Victory!

For many of us, Saturday the 24th of November, 2007 will seem like a positive stepping stone in the journey of this country. For others, it will seem like a bitter step backwards and even a heavy fall. Whatever the future holds though, Australians, the majority of them, have grown tired of the tired rhetoric and conservative agenda of the coalition government that has remained in power for more than 10 years.

Moments after the election was unoficially announced as a landslide win for the ALP, late in the afternoon of that very day, Media commentators on Australian radio stations claimed that it was not really an election. It was a referendum on who people wanted to be their Prime Minister. This is true to some extent, however many of us who voted for Labor, Liberal or any other party as our first preference, voted for that party, not for the party leader.

This election was run in a US style presidential campaign. We had Howard and Rudd at the forefront of the campaigning. Of course, either one was going to be PM based on their respective party's victory. We soon seem to forget however, that most of the work is done by the candidates going up for election in each electorate. We also seem to forget just how important the seats in the senate are and just how crucial it is that minor parties such as the Greens and Democrats hold a balance of power within the Upper House.

Although I am personally happy that John Howard has lost office and Kevin Rudd's ALP is now in government, it is vital, extremely vital that not all the power belong to one party, especially one that has tended to swing increasingly towards the centre point of politics over the years. Nothing against the ALP, I rate them over the Liberals/Nationals based on their policies, however minor parties still need to keep unfair and biased legislation at bay over the next three years. Although, there are many progressive left-wing policies that will be put into place as bills (and more than likely passed) over the first term of Rudd's ALP government (the first of many, I hope) which is a good sign, there can also be legislation that proves itself to go against what the people want, which is a political reality even in a democratic nation.

Now to get on to the topic of this article: The victory for the ALP on Saturday.

This victory was not only a great step taken by the Australian people, it is a sign that there is some progressive thought and concept of social justice in this country. When all hope for people seems to be lost, it turns out that people are a lot more intelligent than I thought they were.

We are not all just money hungry, greedy, xenophobic and, dare I say it, fascist individuals. We do have some independent thought and love for humanity.

The one disappointment that I have is that amongst the key policies campaigned for in the election, the environment and health care were again mentioned first, then thrown into the background in the final weeks. The economy, including interest rates and unemployment were the main topics on everyones lips. Rudd proved himself a better economic manager and someone who will lead the country through the final few years of the boom that we are experiencing now. However, if that was the sole reason why his party came into power, then that is quite scary.

However, this is just an exaggeration. I know full well that this was not the only reason that the ALP is now government. Kevin Rudd has many dynamic and intelligent people on staff and in his parliament. There are many other key policies, including the environment, education and healthcare that may not have been the main arguments, yet they were still on the minds of those voters who care about these sort of things. Those of us with a social conscience, who want this country to change for the better and to prove itself a progressive and democratic nation in the world.