Yes it's messy. Yes, it's sometimes painful and annoying and frustrating. But it's the lifeblood of our nation, and we are very lucky to have it.
All over the world, many people look at at democracies like Australia in envy. Some people fight desperate battles to attain something close to what we take for granted.
Some settle for the smallest of incremental change, hoping that in their child's lifetime leaders and governments will be chosen by the people and will have to prove themselves again, and again, to remain in the job.
Many Australians think our parliament and parliamentarians should stop arguing, and just get on with the job of governing for all of us. While this is no-doubt a worthy sentiment, for me it demonstrates just how much we take our democracy for granted.
When ideologies clash in other countries, often blood is shed. And more often than not, it's the blood of innocents. Here in Australia, someone hurls some 'unparliamentary language' across the chamber and their opponents on the other side return fire with similar comments. Or they guffaw. Or just ignore it.
Seriously.
Think about it. Really think about it.
How good is that?
We in Australia are privileged beyond measure. Well, most of us - without getting into the legal technicalities of Indigenous Australians never ceding their sovereignty and Australia being declared British territory illegally under International law of the day. Terra Nullius anyone?
So no. We are far from perfect in so many ways. But was it Churchill who said democracy is the worst system of government, except for all the rest?
Never a truer word was spoken.
And on this day, when Queensland goes to the polling booths, it's a good day to remember it.
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Image courtesy of pixabay.com
