Two cheers for Australian democracy

Or why the mainstream should look down, not up

I find it completely extraordinary that a mainstream columnist can write a piece about the state of political debate in Australia and not even mention the last election and the role community independents played.

And yet, that is exactly what Sean Kelly does in his most recent piece in the SMH:

Well, what a dispiriting week! Has there been a more perfect demonstration of the hopelessly petty place to which Australian politics has descended? It is probably too early to give up on politics altogether; but if, eventually, that is what it comes to, then surely our minds will return to last week and think, “The signs were clear. That was when we should have known.”

The summary is simple. The government proposed a minor change to the way earnings on superannuation held by rich people are taxed. Quickly, the opposition summoned outrage. The media went in several directions: some sided with the opposition, declaring it a betrayal, a mistake and a harbinger of awful things to come; some said it w…