Okay, perhaps a little melodramatic there, but after I’d got up at 2 am on Saturday to set up polling booths and then spent the whole day handing out how to vote cards before scrutineering, I can probably get away with being a little deflates about the whole election thing.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the whole business – it was interesting to see how it all worked – t he blood and guts of Australian democracy so to speak, but it was also a little disheartening in the end.

Let me explain: the local labor member is in danger of losing his seat to the libs candidate. Fair enough? Well, maybe, but I’ve got a few problems with that. Firstly, the libs candidate ran a campaign where she said nothing. Not to the people or the press. Except for one late interview on 2GB, she was effectively gagged and hidden away from sight. No community forums. No online presence. No town hall meetings. In fact, the only way we knew she existed at all was because every now and then we’d get glossy brochures through the mail, promising real action. That’s it. I bet every other bloody lib candidate had the same glossy brochures, with just the electorates name changed.

But it got worse – when it came to election day, lo and behold, hundreds of liberals descend upon Bradbury from Manly! They didn’t know the local area (kind of funny watching them try to give directions), they didn’t know Fiona Scott, and they were getting paid by the liberal party for the day, according to some.

And they might still win the seat of Lindsay. Doesn’t seem right, really, does it?

Anyway, with a bit of perspective, you can see where it all went wrong for labor; a lot of people might argue that it started when Keven Rudd was unceremoniously shown the door. That’s not the way that I see it: I think that it happened before that, when Rudd backed down over the ETS and the Mining Tax. I’m not sure what else he could have done – the hate campaign being run by News Ltd and Fairfax pretty much ensured that public opinion was turning against him anyway, but I can’t get past the feeling that he lost his nerve a little bit. The moment that the ETS – and climate change – was off the agenda, you could almost see the left wing of the labor party start to decamp to the greens. The Mining Tax only accelerated this departure.

And that’s the crucial thing that so many of our political commentators missed at the first analysis; while this election certainly wasn’t a win for Labor, it wasn’t much of a win for the LNPs either. Instead, it was a major win for the greens – with power in the Senate and now their first lower house representative, too. It seems like Australia got the parliament it deserved!

So where to now for the Labor Party?

So we go to the polls in 5 short weeks. I’m not the oldest follower of politics out there, but I’ve always had an interest in politics, and that’s something that has only grown as I’ve got older, to the point that I’m reasonably active these days. The reason I mention this is because this election suddenly seems -to me, at least – to be very important. I don’t think I’m the only one that feels this way; I don’t recall the intense level of media speculation about the calling of the election in previous years. It seems – and I might be a little over the top here – that this is a really important point for Australia – almost a turning point between two very different ideologies.

That might sound strange, I know. A lot of people I talk to are really struggling to choose between JG and Tony Abbott, and a lot of others are saying they’ll vote informally, or for the greens or something similar. That kind of talk isn’t particularly unusual – however, usually this is because there seems to be little difference between the two main candidates. Certainly in the Howard/ Keating years, it often seemed to be a choice between two quite similar approaches, especially to economic policy. I know there were differences, but I don’t think people were actually capable of seeing those differences in any real sense.

This time, though, it’s different. There are major points of departure between the Labor party and the Liberals, although one could argue that since JG came to power, the differences have narrowed. Still, there are major differences in most of the policy areas – education (for example, the trade training centres), health (public vs private health care), industrial relations (work choices vs not) – and that makes this election vitally important.

I’m firmly committed to the labor movement – and always have been – but even I can admit that the government has made a lot of mistakes over the past 3 years. The education revolution money, the mining tax, the about-face on climate change have all contributed to a feeling that the labour government is struggling; but- and I reckon it’s a big but – how much of that is just the media apportioning blame? What about all the other things that the labour government has done – and sucessfully, too? Things like reconciliation with indigenous Australians, the national curriculum, increased health care funding, tax reform, industrial relations changes and – most of all – successfully navigating us through the GFC.

