Why can't we be friends?

When you are at Primary School teachers, parents and other adults tried their hardest to make sure everyone had a friend, someone to play with at recess and lunch. The adults acted as peacekeepers and conflict negotiators, resolving problems so that everyone could get along. As we grew up, moving into High School, us as 'mature' young adults begin to understand that there are just some people we need to avoid - for a range of reasons. Whether it is just that we think differently to them and believe different things or just because our interests and lives are different. University or life after school comes along and we make our own friends and just get on with living, those who don't enjoy, like or are not interested in politics chose not to engage in debates and forums where ideas can be discussed. Yet it is about this time young people turn 18 and whilst most look forward to 'getting smashed' (drunk) these same 18 year olds also now get to vote. Becoming active members in society, who have the opportunity to help influence the way our country is run. However this blog post is not about me harping on about the sacred right to vote, Promise. More so, I am exploring the idea of why people think our politicians have to get along. I am sick and tired of listening to people say our politicians need not to fight but to get along. Why do they HAVE to get along? They believe in different things, come from different parties, and if parliament was high school, the politicians who cant 'get along' would probably choose not to encounter each other and walk the other way.

Uninformed, misguided people ask why our politicians can't just 'get on' and forget their differences - as if that would be an easy concept at the best of times, but nevertheless they ask, seeking a real answer. When I hear this, I always wonder if they realise what they are saying, because in a nutshell they are asking why their representative and the other 149 members (in the House of Representatives and 76 in the Senate) don't all believe in the same things. Granted our major parties are moving towards the center of the political spectrum in terms of policy and party lines, but on the whole all sides have their differences. Political Ideologies on a whole, might be on the way out , for example the current traditional left winged Government may not be particularly in favour of Same Sex Marriage or Republicanism in Australia. But something do never change, with the ALP Government aiming to provide assistance to lower income households to try and counteract the Clean Energy Futures Legislation and MRRT.

Now, yes I do read the paper, and yes I do watch the news, and yes I see that Question Times is more a case of brattiness but other stuff still happens in Federal Politics. Legislation does get announced more often than people think and if one hooks into the live stream of the House of Representatives at any other time than the hour or so allocated for Question Time OTHER STUFF HAPPENS! Shocking I know!

If all our politicians 'got along' the level or criticism and critique would surely be diminished. The, "I'll help you if you help me" mentality would create an even more secretive and behind closed doors Government if there wasn't a small amount of hostility amongst our representatives. Maybe Australian Politics has hit a few lows in recent times but I think our minority Parliament has been able to produce some greats things as well despite the at times childish nature of the Lower House. Will the Tax on Carbon (NOT A CARBON TAX!) be looked upon in the same way come 20 years? Who knows it might become as historic and important as the Native Title Act did for Keating in the 1990's.

The point being, that sometimes I think we get caught up in the trivial parts of what goes on in Canberra, to the point that some people believe nothing good ever comes from our Representatives regular meeting in Parliament House. Whether or not this view is accurate remains to be seen. I understand the analogy of a child growing up may be too simplistic when it comes to comparing our Federal Representatives, and I also know a lot of the time all sides of politics agree on many things. It just seems to me, that when someone says "why can't they all just be friends" that person has no idea what is going on around them. Maybe a better question would be, "why can't they grudgingly accept each other and discuss policy without throwing a tantrum?" At least that way said person acknowledges the role of government in our society. The textbooks all say (well the seven or so scattered around me right now anyway) that in the Parliament, during Questions without Notice (Question Time), Ministers are asked questions directly related to their portfolios and from which Ministers must reply complying with the standing orders from each House. Whether this happens in such a straightforward matter remains to be seen but the idea is clear.

Be friends. Be friends, I find that funny also. How many times have you met 149 people (or 75 even) and instantly love all of them despite some of them being male, female, tall, short, obese, pompous, shy, smart and the list goes on. Yes professionalism must come into the mix, and for the most part we, the public don't hear all the wonderful bipartisan action that occurs daily, we just get the hating on each other part. Which does make for a good story... I guess. Sigh!

So people, the moral of my story is question why you want our politicians to "make up and just be friends" because maybe it is you that needs to look at how you view politics and view it in a different light. Nice is well nice, but nice doesn't mean things will automatically get done.