The US in Iraq and Labor's Search for Itself
Recently, I found myself comparing the
problematic of the USA on the world stage - the sole remaining superpower -
with local Australian electoral politics. There is one peculiar parallel I
would like to tease out here.
The problem facing the USA (and Australia) now
derives from the fact that it went into Iraq ignoring the international laws
and institutions it helped put in place to ensure that federated international
co-operation could confront global injustice. Now, the US finds that the only
way forward is to renew such co-operation, as it tries to orchestrate its way
out of a sticky jam.
Principled federated co-operation in the
interests of justice, is a principle for politics at all levels. It needs
expression within the life of nation-states, as well. I wonder, could Labor's
problem within the Australian political landscape be better understood if we
were to compare it with the US's problem on the world-stage? Maybe.
Consider Labor's negative response to the
recent challenge by the Greens to support their call for reform of the House of
Representatives. Labor decided its reply to Howard's Senate reform would be a
"go it alone" policy and in that it was certainly analogous to the
US. But it was more than that. What if Labor succeeds in recapturing the
Federal Treasury benches at the next election? Will not questions remain over
whether it is still truly committed to the principle of representative
democracy for all Australians that paved the way for its historical
contribution to federal politics in the early 20th century?
Therefore, it is quite valid for us to see parallels between the problems faced
by the US in Iraq and Labor in the federal parliament. Just as the US went into
the war under-estimating the kind of reconstructive work that would be needed
once the war was over, so Labor wants to scramble into power but its scrambling
ignores the important reconstruction that is needed across the electoral
landscape of Australian politics. That is why Labor, as much as the US, needs
to recapture the principle of federated co-operation in the interests of
justice.
Keating viewed the reconciliation process as
integral to our national presence throughout the region. Now, in the face of
significant opportunity, we need to accept that our Parliaments are not
enabling representative democracy as they were set up to do. What better time
than this to demonstrate to our region and ourselves, that we are committed to
just Parliamentary representation. Let us give a clear signal of our national
desire to have justice done in our system of political representation. It is
outmoded politics by our two "hegemons" - Labor and the
Liberal-Coalition - to presume that all, or even most, of the political views
of the Australian electorate can be justly and truly represented between them.
They can't and still they adopt the stupefying approach as if the outmoded
presumption is inevitable. Both sides of politics continue willfully to run
blind. It is their contributions to the political cynicism that now defines so
much of our political life and which actually deepens the nation's sense of
unease.
Still, Labor could support a principled,
federated co-operation with the Greens in order to reform the system of
representation in lower house elections. They could agree to that as a first
step. It would not only get Labor out of its jam. It would help improve our
relations in the region in ways that few other non-Government policies could.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the South-West Pacific would see that we were a nation
that wanted to be "fair dinkum" about our alleged "democratic
values". Such an approach would also short-circuit our embarrassing
pomposity, that national reflex that always comes into play when our political
leaders try to strut their stuff in the region.
The parallel between the US in Iraq and Labor
in the Federal Parliament jumped out at me as I reflected upon the
opportunities that are still available to the US to act federatively for
justice on the world stage. Despite deepening cynicism about political power,
there are still possibilities for justice and these need to be grabbed with
both hands.
Bruce Wearne, former academic, who now lives at
Point Lonsdale, Victoria
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
November 2003 © Christian
Radical Reflections, is written by Bruce C Wearne (PhD), 29 Lawrence
Rd., Point Lonsdale Vic 3225 AUSTRALIA, 61-3-5258-3913. Each edition
may be photocopied or retransmitted in its entirety but not otherwise
reprinted or transmitted without permission. This personal project
aims to encourage positive Christian citizenship, the development of
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