The Nationals senator has restored in the minds of Australians the value of the truth that equality is about the human dignity of all, and not about race.
In the
thumping rejection of the prime minister’s proposal to change the Constitution lie a number of lessons for those who seek to lead and serve this country. And their perfect symbol is the woman of the moment,
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
The first of those is one for state and federal parties of the centre-right: that there is no fait accompli in politics, and that the future is there to be written by those prepared to courageously stand for worthy causes from a position of principle.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine at a press conference in Brisbane on Saturday. Dan Peled
About a year out from the referendum, the almost universal advice given by pollsters and political professionals to the Coalition was that the Voice proposal
had to be supported, because public support was so high that it could not possibly be defeated – whether or not it had merit.
Jacinta has, in what seems like just moments after her election, proved them wrong.
The conventional wisdom conveyed to new parliamentarians is to sit down, shut up and work for local services and infrastructure rather than any major reform or national issue.
Jacinta did not. She boldly and clearly articulated that the way forward for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lies not in merely throwing more money at a problem with little accountability, nor in the disempowering
politics of grievance culture.
It lies in the fundamental values that helped Australia grow to become a wealthy and free land of opportunity: the equality of opportunity, respect for the individual, reward for effort, and the strong social fabric that comes from smaller, more accountable governments.
And along with
her colleague Nyunggai Warren Mundine, she was prepared to articulate an uncomfortable truth: that all the programs in the world won’t make a difference unless individuals in disadvantage can be persuaded to also make better choices for themselves and their families. That’s not to blame anyone, but to accept the power of human agency.
As a consequence, she has fundamentally restored in the mind of Australians the importance of a truth that was being gradually ebbed away: that equality is about the human dignity of all, and not about race or, as Bob Hawke once put it, some “hierarchy of descent”.
We are defined by what we do – because that is the best reflection of who we are. And each of us has the opportunity ever day to improve: not by demanding some far away institution do better, but by doing better ourselves and reaching out to help others in practical ways.
Jacinta has inflicted a body blow against the divisive ideology of identity politics that has been pushing quotas and advancement based on arbitrary biological attributes rather than merit or substance for at least two decades; an ideology that has been eaten up greedily by governments and a
corporate Australia desperate to assuage its guilt, claim virtue and earn the fawning of the urban and fashionable class.
Until now, there hasn’t been an opportunity for the Australian people to send a clear message on the impacts of this divisive ideology. But the referendum was. It would be a terrible mistake for any party of government not to heed it.
In a media statement that clearly represented the attitudes of Labor’s leaders and the largely urban media types, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk led with this: “The Australian people have spoken. And their voice tells me they’re not ready. Not yet.”
The “not yet” shows that the parties of the left have not in fact accepted the significance of the result. Carried in that language is a deeply held belief that No voters are under-educated and under-evolved; and that with more time being subtly (or not so subtly) called racists, they will climb on board. It’s insulting and out of touch.
The lesson for the Coalition is that the electorate is hungry for leadership that’s prepared to fight for what is right on principle, even when it is hard. That those who tell us not to bother fighting culture wars do so because they are the people who are already winning them. And that there is a direct link between culture and prosperity that, if not appreciated, will undermine the Coalition parties’ greatest electoral strengths for the long term.
There is no doubt Jacinta and her family went through a hailstorm of abuse and slurs in the course of this campaign. But in her we have proof that the hard road to political service that most Liberal and National women face in the absence of quotas is also their biggest strength. Battle-hardened, Jacinta was able to withstand the ugliness of the Yes campaign’s attempts to tear her down, and emerge capable of bringing people of so many walks of life together.
That hard road is what means she is no one-trick pony; that she will contribute substantially across the gamut of policy issues, and that she will do it with authenticity and understanding for the shared values of Australians.
The comparison between her performance and that of her counterparts from Labor could not have been more stark. Linda Burney was rarely across her brief and treated Australians with contempt as she repeatedly refused to answer reasonable questions about the proposal for constitutional change. Even her late-game substitute for the
Spotlight debate on Channel 7, Malarndirri McCarthy, rambled incoherently in what was a good summary of the big-on-feelings, low-on-detail approach of the Yes campaign.
It’s the strength that lies in so many of the Coalition’s women. Their road is hard, to be sure. But it’s what makes them able to stand with courage, unite Australians in commonsense and shared values, and ultimately, make the biggest possible difference.
And that’s more empowering than identity politics could ever be.