Give me a D

Democracy. It's the kind of word that makes you want to stand up and clap, isn't it? I think of fraternal Zorba-the-Greek-style dances, or conga lines of voters snaking their way through the free world. But democracy is a lot like love – there's more to it than they show you in the movies.

My first inkling of this came when I was working at the ABC. The MD sent out an all-staff email – typical managerial bumf that you scan and consign to the 'Important Memos' folder – and one employee sent back a response, also copying in all staff. It was a long, well-written email, disagreeing with most points the MD made and, I thought at the time, a pretty cool way of getting fired. But it turned out this kind of thing was okay at the ABC and it happened on a few occasions after that. Unfortunately, the emails were really long and I had a lot of work to do and I actually stopped reading the correspondence after a while. That last bit, for me, pretty much sums up democracy.

And as I face up to my democratic responsibilities once again after missing quite a few elections overseas, I know that if I'm going to be (ahem) serious about this, I'll have to read those long polemic emails and come to grips with the issues. One thing raising the interest levels is that the MP for my electorate is Peter Garrett – ex-frontman for Midnight Oil.



It's kind of cool to be able to vote for a guy whose music you like and whose lyrics you respect. Or at least it would be if he his victory speech was a rousing rendition of The Power and the Passion. Instead, he'll probably have to toe the party line. And what is that then?

That's what I aim to find out. Promises are dangerous things, but seeing as this is about politicians, it feels right to get it on the action, to wit: (clears throat and stands on chair) I promise to study the candidates for the Kingsford-Smith electorate and find out what they represent, not just as party members, but as individuals. If I can, I'll ask them questions directly and I'll vote for the best individual candidate, regardless of what party he/she belongs to. This is me, promising myself to be a more informed voter.

Well, I'll believe that when I see it.