Australian Federal Politics

Paper Summary:

This paper uses the incident of the boat containing asylum seekers that sank off the shore of Australia to discuss the issue of public trust in government. It looks at the role John Howard's administration had in misleading the people of Australia about the disaster and how the Australian people responded.

From the Paper:

"One of the most disillusioning things that can happen to a citizen of a democracy is to discover that one's own government - the legal and political extension of oneself - has lied to one. This is far more damaging both to an individual's belief in his or her government and in the end to that government itself than is a citizen's disagreement with that government. This does not, of course, only happen in Australia. Many Americans (to look across the Pacific) believed that their government should not go to war with Iraq, but even as they disagreed with their government's actions approval for American President Bush remained high. However, after it was discovered that the Bush administration lied to the American people about its claims for the necessity of going to war and going to war quickly, more and more Americans have begun to have an unfavorable opinion of their government - and rightly so. If there is a single obligation that a democratic government has to its people it is to tell them the truth. The Australian government has itself recently failed to do this and as a result deserves to lose the confidence of the people that it claims to represent."

More papers on Australian Federal Politics:

• Essay # 9269 : "The 2001 Australian Federal Elections"
• Research Paper # 1605 : "Fundamentals of Australian Democracy"
• Persuasive Essay # 100815 : "Is the Australian Constitution in Need of Reform?"

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