Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

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Home > Our Archbishop > Sunday Telegraph Column 2001 > Article	Printable Version

After the Election

By + George Pell
ARCHBISHOP OF SYDNEY
25 November 2001

The Prime Minister has now chosen his cabinet, and the opposition has a new leader. Life is returning to normal after the election.

Most Australians regard the ability to vote as a basic right. Not everyone realises that Australia is one of the world's oldest democracies, one of the first to give women the vote (in 1902), and that most people in history have not been able to vote their rulers in and out of office as we do.

Democracy is never perfect, but remains a great blessing. This was brought home to me when I was an observer in Cape Town at the first free elections in South Africa. To see hundreds of Africans quietly waiting to vote for the first time was a humbling experience. Three of the four Catholic archbishops there had never voted before 1994. Before then I had never realised how important the right to vote is.

We Australians sometimes fail to acknowledge our strengths. By any standards John Howard and Kim Beazley are unusually competent and decent political leaders, and once in a while we should acknowledge this. Admittedly quite a few Aussies claimed during the recent U.S.A. presidential election that our alternative leaders compared very well with George W. Bush and Al Gore. Bush might continue to surprise us, but I think the comments were justified.

Australian politicians too generally do not deserve their poor press, nor the low esteem they have with the public. Cutting down the tall poppies is a weakness. Our way of life continues to be among the best in the world, and governments and strong oppositions contribute mightily to this.

Politics is an important area of public service and good young people will not be encouraged in this direction if we adults spend too much time "knocking" our elected representatives. Very few politicians become rich men while in politics. Corruption appears to be rare and while the adversarial system of government versus opposition sometimes appears ridiculous, it is a good way to get to the truth.

The Federal election took place in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks and as the war began in Afghanistan. The airwaves and the "letters to the editor" columns were filled with pleas and arguments for justice on these issues and on the boat people, the asylum seekers. Every political system needs passionate, committed participants to make it work; persons concerned for the common good, for the rights of all, and for justice; rather than being interested only in what goes into their hip pockets. The destruction of One Nation is important progress. Australia needs politicians like Ron Boswell.

There are widely different views on how religion and politics should mix. My own position is typically Catholic.

In a developed society, I believe politics is not for clergy, but for ordinary people in the world. Bishops and priests have a right to speak on moral issues, especially moral principles, but Christians have a right to disagree, even with the Pope, certainly with an Archbishop and among themselves on political issues.

Reconciling these principles is often messy and controversial. Even Christ himself left it at "Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God" (Lk 20.25)