Foxy said-

We are supposed to have a representative democracy.
So our members of parliament should reflect this.
Currently they don't.

As for your pointing to the incompetencies of some?

Incompetence is not restricted to just one gender.
There are many currently in parliament who go in
for the wrong reasons and who are thoroughly
incompetent.

They find the life irresistible. They want to be in it
all their lives. We have the seat-warmers, the hacks,
the careerists, the adventurers. What we need is people
who want to make a difference. Who want to make reforms.
Who want to improve things for the country and its people.
People with vision. People with the capacity to achieve.
And gender should not be a limitation.

Answer-

Malcolm Turnbull talked of the limitations of power- perhaps implying that it is the system not the individuals that are at fault.

"People with the capacity to achieve" - sounds like Foxy favours a meritocracy. The universities corruption of "merit" could be problematic here.

"gender should not be a limitation"- a return to the gender politics that have led to many of the current issues.

There seems to be a theme with Foxy here that "change is good"- this implies that tradition is bad.

Fascinating.

Yes Foxy good luck while you are away... we'll be thinking of you.

Dear CM,

Not all change is good and certainly not all
traditions are bad. I did not mean to imply that.

Most of us challenge ourselves to get out of our
comfort zones. That's how we learn. But, also
we like some things to remain the same.

Change is a paradox. We can have both favourable
and unfavourable attitudes towards change as well
as the desire in certain cases to maintain sameness.

Change is often feared - the fear of the unknown
because we can't anticipate the outcomes.

This morning I watched "Songs of Praise" on the ABC.
It was set in Harrogate, Yorkshire. A glorious setting.
An uplifting program. A place of so much history. Yet
in this historical setting the latest techniqies are
being used in the schools for students to be taught
the love of music and religion - thereby combining
the best of both worlds - tradition and change in the
way traditions are applied.

Thank You for contributing to this discussion, and for
your kind words and wishes. They are
appreciated.

Re "change is good".

The nation of Australia is the result of change - massive change: in the people of this continent, the environment, the economy, the technology. We've rejoiced in change (sometimes we've recognised some negative side effects, and we've changed to fix these).

I've just pulled a book off my shelves 'The Great Jubilee Book The Story of the Australian Nation in Pictures', published in 1951 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Federation. Throughout, change is praised: 'reforms that led the world', 'a revolution in communications', 'immense social changes (women found a greater freedom)', 'Australia grows up', 'new marvels appeared, great deeds performed', 'new experiments'. This book is not unique - many past milestones were greeted with similar books extolling the development of Australia and the Australian people. We have always been early adopters of technology and social change, and sometimes we've led the world.

So what's different now? Why are we scared of change, and fall back on 'tradition'? Our Australian tradition IS change - progress. If we really want 'tradition' , well let's go back to the horse and cart, no votes for women, or for working men. Who would have thought 'progressive' would become a dirty word? It's not just Australia. Western Civilisation itself is the result of change - it is often contrasted, positively, to unchanging mediaeval societies.

The nation of Australia is the result of British traditions not change.

Change is a source of risk and instability and needs to be managed. Change can be feared- for good reasons.

As Foxy has said "Not all change is good and certainly not all traditions are bad. I did not mean to imply that".

Hi Cossomby,

You mean change for its own sake ? Every change is good ? Nothing old is worth keeping - including Aboriginal culture ?

In real life, dear, we have to make hard decisions, and often compromises, and amidst many possible unknowns. We have to weight up whether we continue to do things in a certain way, with variations, or junk it entirely for something new and untested. Sometimes we need to change, sometimes we need to critically assess the dubious value of a change and perhaps decide not to. In real life, there are no iron rules on those lines. We have to weigh EVERYTHING up.

On top of that dreadful situation which forever plagues us, is the realisation that no option is perfect: every decision we make is likely to throw up more problems, hopefully fewer than it resolves. And actions often/usually/sometimes have completely unforeseen consequences.

It's a bastard of a world. But it's the only one we've got.

Cheers,

Joe

I agree that not all change is good. My parenthetical comment was referring to such things as the attempt to do away with Aboriginal culture.

But the point I was making is that the dichotomy change v tradition is not valid when change aka progress is a major component of our cultural tradition.