ABOUT DEMOCRACY
Money controls Government policies 2.2.2011

How the Australian government is run for the rich and powerful, not the Australian people, is well illustrated by Peter Hartcher in today’s Sydney Morning Herald.

He reports that, according to papers filed with the Electoral Commission, in 2007 the trade union movement spent $30m to stop the Government’s workchoices laws. Last year the Mining Industry spent $22m to reduce the Government’s mining tax by about $2.5b a year and removed the elected Prime Minister in the process. Can’t get much more powerful than that!

Nothing wrong with speaking out or spending money, but the voice that was not heard or heeded was that of the Australian people as a community.
This year FairGO will launch a facility to rectify this serious imbalance in our democracy. The Australian people have as much right to be heard on government policy as trade unions and big business.

Since launching its Votergram service a quarter of a century ago, FairGO has, without much fuss, enabled the Australian people to influence government policy in many areas like small business and farm protection, health services, control of snowfields, road safety, taxation, ID card, family relationships, alcohol abuse, mental health, banking practices and the ban on smoking in many places.

It will celebrate 25 years of service to Australian democracy with a completely new concept in “government for the people”, working as always, through elected representatives whilst steering clear of election campaigning.
 

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Most politicians are no more interested in you than you are in them or the rest of the community! That is surely reasonable. We get treated the way we treat others.

Politicians are poor mind readers too! It is important that all of them know what a person wants. It is no good just telling a local MP or the Minister and hoping they will persuade the whole government to take action. That rarely happens!

Democracy is a chain like this:
community – voters – politicians – parliament/congress/assembly – government – bureaucrats – public servants.

If you want something done you need to convince as many politicians as possible. Then they can convince the government (the party with the elected majority) who will convince the bureaucrats to have the public servants do it. (Long road Hey!)

Big businesses or industry groups short circuit this with highly paid lobbyists persuading politicians and bureaucrats to do what they want. They often back this up with huge donations to political parties which they assure us are not “bribes”. Then they mostly get much of what they seek.

Those donations are used to buy advertising at election time to win votes.

Voters can short circuit the system by engaging FairGO to help persuade politicians and by marshalling votes, particularly in marginal electorates.

Help is also available for people who are being unfairly treated by their bank over a bank loan or by businesses in which they have invested. In part that is because banks and businesses pay a lot of money to politicians with the aim of getting profitable policies, contracts or assets from government.They are therefore responsive to political scrutiny of what they do.

Since it formed with the Votergram service in 1986 and the Moneygram service in 1987, FairGO has spent 24 years dedicated to helping individuals and community groups persuade governments to do what THEY want. Politicians also have the resources to help when voters are being treated unfairly by banks and businesses as well as by the bureaucracy.

Whether you have a personal problem with government, like medical needs, or a broad concern of benefit to the whole community like safe roads, a debt problem with a bank or an investment problem with where you have placed your money, FairGO exists to help you itself or through an affiliated organisation.

For details email info@fairgo.org or phone 61 02 9988 3312