It’s been six decades now that the word ‘preference’ became a verb. The actual act of ‘preferencing’, of course, has been around for much longer; in fact Australia’s preferential voting system is two years shy of celebrating its 100th anniversary, which is definitely something to celebrate, signalling a major win for representative democracy.
One would expect that a century would be a fair amount of time for voters to master the art of ranking politicians’ names on a piece of paper, but this is hard work. No wonder voting is followed by sausage sizzle, the way donating blood is followed by a glass of orange juice: one needs a piece of burnt meat to compensate for all this energy wasted on making the right, informed choice for the country. The key word, of course is ‘informed’.
Apart from all these tests online, designed to put the voters on the political spectrum (and have fun comparing views with the actual political parties’ principles), there are other factors that weigh in when voting. Shared cultural background is one of these factors.
The readership of Neos Kosmos knows this all too well. Following a decades-old tradition, we scanned all states and all parties, looking for Greek names among the candidates for a seat in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
As it happens, there are 30 politicians of Greek origin scattered among all parties in the political spectrum, asking for the people’s vote. From Machiavellian political mastermind Arthur Sinodinos (Liberal Party) to good-natured actress and comedy veteran Tula Tzoras (Online Direct Democracy Party) and from hard-working, policy-driven MP Maria Vamvakinou (Australian Labor Party) to former Miss Teen Charity Victoria turned Christian values defender Melanie Vassiliou (Rise Up Australia Party), not to mention this election’s ‘X’ factor, Nick Xenophon, the list is proof of a certain kind of diversity that surpasses ethnic background and cultural identity. What do these 30 politicians have in common, apart from being Greek? How important is someone’s ethnicity when deciding who to vote for, and how does it fare compared with actual political ideas?
For all the sentimental value of ‘preferencing’ a fellow Greek, shared culture might prove to not be enough to bridge a chasm of political disagreement. After all, being Greek is not an ideology; no matter how hard our grandparents have tried to persuade us that there is such a thing as a system of fundamental ‘Greek values’. If all these 30 candidates were ever in the same room debating issues, it is doubtful they’d agree on a proper spanakopita recipe, let alone what action to take on people smugglers.
Not surprisingly, ‘Greek’ issues are not part of the election campaign. A range of issues (the economy, Medicare, education funding, climate change, marriage equality, migration, etc.) might take turns dominating the public discourse, but there has been no room for policies regarding multicultural issues to be announced.
That does not mean that candidates have not tried to lure Greek voters. Both major parties promised to offer funding of up to $600,000 to the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria, for instance; politicians have been campaigning in constituencies populated by Greeks, eager to please them by promising to pursue ‘Greek’ issues. But what are ‘Greek issues’?
One would argue that Greek Australians are very concerned about the ongoing issue of the dual pensions, or with policies regarding properties in Greece. But these issues are far too complicated to be discussed in an election campaign (and they cannot be resolved without action being taken by the Greek government, which further complicates things), so, instead, both community leaders and politicians resort to the stale-old issue of Macedonia, the Greek diaspora’s favourite lost cause: it makes for an easy promise on the politicians’ part, it makes community stakeholders party and all goes well.
As far as pressing Greek issues go – such as restarting the economy and helping Greece’s global position – there is silence. Last time the issue was discussed in parliament was when Scott Ludlam, senator for the Greens, proposed a motion going “to Australia’s ability [as member of a series of international organisations, not least among them the IMF] to alleviate the extraordinary suffering that has been levied against the people of Greece”.
A year later, nobody talks about Australia taking action to ask for debt relief for Greece, not even the Greens (the party has one candidate of Greek origin, Kate Giamarelos, going for the seat of Capricornia in Queensland). But sure, we can all agree on Australia not calling FYROM ‘Macedonia’.