Toughen Up Princess!

At the outset here, I need to say that I oppose sexism and misogyny anywhere in public, perhaps most especially when it comes camouflaged in an internet joke.  There is no place for this in today’s society.  That said, as a male, I do not place females on any sort of pedestal because we are, in the eyes of the law and of common decency, equals.

I have a problem, however, when it is used as a battering-ram to silence reasoned and sensible debate.  When this happens, we end up with a situation where one side seeks to dominate the other – much as happens in some male-dominated societies around the world.  There is NO place for that, so there is no place for the vice versa view.

With all of that said, I turn to the events in the National Parliament of Australia, specifically the House of Representatives.  There are laws that govern what can be said there, much as there is everywhere else – which require the topic to be debated, rather than the person who originates the debate.  The real difference is that, in Parliament, things can – and should – be said under Parliamentary Privilege that cannot be repeated elsewhere.

As a result, we – the people who elect our representatives – expect and demand robust debate of issues that lead to good governance that improves laws that are supposed to protect us all and, indeed, the Australian national identity.  We expect that Australian elected representatives will get to the heart of issues, all issues, no matter how sensitive or controversial.  We demand that our representatives do this, in OUR interest.

What have we seen in Federal Parliament of late?  Accusations of sexism, misogyny and who knows what else.  Why can’t we allow robust debate of issues that affect us?  Why is our National Parliament so quagmired in debate of issues that resolve into the petty politics of each individual political party?

I watched “Question Time” yesterday (Tuesday, 9 October 2012) when the Leader of the Opposition tabled a legitimate motion.  The response by the PM – and the speakers from the government – was, for the most part, based on killing the messenger because of the message.  As part of this, I saw character assassination, allegations of misogyny and sexism that did nothing but derail the debate – rather than dealing with THE debate.

What happened today (Wednesday, 10 October 2012)?  Quite apart from the Speaker of Parliament resigning from that exhalted position, a continuation of allegations of sexism and misogyny that had so consumed the Labour government yesterday!  The fundamental issue remains suppressed by the vested interests of those who have no intention of debating the real issues.

No, I do not want to see any Parliament in Australia degenerate into the fisticuffs that we see, from time to time, in other democracies that are, shall we say, more robust in their own particular points of view.  What we see instead, however, is the next worst thing and it does nothing to encourage any of us who are obliged, by law, to cast a vote at each election.

It seems to me that our Prime Minister needs to heed that time-honoured call to “toughen up, Princess”.  Politics is a rough-and-tumble affair and, as another old saying goes, "if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen"!  Make way for others who can stand up to that “rough and tumble” situation, in the interest of the rest of us who are confused as hell about who to vote for next year.

By all means, debate the issues.  By NO means, debate or attack the person – that is the first lesson taught in High School debating but it seems that many of those that we elect have forgotten this basic tenet of debate.  We want our politicians to come to grips with the issues and to debate them in the most robust terms possible and we expect this no matter whether our particular representative is male or female because we are supposed to have gender equality in this country.

If this cannot be exercised in our National Parliament, how can we (the ones who have to follow the law and the lead of our responsible, elected leaders) be expected to follow the path that promotes gender equality?

Federally, the Australian Labour Party is on the cusp of a very unlikely victory next year, courtesy of the Leader of the Opposition who is a loose cannon of the worst sort.  If the Liberal Party replaces him, the ALP will lose in a worse way than happened in Queensland.  And, yes, I will vote for that.  I'm a long time Liberal supporter who has serious doubts about Tony Abbott but I'll never vote Labour, so Gillard will not get my vote anyway – but there are many others who are still confused by BOTH sides of politics.

To all our elected representatives – male or female – I say “toughen up Princess” and work in OUR interests, not your own self-interest.