Dear (?) Politicians - JUST STOP!

Please. We are sick of it. The constant slagging. I'm sure there is a more refined term, yet most of you don't deserve one.

Instead of bashing each other up, how about you come up with some policies that you will actually implement? We are also sick of rhetoric and lies and you thinking we are gullible enough to believe you will actually do what you promise. Oh, and can you PLEASE not break any promises? That would help. A lot.

Without wanting to focus on what is happening outside our country, does anyone really believe that the promise of a $5,000 USD payment to everyone if the current party win the mid-terms would actually happen? And if it does, heaven help us all because that would add another $T to their deficit. Ask your favourite economist what could happen globally.

And - to my learned colleagues and communities - we need to spread the word that just because someone wants to make a stand, it makes no sense to start supporting a party or a politician just to send a message. This could be catastrophic. There are ways to send messages to those you do support. It feels like they are almost ready to listen!

And - can we get more fact-checking, please? PLEASE! When politicians talk about immigration, can we be mindful of the numbers and just how little migrants are affecting the housing situation? Please note I wrote, “how little”, not “not at all”.

We are at zero population growth with an aging population. Please discuss what this means with your favourite economist. I am not an economist, but I can tell you the numbers won't add up. Throw in the ability to access super at ANY time into that boiling pot and… ask your economist. Don't take my word for it.

This promise would be a short-term, win-lose scenario. The party could win favour in the short term. Everyone else would suffer in the long term.

While we are on fact-checking, please note that the transgender population in Australia is 1% and approaching 0% in professional sport. So can we please stop blaming the transgender community for, well, anything.

It's time politicians had long-term plans for Australia. We are sick of the short-term plans that try to win elections.

I don't believe that anyone (well, mostly anyone) goes into politics without wanting to contribute positively to the fabric of society. By the way, do you know this term came from the phrase "the social fabric"? It is a linguistic metaphor from the late 1700s in Europe. It emerged alongside the Industrial Revolution and the birth of modern sociology, as thinkers sought ways to describe how human connections, laws, and traditions hold a community together.

Back to why politicians enter politics! The few I have been involved with have entered because they are sick of how the system works. They try to change the system. More often than not, the system breaks them.

And - before we call on males in our communities to treat women with respect - can we demand that male politicians set the example and treat women in politics with respect? The bullying that is apparent with regard to female politicians is abhorrent.

While we are on bullying - you are great role models for that as well, ganging up on those you wish to disparage. Really?

What happened to bipartisan? For those of you too young to remember when there was an inkling of respect in politics, this means, according to the Merriam - Webster dictionary, “marked by or involving cooperation, agreement, and compromise between two major political parties”. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it? I'm idealistic and optimistic enough to still believe in fairy tales. I think.

And just to prove my point about slagging, check out these examples.

At the Victorian Labour state conference, Prime Minister Albanese went after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor's line, drawing a distinction between “Australians and migrants,” accusing him of anti-migrant, divisive rhetoric. He also called the Coalition's conduct “very desperate” and said they were “not engaged in serious policy development” (late May 2026).

Can you believe we are so disrespectful that we call our Prime Minister, Albo? Like him or not, he is the Prime Minister!

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor accused the government of “arrogantly misleading Australians about its toxic taxes” and “not having the courage to take the toxic taxes to the Australian people,” branding Labour's tax backdown an “Olympic-level backflip.” Perhaps there would be more substance if he explained why the taxes were not for the good of Australians (toxic is a dramatic way to get attention) and what his party would consider would be good for Australians.

And recently, Hanson called Albanese's repeated references to growing up in public housing “pathetic,” arguing it was “not on” for people to live in housing commission homes for decades, noting his mother lived in the same one for 65 years. Albanese hit back on 13 September 2026, calling the remarks “nasty and spiteful,” and Trade Minister Don Farrell branded them “appalling,” calling on Hanson to apologise.

When I was in advertising, some time ago, we had a major car manufacturer engage us to create an international marketing campaign for their latest vehicle. They wanted us to spend 50% of the campaign time telling the target market what was wrong with their major competitor's vehicle. I asked them why they would want to spend 50% of their budget alerting their target market to the opposition? Win on your merit, not on their deficit.

Democracy was supposedly born in ancient Athens around 508–507 BCE. An Athenian leader named Cleisthenes introduced a new political system that he called demokratia, meaning “rule by the people”. This system allowed citizens to take part directly in making laws and running the government.

However, only free adult men who were citizens could vote. Women, slaves and foreign residents could not.

Other ancient and indigenous cultures also developed independent systems of self-governance.

So perhaps we need to clearly define what a democracy is and how we want to behave within that system.

Are you woke? What are your thoughts on freedom of speech? Who should control algorithms? What needs to be censored? What doesn't? Is censoring an issue in freedom of speech? Who should control it?

When I work with organisations on their workplace culture, we start with vision and values, and then we organise a system so that all decisions and actions are benchmarked against said values and vision. How amazing would it be if Australia could run on Vision and Values? A few countries do, as shown in the table below. And yes, they are not perfect. And you can tear strips off them if you are one of the slaggers. Or you might appreciate what they are trying to do and even perhaps work on ways to improve.

Just reminding you that I am an optimist and an idealist. I am not a perfectionist!

We have failed multiple times to create a functioning democracy. Are we closer? Some would say yes. Others no. I say, we Celebrate Success, One Failure at a Time.

Celebrating Success One Failure at a Time is now available as a book, an audiobook, and an online course. You can bring this conversation to your organisation as a keynote, workshop, or leadership programme.