Former Labor leader Mark Latham’s story about the 2010 Election Campaign aired on 60 Minutes last night (Sun Aug 15).
The story concentrated on how dull the election campaign has been and how little difference there is between the two leaders. Latham told us how everything we see them doing is carefully staged and that both parties are too busy playing it safe rather than putting forward a plan or vision for Australia. He further said that Bob Brown and the Greens were the only ones really speaking out and a great alternative to the two major parties.
The story seemed to be going well – it wasn’t the big controversial presentation one might have expected after seeing what he had done during the week – until – he brought in Pauline Hanson – who was quick to point out that she does not trust Julia Gillard and that Mark Abbott was essentially personally responsible for Pauline going to prison a few years ago.
Latham opened the story saying he would tell us he is going to vote this Saturday. He finished the story by saying that while voting is compulsory, whether you put anything on the paper or not is up to you – suggesting we should all vote informally rather than one of the two major parties. Him saying this on national television seems irresponsible, to say the least.
Yes – it is up to you to chose how you vote, and whether you fill out anything on the ballot papers or not – but in doing so – you will have to accept that you have not contributed to the outcome of the election and therefore have no right to complain if you are not happy with the outcome.
Sure – the two parties may appear not to offer a great deal of substance, but not voting is not going to change anything. Perhaps it is time people start looking out side the “big two” – and consider what other parties like the Greens – who will most likely hold the balance of power after the election – have to offer.
Had Latham ended his story this way, it would have round out what otherwise was not all that bad – but instead it ended with headline grabbing controversy. Surely a (once) respectable show like 60 Minutes have some journalistic responsibility for what they air – or do they now allow their so called guest reporters to say anything they like.
As it turns out, 60 Minutes was watched by just over 1.3 million – a bit higher than usual, but, given the big deal of the past week about Latham, they would have expected more.
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