>>...A TV crew had asked MPs some basic question about the nature of the EFSF [European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund] right before the crucial sitting of the Bundestag. They wanted to know how much money Germany will guarantee under the extension (€211 billion), which countries had received money under the scheme so far (Ireland and Portugal; Greece received assistance separately), and whether banks could be bailed out under the extended EFSF (yes).

Amazingly, the majority of parliamentarians could not answer these simple questions correctly. Some believed that only Greece had received money. Others thought that so far the EFSF had not been used at all. Almost none could tell the total amount of German guarantees. ‘A few billion, I guess?’ was a typical answer. And of course only a minority knew that the EFSF could also provide bank bailouts.

When the report was broadcast on national TV last Thursday it caused a public outrage and was widely reported in the media. This was the biggest sum of money a German parliament had ever committed to a cause – and MPs had no idea what they had just done.>>

See:

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Greek-debt-crisis-bailout-euro-Germany-EFSF-vote-pd20111004-MB5YM?OpenDocument&src=kgb

Do Australian members of parliament have a better idea of what they’re voting for?

Or are they as clueless as their German counterparts?

Well, if they were going to vote for the EFSF, I would certainly want them to answer a few tough questions.

Bugsy wrote:

>>Well, if they were going to vote for the EFSF, I would certainly want them to answer a few tough questions.>>

I think you're missing the point.

I would want our members of parliament to be able to answer tough questions on ANY measure that came before them.

Whether the questions the German Bundestag members were asked were "tough" is I suggest a matter for debate. I would have called them elementary.

Is this a rhetorical question?
Could Australian members of parliament do better than their German ones?
Australian parliamentarians are mugs who couldn't organize an raffle.

Name three Australian politicians who could demonstrate an understanding of a problem half as complex as this one the Germans are handling.
In fact, name just three successful policies or acts implemented over the past decade- as opposed to ones that were so badly handled (or bad to begin with) they actually had to be aborted.

The fact that our politicians' answer to the global recession a few years back was to raise taxes really speaks for itself.

King Hazza

In South Africa some iconoclastic pundits used to label members of parliament "stemvee" from the Afrikaans:

Stem (vote)

Vee (cattle)

In other words they were "voting cattle" who would be ushered (figuratively) through the lobbies by the whips.

It was not necessary for them to know what they were voting for. All they needed to know is how the whips wanted them to vote.

Would it be fair to say that most Australian members of parliament are "stemvee?"

Actually steven, your point isn't exactly clear, it has to be inferred.

If I took your question at face value, I would say that if asked exactly the same questions as the Germans were, I doubt that they would be able to answer.
I did of course take that and ran with it, saying that if they were to be voting on European legislation, then of course I think some tougher questions would be in order. Like... why? for instance.

I see that what you really mean is that politicians should be able to answer questions on the legislation that they vote for. Which is what you really meant, but have a bad habit of assuming that everyone already gets the point you are trying to make. I really think you should be clearer.