Senator Andrew Bartlett
Monday, September 06, 2004
 
Sunday started with a brief 5 minute stint with Laurie Oakes on the Sunday program. I was on straight after Bob Brown. It seemed to me like they were getting the smaller parties out of the way at the start of the campaign so they can focus on the Howard vs Latham contest.

I tried to point out that the Senate contest, and the choice people make with their vote for the Senate, was in many ways just as important and significant as their vote for the House of Reps, which determines who is Prime Minister.

A quick calculation of some of the media coverage statistics by groups such as Rehame suggests that the Howard/Liberal vs Latham/Labor contest is getting around 95% of the coverage, yet no one could seriously suggest the Senate contest and outcome is only one-twentieth as important.

In an appropriate piece of symbolism, following immediately after my interview, the channel advertised a viewer phone poll, asking them who they prefer out of Howard or Latham.

An informal picnic style launch of our Bowman and Bonner candidates at the park on the tip of Wellington Point followed. For anyone who hasn't been there, this is a very picturesque spot that juts out into Moreton Bay, with Stradbroke and Moreton Island close by.

That was followed with the launch of our Moreton candidate, Freddie Steen. She's a very strong candidate – a former worker in the Immigration Dept for many years and in recent times a tireless workers in the community with refugees through the Romero Centre in Brisbane. She will be running against Gary Hardgrave, who is the assistant Minister for Immigration, who oversees the ongoing torment which the Government's policies and laws are inflicting on thousands of refugees. Hopefully Freddie will be able to put the blowtorch on Gary Hardgrave. He certainly won't be able to get away with the types of half-truths and distortions about refugees that Govt members tend to spout at public meetings.

Sunday was, of course, also Fathers Day. I've never been a big fan of the concept, it always seemed like a manufactured marketing vehicle to me. However, it was nice to be able to have my little girl around with me throughout the day and spend some time with her, even if I did often have to talk with other people at the launch.

She does seem to have a desire to grab on to me whenever I'm doing speeches, which is sort of nice, although I don't like her doing it when there's media filming - especially because there's always the odd person ready to have a go at you for supposedly 'exploiting' your children.

Then down to Melbourne for the night, so I could fly out early to Alice Springs with Aden Ridgeway to launch our indigenous policies and our Northern Territory Senate candidate, Janeen Bulsey. Despite being the only aboriginal member of the federal Parliament, Aden is at real risk this election, so I need to get the message out that if people in NSW vote for anyone other than him in the Senate, they are in effect enabling the loss of that aboriginal presence and voice.

Given the lack of priority being given to aboriginal issues by the other parties or in the political debate, I'm hoping we’ll be able to use this launch to get some focus on this vital area.

We picked Alice Springs because it is in the centre of the nation and indigenous issues must be at the centre of our political priorities. Everyone acknowledges the absolutely scandalous degree of disadvantage faced by indigenous people, yet there is no strong effort being made at national level to give it the priority it deserves and demands.

We certainly don't pretend to have all the answers, but we are saying that it needs to be given a strong priority or there's no chance of the situation being turned around. Of course, part of giving the matter priority and recognition is to highlight and support the many positive things being done by indigenous people.

Enabling and encouraging these actions is one of the best ways to make positive changes, as it will mean indigenous people developing and choosing the solutions that work best for them at local level, but this requires concrete and consistently committed support. Unless we all agree to consciously make it a top political priority at national level, our nation will continue to fall well short of its potential.



posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Monday, September 06, 2004
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