Democracy. Do we have one?
Well couple of odd things. Some people go absolute ape sh!t over the "Murdoch Empire" and how they're so bias towards the Liberal Party and after the Victorian Labor Party won government some are saying it's a triumph over the Murdochs as well.
Ahhh...
Labor Held Governments In Australia
1) Federal Labor Government
2) Northen Territory State Government
3) Queensland Labor State Government
4) Victorian State Government
5) South Australian State Government
6) Western Australian State Government
The only 2 Parliaments in Australia that are not Labor are the NSW Government & the Tasmanian State Government. TWO out of EIGHT Parliaments are Labor held.
So if the Murdoch press are the immensely overly powerful king makers some are saying it is...then Murdoch is either failing as pro Liberal Party or they're Pro Labor.
One thing is guaranteed to continue. Murdoch won't be perfect & it will continue to be targeted at being politically biased towards Conservativism. (Yes that's two things because I two am not perfect although the imprefections list is a lot longer)
Having noted that SkyNews etc have been critical of various conservative parties I can't say they're pro Conservative across the board. Their commentators are expressing views, their own views. Whether they align with the Murdoch Family or not probably isn't due to a decree of the company. I note they employ ex-Senator Graham Richardson (Labor) among other a few other left leaners. I don't always agree with any Sky commentator but I don't see them as disagreeable nor being Murdoch Family puppets. If they were then what ate past & present comperes of The Project, The Drum, Insiders or writers for the Guardian or the West Australian?
If you think someone in Journalism is a political party puppet/muppet...call them out regardless of the party. Don't hit one side. But hard to say Murdoch is a threat to Australian Democracy.
Is there a possible threat to Democracy or sidelining democracy in Australia?
Big question but first you have to define what Democracy. Basic idea is the country or state run by the people, for the people, that is the people decide things.
Thats a great primciple but we cannot have a legislative life where citizens roll up & vote on everything so whilst our government is a "Constitutional Monarchy" its also using a format known as "Representative Democracy"
We send representatives to go into Parliament to represent us...that being democratic.
There is no perfect system. This system we have in Australia is probably the best of the imperfect systems in theory if not practice.
However you cannot get your local MP to do eveything exactly as you want...again that wouldn't work.
In theory they will take your input & they encourage you to contact them.
Now that seems pretty democratic-ish yeah?
What if the MP is in a Party where they have absolutely no say which way they vote in Parliament?
Democratic?
What if there are only select & rare occasions where the MPs are gifted a "conscience vote" from whoever controls the party?
Still Democratic?
What if they cross the floor without a conscience vote they're then expelled from the party & socially ex-commincated?
Still Democratic?
Yes they set out their Party Platform...well some parties do. Some like to keep it vague so they can sniff the wind and shape shift. Some play games and keep policies to a minimum so the Parliamentary Party room can control what they do not their laymembers
Still Democratic?
We do not have a Democracy.
We have a Representative Democracy & it's a little vague who they really represent. During a campaign its you. After an election it is the party not the electorate.
Its not as represnetative as you think
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