Thread by @KirstiMiller30

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce We have a dysfunctional hung 2-party-preferred system in 🇦🇺 politics that isn’t working for people, & it sure isn’t working for the planet. My collapse of faith in our democracies isn’t an accident. It’s one of the central victories of the neoliberal project, delivered through..

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce two generations of privatisation, outsourcing and deregulation, underfunding of gov services locked in by tax cuts, restricting FOI, targeting whistleblowers and raiding the media who report on them, delegitimising and gagging public interest advocacy, and criminalising protest.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce Politics in Australia today relies hugely on the fact that most people don’t know most of what’s going on so as to get away with stuff that couldn’t be done under real scrutiny we have seen a clear example of this with the National Coronvirus Cabinet.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce Decisions are made for narrow interests at the expense of the common good, and deep reforms necessary to care for people and the planet are shoved off the table.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce Even worse, the extreme right #LNP capitalises on this by identifying the disenfranchisement & misdirect public anger away from the real causes & towards some scary “other” ie trans people & look at the boat People mentality

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce They give people the cathartic option of kicking out, punching down, messing stuff up for the sake of it. 

The populist “anti-politics” ”Quiet Australian” frame is constructed by the #LNP in this context to further undermine faith in democracy and lead to autocratic answers.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce The Democracy 2025 project of the Museum of Australian Democracy and the University of Canberra released a major piece of research finding that trust in democracy in Australia has plummeted from 86% in 2007 to 41% in 2018.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce Through quantitative and qualitative research over many years, they found compelling evidence of an increasing trust divide between government and citizens.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce This was reflected in falling trust in politicians, political parties and other key institutions (especially media), and a lack of confidence in the capacity of the government to address the public’s concerns.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce Importantly though, the researchers found strong ongoing support for the principles of democracy.

Together, these seemingly contradictory statements show Australians like democracy, just not the version we have....

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce ..our systems and our institutions of government are not doing the job we need them to do. This is vital, because it points us to what we need to do in response.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce After a centuries-long struggle to demand democratic franchise for more and more people, we’ve become complacent as those in power have made that franchise less and less meaningful.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce We now need to re-engage people in democratic decision-making about our common future; we have to re-enfranchise ourselves by truly cultivating democracy
like you are doing @simonahac

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce It’s about seeing democracy as a muscle which we need to exercise in order to build core strength. It’s about cultivating ethics and mechanisms of participation, interdependence, interconnection,...

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce resilience, that actively bring the community in, inviting everyone to be part of making the decisions that shape our common future.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce Vitally, this is about more than “consultation”, or “direct democracy” referenda and popular votes on issues.

@simonahac @ScottMorrisonMP @Barnaby_Joyce It’s about creating meaningful forums for deliberation, discussing ideas deeply, with expert advice and facilitation, enabling people to come up with creative solutions which satisfy as many people as possible.

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