This, Our Dark Night of the Soul.

My friend Paul Oosting has managed to put it into better words than I have, read on..

This seems to be our collective dark night of the soul. For many of us in Australia, post 2004 federal election period is somewhat ominous and depressing. Power has been consolidated and a new government has been installed. Citizens have expressed their quad annually democratic right by casting, or not, a vote to a particular politician or party. The elected party in the Australian election was the Liberal Party headed by John Howard. Despite winning with a strong majority and gaining rule of the senate many people are left in dismay at the prospects for Australia under the neo-liberal rule of the Liberal Party.

The foundation of the Liberal Parties campaign was keeping interest rates down, keeping the budget in surplus and a strong economic record. The record of the Liberal Party since being in power from1996 displays the cost at which these meagre economic gains have arrived. Since his time in parliament John Howard has sent Australia to war in Iraq under the coalition with America despite a majority of public opposition; refused to ratify the Kyoto protocol and set the Mandatory Renewable Energies Target at less than 2%; established large prisons for refugees, locating many on isolated islands; restricted civil rights to gay people; decreased funding for the environment; channelled the majority of education spending to private schools and under funded public system; brought in a Goods and Services Tax.

What is in store now for Australia. The newly elected government that has the potential control of the senate, rare in Australian politics is looking to; abandon calls to protect Tasmania’s old growth forests, a state that currently has the highest rate of land clearance in the western world; introduce workplace reforms, minimising the power of unions; pass cross media laws that will allow Kerry Packer to buy a even greater portion of ‘our’ media; further privatise public assets; increase university fees; step further away from addressing climate change; the agenda will be consistent with their neo-liberal philosophy.The problem is to know not only what is occurring but to understand it and derive lessons from it, to study the history of now. The people of the world must be calling on Australians to go through this self-reflection so we can come to an understanding of who we are, who we can be and what we can do.

With Howard stepping up once more many people who have worked to bring about social, environmental or economic change are hurting. There is a sense of foreboding, knowing the damaging history and philosophy of the Liberal Party, as to what we are in store for. The is a sense of sadness, dismay and even fear, that deep human characteristic that has worked so well as a campaign tool, knowing so many fellow Australians have allowed this to happen. Also, there is the salt we can happily rub into the wound with self-criticism. Did we do enough? Are we to Blame?

Marilyn Manson recently said that he would be voting for George Bush in the American presidential election. Why? Because under the Nazi like regime of the Bush administration great art will be created, resistance will grow. The underlying message remains, despite the government of the day: if we want a healthy environment, social commons, a free and representative media, care and protection for those most in need, equal rights for all humans despite your family persuasion, then we are going to have to fight for them. When a political party is in power, with control of the senate, operating under a neo-conservative agenda that is great adversity. But, as the saying goes great adversity breeds’ ingenuity.

As a community, populated by a growing number of concerned individuals we have the ideas and the knowledge to find a solution. Next, we need to implement them but for now we reflect. We must understand the present history of Australia. This is our dark night of the soul, let us mourn the lost chance for a positive change. Dress in black, wear an armband, go smash yourself, meditate, whatever it is you do. This is an important time to look at our course of action in determining the direction of our country. Once we have looked in, had our dark night of the soul a new activism needs to be born. This is an exciting time to be in Australia, so much needs to change, so many people want another way of being. Despite the Liberal governments agenda for Australia let us, the empathetic citizens create a new agenda.

Paul Oosting