The one thing I want to say to politicians…

Dear Australian politicians,

I have something I need to get off my chest. It’s been bothering me for a while and I think quite a few other Aussies feel the same way as I do.

I grew up believing that politicians were people who were exemplary members of the community who wanted to make a difference for their friends and family. People who wanted to make living in Australia as happy and easy as can be. People who wanted to look after the best interests of their community and most importantly, people who were role models and leaders. People who we could have faith in when it came to decision making.

If I think about politicians right now, it couldn’t be further from the truth. We have broken promises, we have a fight for votes and party power with complete disregard for whatever is the best thing for the people. When it comes to an election, the campaigns and proposed policies are driven by targeting the student and youth population for support or the middle income earners – whoever will earn them the most votes. But the thing that has really irked me, right now, is the fact that politicians are the complete opposite of good role models.

Last week we had a politician, a Senator in fact, telling the Australian people to kick Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister, in the manhood. She said, “Kick Tony Abbott where it hurts most. In the shins, or a bit higher”. Regardless of whether you like people or parties or not, we’re all taught to respect others from a very young age. So why do we have a leader blatantly teaching disrespect? I would never tell someone to do that to a boss, a friend, a teacher or a family member and I think if someone did something like that we’d all be pretty appalled. So how is it okay to do it now?

We’ve also had the national treasurer make the comments that children born today will probably live to be 150 years old, when justifying healthcare budget cuts and the Medicare reform. Why do we have someone trying to justify the budget and funding cuts with throw away comments? Last week it was declared that girls born in the UK in 2057 will have an official life expectancy of 100 years. Why don’t they value honesty?

The people of Queensland are on the cusp of an election and every second advertisement on local television or radio is telling you to not vote for the LNP and lists off all of the things to hate the current Premier for. Why don’t election campaigns focus on the positive changes a party will make instead of shredding down their oppositions? Why don’t we have integrity anymore?

It is sad to think that our political set acts without consideration for so many of the core values we are raised to have. The above examples ares are all from the last five days, so that says a lot for the state of our politicians right now.

It is my hope that politicians can go back to the things that really matter one day. That they can go back to being the honest community members who want to make positive change for those around them, who want to make their decisions based on the facts and improving life for others. And hopefully, they can one day go back to being role models who we can trust instead of the disrespectful people we’re dealing with today.

Tell us your thoughts today.