Aussie Politics
While in Japan we had little chance of keeping up to date with the complex mechanizations of the Japanese political system. We understood too little of the language to utilize the normal channels of communication to engage ourselves. I mainly relied on a translated Japanese news site for my news, but I found the coverage to be simplified and limited.
Since we've moved to Australia, we've done our best to stay abreast of the political situation here. I've gone on at length about what excellent public broadcasting stations they have here (ABC and SBS). The news is what I feel it should be: non-sensationalist, comprehensive and direct. A good portion of the news is devoted to international issues, which means I can generally keep up to date on Obama's health care plan for the U.S. and Osama's latest beard color - while also staying informed about Australian politics.
The Australians have a parliamentary democracy. The Parlaiment is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, much the same as our legislative branch. The huge difference between Australian and U.S. form of government is the voting system.
In the House, members are voted to office in a system of alternative voting called Instant Run-off Voting. Defined in Wikipedia, IRV-voting is " if no candidate receives an overall majority
of first choices, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is
excluded, and ballots cast for that candidate are redistributed to the
remaining candidates according to the voters' indicated preference.
This process is repeated until one candidate obtains a majority
(50% or more) of those votes remaining after exhausted ballots are
discarded. The term 'instant runoff voting' is used because this
process simulates a series of run-off elections."
The voting for senators is again different. There, members are voted to office using a system called the Single Transferable Vote. Again voters indicate the order of preference for the candidates running (ie. John Guevara - 1, Joe Codroy - 2, Amanda Ginsberg - 3). Your vote for John Guevara would be used only if that vote were needed. Once he wins his seat, your vote is transferred to your next choice, Joe Codroy. This allows third-party candidates the chance to compete in elections, unlike third-parties in the U.S. If I were voting and I wanted to make sure that John Howard's Liberal Party got as few votes as possible, I would first vote for the most likely challenger, which would at this time be the Labour Party. But, I could still cast a preferential vote for my real favored party, the Greens. Once Labour got the seat, my vote would then be cast for the Green candidate.
I see this style of voting to be light-years more democratic than the electoral college. It's meant that even smaller parties are given a place at the bargaining table, rather than being completely ignored as they often are in the U.S.
The other very interesting part about Australian politics is the role of the Prime Minister. John Howard is currently the PM, but Australia didn't vote for him to be the PM. John Howard represents a district called Bennelong - of which we are a part. John Howard was first elected to represent Bennelong in the House of Representatives, and then elected by his party as leader of the party. This would be like George W. Bush having to first win a county election before becoming President. John Howard regularly campaigns for his seat in Bennelong, often showing up in our little market on Saturday mornings. I've yet to run in to him, but almost once a week I see video of him strolling the same block that Libby and I do. He's currently in the fight of his life with a former news anchor named Maxine McKew.
The PM has a real role in the House. Every afternoon I can turn on ABC and see him debating issues, answering questions on the floor of the House. Unlike Bush, who can choose where he takes questions, when he takes them and who asks them, Howard must answer questions - tough questions - every day that Parliament is in session. And he's good at it. Despite almost completely disagreeing with everything he stands for (the Liberals here are pro-big business, social conservatives), I think John Howard is an exceptional, consummate politician.
The Australian election is right around the corner. It will be held some time in the next three months. The opposition leader this election is Kevin Rudd, a former foreign diplomat who bears an unfortunate resemblance to Dennis the Menace. He speaks fluent Mandarin, much to the chagrin of John Howard. Rudd was able to converse with Chinese president Hu Jintao without a translator during the APEC summit. It drove the Liberals crazy.
Rudd's shadow cabinet consists of many interesting folks. His Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment & Heritage, Arts is one Peter Garrett. Garrett is the former lead singer of a great Australian rock band named Midnight Oil. Here's a picture. 
Garrett is an outspoken proponent of Green technology. During his years with Midnight Oil he relentlessly campaigned against nuclear testing, U.S. foreign policy and logging. In recent times, he has developed the politician's double-speak, but you can tell he's still genuinely dedicated to get things changed.
Al Gore was in the country last weekend, talking with Kevin Rudd. He's popular here. It's going to be an interesting next few months. Especially considering that the Bush Administration often boasts that because the Liberal Party is in power it is a reflection of the Australian people's commitment to U.S. foreign policy. The Liberals are a solid 10 percentage points behind in every poll, most Australians never agreed with the invasion of Iraq and are sorely disappointed in the way the Howard government have dropped the ball with Carbon emissions standards, so we'll see if the Bush Administration changes its tune after the election.
