I didn't get much sleep on the night after Australia went to the polls last Saturday week. When I did doze, I tossed and turned dreaming of John Howard stuck at sea in a leaky boat with no lifejacket. It wasn't a nightmare. I woke at 7 a.m., far too early for a Sunday, and it was miserable and cold outside. A few weeks ago we were full of the hopes and joys of spring but today it seems we have regressed into the depths of winter.
The front page of the morning paper showed a triumphant John Howard, arms akimbo - the victory stance. "We decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come," he had cried when launching the Liberal Party's election campaign. Subtle: Go back the way you came. The victory portrait was flanked by this commentary: "The second phase [of the campaign] was reactive: the ruthless exploitation of the Tampa crisis, and the demonising of asylum-seekers, including the outrageous and false charge that they would use their children as bargaining chips catapulted the Coalition to a winning position."
It was time to make some coffee and steel myself against the day. To cheer myself up I decided to go to my favourite Sunday market.
Cold and morose
On the way the Melbourne weather went from bad to worse with heavy rain turning to hail. The market was practically rained out; everyone looked cold and morose and many were packing up to go home at 8.30 in the morning. I looked around at the miserable people huddling for shelter and wondered how they'd used their vote. The weather could have had something to do with it, but no one looked triumphant to me. Or maybe they wouldn't admit to it. The country is divided. Everyone kept their hands in their pockets.
Emotions have been running high over the last few months. It began with the Tampa crisis, in August, when the Norwegian freighter crammed with rescued Afghan asylum-seekers was turned away from Australian shores despite international condemnation; then there was September 11th and the subsequent war against terrorism, to which John Howard committed 1,000 soldiers. Then, bolstered by the submission of a fearful nation, the Government proceeded with border legislation and the wholesale demonisation of asylum-seekers. Public figures have come out to protest at the government's stand, among them Malcolm Fraser, a former Liberal Prime Minister who condemned John Howard's actions as morally wrong. Newspaper cartoonists, normally a barometer of public opinion during an election, have almost all displayed moral outrage. Column after column has been written on the issue of asylum-seekers and the terrible lows to which Howard's government had sunk to buy the election with the "fear and prejudice" vote - a vote he stole from Pauline Hanson and the One Nation party by hijacking their policies.
Fear was the key
Fear was the key word in this election. The opposition Labour leader, Kim Beazley, sacrificed himself at the altar of populism and supported the government on the issue instead of taking a stand and showing some leadership. The speech he gave when he conceded defeat was the speech he should have given all along: he showed he had a conscience on the issue. He had mimicked Howard's tough bully attitude in his attempt to become top dog instead of providing a real alternative. I have friends who would normally vote Labour but did not this time on principle. Consequently the Greens, a minor party and the only one taking a real stand, nearly doubled their national vote.
Personally, I find the level of support for Howard frightening. Who are these supporters? I have not met any of them. I am sure I must know some. I'm probably related to quite a few of them, but my discussions with work colleagues and friends are prefaced by the assumption that we all think the same way. We are ashamed, embarrassed and outraged by the treatment of asylum-seekers in this country - and not only the people who are being turned away. The refugees who do manage to land are locked up in detention centres, some for years at a stretch.
Two Australias
It is as if there are two Australias: the diverse, multicultural, open, compassionate and free-thinking Australia and the rigid, fearful, xenophobic colony still harbouring shades of the White Australia policy. That element in our society needs compassionate leadership to educate it and guide it away from those tendencies. Instead the Howard government saw the disease and gave it room to spread through manipulation and misinformation and by inciting prejudice during a vulnerable time.
I fear for the country over the next three years, I fear for refugees. Fear. There it is again. Perhaps the key to dealing with these uncertain times is not to surrender to those fears but to remain positive, compassionate and pro-active, forces that can be just as powerful as dogged and dispassionate negativity.
I didn't buy anything at the market. It was too depressing. I think I'll wait and go back on a brighter day.