How would Hanson actually work as PM? She barely works as a senator |
For all the confidence vested in laws, liberal democracy turns out to be uncannily like an honour system - it relies on good faith and mutual observance.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Login or signup to continue reading
When somebody with power ignores the norms, the system's defences can prove inadequate.
Just look at what Trump has done to rule-of-law America in little over a year. Criminal insurrectionists have been pardoned, illegal wars launched.
Gifts valuing hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed to the White House. Courts have been stacked. Departmental appointees have turned their coercive powers against minorities.
Presidential abuse has been normalised and the deaths of critics welcomed.
The national estate has been commandeered, cheapened beyond repair. The Oval Office, to quote Maureen Dowd, now resembles a "Vegas gift shop" and the White House lawns, a boxing ring.
Australians look upon this vulgarity with bemused detachment. Not in Australia, we kid ourselves, citing compulsory-preferential voting, an independent electoral commission, and a permanent, apolitical civil service.
But before we even get to populism, we should recall how Australians reacted half a century ago when a lawfully elected government was cut down mid-term by a paranoid, vainglorious vice-regal. At the snap general election a month later, voters sided with the constitutional overreach.
At the heart of self-sustaining liberal democracy lay something less sexy and headline-grabbing than free and fair elections - continuous accountability.
While America's careen provides a sobering glimpse into what happens when honour and scrutiny are defanged, there was a development much closer to home in recent days and, frankly, most people - including media - only partially engaged with it.
Research by the........