Principal

On Saturday night, Australians voted to return the incumbent Labor government for a second three-year term. This was a decisive result and, when our Grade 6 students visit Canberra in a few weeks’ time, it will be to a parliament with a strong majority in the lower house. 

From an educational perspective, every election provides an opportunity to talk to young people about the democratic system we enjoy, setting aside political differences to focus on the process rather than the outcome. When we do this properly it becomes clear just how extraordinary, and how extraordinarily unlikely, it is that we live in a democratic system. Representative Democracy means giving up individual rights in favour of a joint, collective choice to give power and hand over decisions to others. Each person gets an individual vote, but we are all essentially agreeing that the collective choice is more important than the individual choice. The graciousness with which Peter Dutton conceded defeat, and the respect that Anthony Albanese demanded for his defeated opponent from his supporters, were visible markers of the strength and worth of this system. They were also a reminder of how lucky we are in Australia that those who lose elections do not seek to overthrow the result, but instead regroup to sharpen their arguments, rather than their swords.    

The most worrying piece of journalism I’ve read over the weekend was Andrew Bolt’s piece in the Herald Sun on Sunday in which he argued that “No, the voters aren’t always right. This time they were wrong…” While he might personally disagree with the outcome, the idea that the voters aren’t right is definitionally non-sensical. The voters are always right because our system takes the majority view, and respectfully says to the minority that they will get another go in three years’ time. Unless Bolt was arguing against the very democratic process itself (and what a dangerous precedent that would be), the voters were right – because the system is a fair and good one. Regardless of the outcome it is always worth remembering that, and reflecting on it with the young people in our care.