Nathan's Insights

Watching the events in Egypt with the deposal of President Morsi and the chaos and deaths (though less than that which occurred during the overthrow of the last President) I’ve been thinking about “What Does Democracy Really Mean?” Especially with the different systems I’ve seen around the world.

Strangely people don’t seem to have an in depth view except for democracy is good and requires the people to vote. If that is so why did we experience president’s like Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Batista (Cuba), Hitler (Germany) or the corrupt Government’s in Central and South America, or Asia or even illegal of unethical tactics by USA governments (Nixon & Johnson)? Plus the likely futures of Iraq and Afghanistan not to mention Syria.

All of these situations started with elections. Now obviously later voting was rigged and individuals intimated or in the USA case law enforcement used against opponents under National Security concerns, but it didn’t start this way it started with voting.

So voting can’t be the only component to a working democracy. People also talk about the “will of the majority” but can’t that also be about the rule of the mob. Did the majority rule help out in Serbia or Rwanda? So is the will of the majority what democracy is only trying to achieve?

I keep hearing in Australia about the silent majority, I wish they were silent a little more especially when they speak against minority groups like gays and lesbians, refugees or women’s issues and wanting to impose there views.

I feel that the best countries and systems don’t just have voting and majority rules as their core. To me it is about balancing and restricting the power of the government as heavily as possible. It’s about seeing leadership of a country has a heavy (and temporary) burden not a prize that your followers blindly barrack for (like football supporters on a Saturday).

So I would think the ideal system is trying to be inclusive as possible, respect the rights of all as long as they don’t impose on others, and have strong institutions and limits on power.

So my definition of democracy would probably need the following characteristics to succeed;
1) Regular voting but with electorates, boundaries and eligibility having nothing to do with political parties – panel of experts overseen by Court.
2) Fixed terms with the government only able to be sacked by a High / Supreme Court or 2/3rds majority of Parliament (no confidence motion for early election)
3) Two Houses of Parliament with different voting systems. One of these houses’ systems should try to ensure minority representation and be next to impossible for one party to control (let’s call it the house of review)
4) Independent Judiciary. Judges can not be linked to any political party. The highest court recommends all appointments to Parliament and can only be accepted if Government and Opposition agree. Knocked backed appointments must be provided with the exceptional reasons for why this occurred.
5) Military can not be used against population. They can be used to built or rebuilt areas hit by disasters but can not use weapons against citizens.
6) Police force is independent of government. While Police Command need to provide reports on operational matters to Minister / Secretary they can only be sacked by majority in House of Parliament (the review house the ideally has not one party in control) or by High / Supreme Court. Police must always follow court rulings (see Zimbabwe for what happens when not followed).
7) President / Prime Minister / Ministers / Secretaries can’t hold office for more than 8 consecutive years and can not return to office for 6 years after 8 year maximum term.
8) Electoral Commission must be independent. No one can work for them if they have e re been a member of a political party or donated money to a party. Has the power to investigate all party donations and all donations must provide contact details of individual who approved payment. Parties fined 10 times amount if donations that can’t be tracked to Australian citizens.
9) Restricted Party Funding and Advertising. No ‘for profit’ organisations can donate to parties, for fairness to businesses this includes unions. Public provide funding based on votes with a heavy weighting to smaller number of votes so small parties can operate. All TV and multi media ads must be approved by Electoral Commission which will check accuracy and who is paying. No ads on any media type in last week of campaign. Public boardcaster to provide one free 30 minute window to each party with more than 5% of vote at last election

10) Use of experts. Every 8 years an expert committee must report on different matters of importance. Lets say Health, Education, Environment, and Infrastructure. You could break these four issues into two year slots. These reports will be delivered to public from which Government and Opposition can than debate. No party members allowed on committee. Committee members chosen by Chancellors of Universities with Prime Minister / President and Opposition leader confirming.
11) Education. Must be free or near free to everyone to Year 10. High performing students free to end of under Graduate degree (or trade), others pay a reduced amount.

I know what I suggest is a lot but just giving people the vote an expecting everything to work just won’t. I touched on some Government policies above but I think there are more to have a good Government. The above is about having an informed electorate where minorities are protected to help us all get alone.

We keep trying systems like dictatorships, communism and democracy with one common aspect centralised power but the results aren’t that promising, maybe lets try minimising the power of the head of government, respect experts and education, and see what happens.

In the space of a month I have 4 colleagues retiring and it definitely makes me feel a little sad and a lot older. Rob, Julia, Marilyn and Ian are legends in so many ways.

I first dealt with them over 10 years ago and I saw them as this wise group of people who knew just about everything to do with Superannuation, Management and giving life advise.

I hoped to gain some of this knowledge and even found myself a little intimidated in conversations discussing ideas. As a group they have been magnificent public servants always trying to get better outcomes for the public but more importantly they were truly good human beings. They supported and encouraged everyone to reach their goals and helped us all when tragedies hit our personal lives.

How fast time has flown. Losing four people I highly respect at the same time seems unfair but they deserve their retirements.

It’s also a reminder that I need to step up into the roles they played in supporting and helping others. I feel we have a responsibility to play forward the support we received when we were younger.

Have great lives out there in the real world guys.

Mental health is something that many of us take for granted until we or someone we care about crashes. As a society we see advertisements about physical health issues all the time, in fact some of them might lead to mental health issues due to poor body imagines, but rarely mental health ads.

In Australia mental health is rarely discussed. Being a country that prides itself on it’s sense of ‘manliness’ and a general feeling that if you are feeling bad you should toughen up. According to Government data in 2009 (latest I could find) someone commits suicide in Australia every 4 hours, with men being four times likely as women. The figures are likely under reported unfortunately and lives can be wrecked when without suicide.

Way back in 1990 I was impacted by this when my father took his own life. I come home from school one day and found the car running in the garage and a note in the kitchen. I have some understanding of the impact such an event can have on the people left behind. As a Catholic family we also had the issue of the church preferring not to hold the funeral, they did in the end but suicide is considered a sin.

Mental health and wellbeing is at the centre of true happiness and being able to live your life. There is much that still isn’t know about how to treat this but there are medications that can help balance people out, especially if they suffer from a bipolar disorder.

The fact is there are probably people in your life who suffer from manic depression and you probably do not even know due to the feeling of shame some people in this situation feel and how they try to hide it. You can appear to be successful financially but in reality that is a false front as spiritually and mentally you are suffering. Material things appear to mean little in this area other than they can cause stress and isolation (excessive workloads for example getting in the way of family and friends).

Luckily awareness is growing that it is not always just a weakness that an individual has to suck up and get over by themself. There are organisations that help people suffering and help those around them understand the condition. Beyond Blue is an Australian organisation I believe who are worth supporting and checking out their website, especially for signs and symptoms to look out for;
http://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/depression/signs-and-symptoms

There have been points in my life were depression has been very real to me and for which I’ve needed help. I’ve been fortunate that I had support. I’m sure with the privileged life I live including travel, career and wealth I wouldn’t seem likely to be effected.

The worse aspect of mental health issues however is those needing help are usually the ones least able to see that or even have access to services. We can all help however by talking about our experiences, by looking out for those around us who might be suffering and supporting organisations and governments who are addressing this issue. The manly approach doesn’t work. As a people I truly believe we are at our best when we support each other and keep judgment to a minimum.

Let’s support people and try to minimise the very real costs denying mental health issues.