By Stephanie Sardinha
When I was about 8 years old, my parents bought me a globe for Christmas. This wasn’t any ordinary globe; this was a globe that could tell you the capital city, the leader of the nation, and could even play you the national anthem!
Every time I tapped on Australia, the globe would emphatically state ‘The Prime Minister of Australia is John Howard.’
In 2009, it was common knowledge that John Howards was NOT the prime minister any more. And so, my parents spent about a week trying to update the information for me, so that the globe would properly inform me that the prime minister was in fact, Kevin Rudd.
Little did they know, that they would have to update this globe 5 more times over the next 5 years.
At least for now, the revolving door of political leadership has stalled, with Malcolm Turnbull still at the helm of the Liberal Party. But with his 30th loss in the polls as of Monday, is the revolving door about to start up again?
Whether or not Malcolm Turnbull and the coalition win the next election is somewhat irrelevant - many political analysts believe that he won’t be able to recover from 30 consecutive poll losses. The revolving door has simply opened up a fundamental flaw in the way that politics operates in Australia, and more importantly, the key that has been lost along the way.
Trust.
When I turn 18 at the end of this year, I’m more excited to vote than I am to drink. Yet the saddest thing is, I won’t be sure that the leader of the box that I tick will still be in power when it’s time for me to vote again when I’m 21.
Australians need to be able to trust that the leader they voted for not only starts, but FINISHES the job. There’s no point voting for a leader and their political promises if you know there is a good chance they won’t get the full 3 years to attempt to enact them.
Hence, Malcolm’s Turnbull’s potential win or loss isn’t the issue at hand. It’s whether or not he completes his full 3-year term. If he loses, at least he loses having done what he could in the time that the coalition was given.
And more importantly, it sets a precedent to stop the revolving door.
Rebuilding trust within the political system is imperative in enabling a government to be effective as well as popular.
Because there is incredible strength to be found in stability.