Australia's May 21 election: candidates need to focus on policy, not 'gotcha' moments and scoring political points
There is a lot of noise surrounding the upcoming Australian election.
So far all that noise is just mindless distraction from politicians yelling at each other in a bid to score cheap popularity contest points.
Yet, Australians have not seen or heard real policy debates or solid long-term solutions for a better life.
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When opposition leader Anthony Albanese brought up the word "productivity" when the election was called about a month ago - and he appears to be the only politician to have done so - I was half excited.
Here was a word that has been gathering cobwebs even though Australia's productivity has stalled and has been that way for quite a while, since about 2005.
According to Australia's Productivity Commission, "the decade ending 2019-20 was the worst decade of productivity growth in 60 years", even after removing the outlier pandemic year.
Australia's productivity, or ability to produce more with the same amount of or less resources, is below average. A slowdown in capital investments has something to do with it.
Even without delving into this complex indicator, it does make smart sense to try to get more for less, especially if Australia is looking to ramp up its supply chain resilience and be less reliant on others, or, God forbid, bring back manufacturing.
If Australia is looking to diversify away from its lucrative benefactor, China, thanks to a souring relationship, it really needs to find a way to be more productive.
Productivity growth can result in higher profits and wages, and lower prices for consumers, and Albanese pointed that out a month ago.
More solutions about this problem need to be highlighted to Australians. What kind of infrastructure and capital investments will prop up productivity?
Who will fund this, especially since foreign investments will likely slow as Australia tightens its associated rules with the aim of protecting "national security"?
Climate change is also a real issue for many Australians.
Politicians ought to be less wishy washy about it. This comment from a voter in South Australia during the last debate this week was typical. "I still think the 2050 target for net zero is too far away. I think we can do better as a country".
And on the issue of doing better as a country, another voter said he was concerned about social cohesion.
How was Australia going to decouple its two-pronged problem, that is, being "tough" on China without alienating an entire diaspora of innocent Australian bystanders?
In a clear sign it does not think the plight of Chinese Australians being eyed suspiciously for their race is a problem, the government has refused to acknowledge racism is happening and worse, is still 'dog whistling' (using suggestive language to gather support from particular groups without provoking opposition) about race.
This week, the Australia-China Relations Institute published an updated survey on what Australians think about the deteriorating relationship with China.
A majority - or about 60 per cent of Australians surveyed - think tensions are impacting Australians of Chinese origin but, disturbingly, about four in ten Australians think "Australians of Chinese origin can be mobilised by the Chinese government to undermine Australia's interests". That ratio is 3 points higher than last year's survey.
It is vital the new government finds a way to decouple its foreign policy vis-a-vis China with the mistreatment of Chinese and Asian Australians. Because as that voter said, "if we start distrusting our own citizens, what does that say about our values?"
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
