i.
Shorten conceding. He speaks in waves
And says the right words
Politicians have bigger selves than me
I’m only watching by accident
Having sworn off all politics a couple of hours ago
For years it’s taxed my time
And left me with a dry mouthful of shit
ii.
How many times do I learn the same lesson?
Salesmanship trumps substance
These are the things Australians choose:
Reality TV, franchise shopping, tabloid media, property speculation, the Liberal Party.
To be prime minister you need slogans and photo ops
You don’t need to answer questions
You don’t need policies
You don’t need to try to save the world
Let’s just carry on to hell as we were
iii.
Today I’ll turn off the news forever.
Today, tell me if you voted Liberal
So I can unfriend you and never speak to you again.
Today I’m retreating to aesthetics
I’ll look at paintings from long ago
And live for myself, it’s the Australian way now.
Today we’ll sell the house and go self-sufficient in Balingup.
Today we’ll gird our loins and replenish the armoury,
Planting seeds in the backyard with the kids
And saying you have to keep hoping no matter what.
Nathan Hobby, a biographer in Perth 
Hi Nathan
We were wondering why there were so many Liberal ads were on the TV all showing what will happen if the opposition get in.This was a campaign based on fear-what happens if I lose my Negative gearing benefits? What happens if more refugees come into the country? What happens to my Tax cut if I earn over $140,000?
Take care Nathan
Bert
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So true! Triumph of fear and self interest over hope and fairness.
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Ah Nathan, I hear my younger self in your poem. I have wept hot tears of anguish over election results before this one, and believe me, watching the results come in from here in New Zealand (where we have heard explicit hopes of a change of government from our Kiwi cousins) made us feel very lonely and sad and ashamed.
But…
While I know that this one was an election more important than most, because of climate change and a whole host of other issues, in a democracy we have to accept that over the course of a lifetime, political parties that we despise will form government. People we like and love will vote ‘the wrong way’ and break our hearts. It’s what happens and we need look no further than the US and the UK to see the deep sense of shame that many people feel about the way their compatriots have voted.
But what we must not do is disengage. There are other channels than government for forcing change, and there will be another election in three years time, maybe by-elections in between. If it turns out to be a minority government, it may fall. Look at the long struggle of our Indigenous people for their rights, and take heart, if they did not give up then neither must we.
Hold fast to your ideals, Nathan, and do not despair.
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Thank you for your encouraging words Lisa! It does feel the most urgent election in a long time to me, because of climate change and because they’ve seemed so inept. And I should emphasise that I resorted to poetry to say things I didn’t mean quite literally. I’ve been rollercoasting between different responses, as I tried to capture. I’ll still be speaking to Liberal voters after this, just not about politics for at least a while. After not believing in parliamentary politics when I was younger, I have been putting too much hope in it! As you say, there’s other ways to get things done.
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I love how you have used the poetic form of expression here. Sometimes we need to disengage in order to look after our own wellbeing and that of our family (it is for this reason that I don’t watch mainstream news). Let us write our poems and our stories, stand before magnificent paintings in far-flung galleries, meditate by the sea. And, in a few years time, perhaps we can emerge to engage again. Look after yourself Nathan.
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Thanks Karenlee – wise words. Part of my problem is how obsessively I’ve been following it all in recent years. Not healthy. And I’m finding it good for me to at least try to think in poetry again after years of not.
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It is also hard to deal with travelling now … Once upon a time ‘I am Australian’ could be uttered with some pride, despite a few yobbos acting the fool. Now, they seem like terrifying words to utter. I suppose there are many decent Americans dealing with that too.
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So true… when Trump was elected I felt ‘at least we’re not as bad as the USA’ – but actually we’re kind of the same. Hope we can show generosity and altruism to the rest of the world in other ways.
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Loved your poem, Nathan. Agree with everything you have to say. Damned disappointing, this election. Bewildered by the result and disgusted with my fellow Aussies at the moment. However, we’ll get over it, and I for one will never give up hope that one day Australia will be a fairer & better place to live in.
Denise
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Thanks Denise! It’s been comforting to me to share the pain with others who feel the same. 🙂
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Oh Nathan I am in mourning for our future. I wonder if I can live in the country of my Dad, where roads are made of recycled materials and gaols are being repurposed into public housing. How can this country, once so forward-thinking, be reduced to this position of ridicule? How have Australians chosen small-minded, climate-change deniers who do not value anyone who doesn’t look like us?
I am in despair.
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Australia’s not looking too good at the moment, is it? Maybe this disaster is a goad which will have some unexpected positive consequences…
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Dear Nathan. Thank you so much for your amazing poem. For sharing your heart felt disappointment and shock.I agreed with everything you said Nathan and thank you for sharing your painful feelings. Your poem indeed was a vehicle for me to articulate to myself my own sense of despair, shock and sadness. Keep on believing in your own values Nathan and keep on striving to effect positive change in your own passionate way. You are a born leader and have the ability to advocate for those of us who cant speak as articulately as others. Never stop trying Nathan. You are an inspiration to others as you always speak out of your God inspired authentic self! Blessings and love to your family. Ruth
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Thanks for your kind words Ruth! Glad we share political convictions. We’ve got to all work out what’s next, but there’s lots of us who share a vision of a better world, so as you say, we’ve got to keep trying.
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