ON THE RUN

by GEOFFREY CURTIS

For those young enough to remember the 100-yard ‘Dash’ and the ‘Mile’ in Athletics, it was a period in time when runners, mainly from the Developed Nations, made for faster times. As we grew up, there were many heroes, and there were to be many more as the athletic measurement changed from Imperial to Metric.

Several things have not changed, as you can see from the photo as they line up, to start the race. The aim is to win and to do that, the runner must get to the finishing line marked, nowadays not by tape, but rather a beam of light, exited from a laser.

However, there are false starts, meaning a runner overstepped the running mark before the gun went off. Previously, there were countless arguments between the athlete and the official about who was right. Today, videos are used to make the point. A Great Britain athlete in the final of the recent Paris Olympics did not attempt to object.

In Tasmania, recently we had our annual Athletics Carnival. We always look forward to having one of our athletes represent the country at sporting events. None more so than Stewart McSweyn from King Island, who is in the top 20 world-class middle-distance runners.

We also have another race, one that has been running (excuse the pun) for over 100 years. And that is the Federal Election, which is due in the next few months.

On the Braddon starting line there will be numerous candidates, some new to the challenge, others less so. Most will be fit to make the take-off, although there may be one or two false starts to sort out. These might include not being an Australian citizen or being under eighteen years of age.

The representation will include both Liberal and Labour political parties, obviously ‘Greens’, and one or more ‘Independents’. In today’s elections, there are few barriers, as our picture shows regarding gender, being a senior citizen, ethnicity, or how you wish to dress.

The aim, not unlike in Athletics, is to be on time for the race and do anything ‘legally’ to win. And to win means being prepared to have a team to give the contender victory.

There is, however, a false start that urgently needs attention. Let us suppose the Liberal candidate is given $90,000 to spend, while Labor has $70,000, the Green a lot less, and the Independent, a few thousand dollars to do with as they wish, to reach the finishing line. You know what I mean, using billboards for advertising, signs on trailers, YouTube, the media, etcetera.

Is this fair? Most would say yes, as it’s not unlawful. Political donations by lobbying groups and individuals often lack transparency. For example, what is to stop someone from sending $10,000 to 10 different agents exceeding the lawful donation threshold?

Is it unethical? You bet it is! In short, it lacks moral standards.

What is ethical is that candidates on the starting line all have the same dollar value in trying to be elected. How individuals spend their allowance is up to them. They would be accountable to the electorate with public money, allocated from the Electoral Office.

Is this wishful thinking? Not at all. In fact, in the Federal Parliament, just recently, both major political parties were ‘On the Run’ having been defeated in an attempt to pass the ‘Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024’.

The Bill sounded good, but lacked accountability, required transparency, and smelt something ‘Rotten’. In short, as the Independents in the Federal Parliament said at the time, this is all a stitch-up’!

What do you think?