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selected for Crossin’s seat when there was already a lesser-known,
but much more politically experienced, indigenous Labor member
running for the seat? But she couldn’t possibly have given Labor a
boost in the polls like a politically inexperienced Olympian could.
This simplistic thinking disregards the fact that celebrities are
usually just a short-term fix for a party, and a long-term
disappointment. And hasn’t the past few weeks of politics illustrated
this perfectly? At the end of June, Labor dumped the leader that the
people of Australia actually voted for in 2010, replacing Julia Gillard
with Kevin Rudd, as he’s always been considered a politician who’s
popular with the electorate. Clearly, however, as last Saturday shows,
this popularity has not been enough for him. In just over the two
months since he was reinstated, Rudd’s approval rating dropped
from 8 per cent approval, to minus 9 per cent. This should only be
reinforcing to political parties that when it comes to selecting
candidates, as Professor Snape once remarked, ‘Fame isn’t
everything.’ Yes, a few star candidates do go on to become politically
successful, but nonetheless, the mere selection of them undermines
the process of democracy, as it denies the local members the right to
choose their own candidate.
This is also illustrated by Kevin Rudd’s recent ‘captain’s pick’ of
Peter Beattie. Don’t get me wrong, as far as celebrity politicians go,
Beattie was a better choice than Nova Peris because he did actually
have political experience. However, this did not excuse the trampling
of another local ALP member, Des Hardman, in the name of
boosting Rudd’s numbers for the election. Not that it did that, as
after Beattie was installed, there was a major swing in favour of the
Liberal candidate, Mr van Manen. He may be unknown to those
outside the seat of Forde, but clearly, van Manen is respected as a
hard-working local to those who live there, and on September 7th
won his seat decisively. Beattie only received 34% of the vote. Some
celebrity that is.
So, it’s clear that star candidates just do not work. Instead of
bringing votes, they bring a backlash as they are just parachuted in
and have no connection with the local issues. Witness Nova Peris.
She has pledged her support for ‘Stronger Futures’, an indigenous
policy widely condemned by human rights groups, such as Amnesty
International, and also by Aboriginal communities. When she was
asked about the widespread criticism, Peris admitted that she was
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