So, I guess I’m saying that it’s going to be a hectic 5 weeks or so. There’s going to be a lot of talking about Gillard and Abbott. I’m calling on everybody to just take a moment and remind themselves that a federal election is not a popularity contest. Instead, it’s an opportunity for us to enact our democratic rights by choosing the government that we think will do the best for Australia-  not the best for our back pocket. Although there’s a right in action here, there’s also a responsibility for us to consider the future, and how to best safeguard Australia for successive generations.

It’s funny; when I was too young to know much about it, I went with a friend to a few Young Liberal meetings. I enjoyed the ideas behind it – the theatre of voting and seconding motions – more than I had any real passion for the politics; to be honest, I wouldn’t have been able to explain to you any of the facets of the ideological basis for Liberals. Or for Labor, for that matter.

Anyway, after my time in England, where I was more heavily involved in the Trade Union Movement, coupled with revulsion for the Howard government’s approach to indigenous Australians and refugees, I joined the Labor Party on my return. I thought it was about time I got serious about what I believed in, and if I believed in community involvement, then, doggone it, I needed to be involved in the community.

Anyway, I’ve enjoyed the process so far; it’s certainly been eventful. I’ve met the local federal Member for Lindsay (David Bradbury) and saw the whole Karyn Paluzzano affair as well, which was very sad, especially as I had respect for both Karyn and her husband, Robert.

Enough back story. On to the central question. Anyway, I was having dinner with Mrs Heggart and a very good friend of hers (who is now a very good friend of mine). Somehow, we got talking about politics which is always a minefield, even at the best of times. We were talking about the upcoming federal election, and I suggested that it was an election that would be won or lost on economic principles. I suggested that I wouldn’t vote for Tony Abbott, simply because

Our friend – let’s call her Miss Y, for the sake of this blog – announced that she completely disagreed with this. She argued that Australia is always better off under a Liberal government than a labour government, and suggested that she’d be voting for Abbott in the next election. I said, ‘Whoah, hold up. Better off for who?’ She said, ‘Better of for me.’

And that’s the crux of the matter: I can’t argue with Miss Y’s assertion. She would be better off under Abbott. She’s a wealthy white woman, highly educated, with a job at an international corporation that pays her very well to sell things and manage products. It’s a good job, and she’s very good at it.

But this is where it gets interesting; I’m not a labor voter because I think that I will be better off under a labor government. I don’t lean towards the left because it will earn me more money. I situate myself there simply because I think that this kind of government (and I have grave reservations over some of the current administration’s policies) is the best for all people – not just me.

However, are people on the right only thinking of themselves? I know this is topic that might raise a few hackles, but I think it’s interesting. Liberal Conservative governments generally stand for the reduction of big government, cutting of taxes, especially those of big business to increase the economy. It stands for conservative values as well.

Taking this into account, let’s look at a topical issue through this lens: boat people. As a left-leaning member of Australia, I argue that we should encourage more boat people to enter into Australia, from the simple reason that, morally, it’s the right thing to do. Of course we need security checks and so on, but generally, the vast majority of these people are genuine refugees and we, as signatories to the UN declaration on refugees, should do everything possible to accept and assimilate these people. It’s not like we haven’t done so before in Australia. From this point of view, I’m arguing what is essentially a selfless argument – I don’t benefit from this in any way. It’s even possible that I am worse off, because the money spent on supporting these refugees is money that doesn’t go to be spent on Australians.

On the other hand, through a conservative approach, we should ban boat people, because we have to spend money on them, and that money comes from taxes, and if we cut taxes we could have higher investment, which means everybody in Australia would be better off – or at least the people that own the companies that we buy from would be.

I know I’ve simplified the issue, but essentially, I think the question does come down to this: Are liberal conservatives just selfish? If they act in a way that suits their best interests – at the cost of others’ welfare (like the RSPT), then the answer must be yes.