It’s been a while since I tuned in to Question Time.
It used to be a guilty pleasure. Cup of tea, biscuit and the mostly incoherent chatter of a group of grown adults who represented something between five-year-old kids and baboons.
Then something happened – politics got boring. I don’t know what it was, but that hardly matters. Because finally I have a reason to watch again.
Today’s election of Julia Gillard as Labor leader and subsequently, PM brought the QT excitement back in a big way.
Not because Kevin Rudd was given the boot. Not because Gillard is the first female leader of this nation.
But because Australia is at a fork in the road.
Gillard, as tweeted by adzap is “unwed, childless and an atheist”. Meanwhile, her opposition Tony Abbott is known as one of the most conservative politicians, with his focus on family-values and Catholicism.
Regardless of policy, these two leaders represent two different directions for Australia’s future. Whichever the nation prefers will be decided in an election this year.
The result may finally answer the question of our identity as Australians. Are we traditional or modern? And, when that question is answered, is this a positive or negative thing?
I’m looking forward to the election and what it will mean for us all. Meanwhile, I think I’ll cosy up on the couch with tea and a biscuit. Question Time might be on…
