27th March 2026
We had our South Australian State elections last Saturday, and in Monday's "Advertiser" (our State daily) was several large analytical spreads - as always - but the best one was "Winners & Losers". There was a whole bunch of Losers - members who lost their seat, candidates who fell short, etc, etc - but it was the four "Winners" that warmed my tired old pump. Not the bit on the sitting Premier, or - nup, can't remember who the other bloke was - it was the two bits under them titled "Democracy" and "Sausages".
"Democracy" - In a troubled world where the dictators jail opponents, or worse, the candidates were civil, the arguments robust but peaceful,, the voters turned out knowing they were safe, and confident any change of government would be gracious, as it was in 2022 and 2018."
Amen to that. Amen amen amen.
It's compulsory to vote in Aus, and long may that remain the case, as it steers you towards a study of the form and make serious choices on the day. Mostly. Even though we are just about the most Centralist nation in the world - Labour is a touch Left of Centre, and the Liberals a touch to the Right, and few of the other parties stretch that very far - okay, One Nation a bit off to the Right, Greens a bit off to the Left, but no Communists and no Nazis. Aussies hate wannabe dictators.
The item above on our traditional sausage sizzle at every polling booth speaks volumes about how we go about elections, but the bit on Democracy - geez, it says it all !!
You know how many Nations there are in the world? - 195.
You know how many full and stable democracies there are in the world? - 24. That's 15% of the Nations, but covering only 6.6% of the global population. The human race has a looooong way to go.
Enough said.
Cheers.....
Trev
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