand up and change the things that need to be changed without constantly checking the polls and only doing what will save their political skin. Now, I had some problems with Paul Keating but he at least would stand up and say that we should be a republic, or that the issue of native title for indigenous Australians needed to be addressed. I want a leader who's willing to go out on a limb and try to bring the Australian people with him and not one who plays on people's fears and worst intentions.
I don't know if I've said anything that you want to hear - if there is anything specific you're interested in please let me know. As I said, I'm really glad to be having this conversation.
Cheers,
Melanie
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