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Clarity of vision improves politics

Clarity of vision- Kevin Andrews.jpgOur political system is structured to elect representatives from our communities to work on our behalf to make law and govern the nation.

This role carries significant responsibility and authority.

Confidence in that position seems to have shrunk over the past few years but it remains a crucial role, a public service, in any democracy.

In a recent article written for Maxim Institute, Australian politician Kevin Andrews, explained how he understood his job as a Member of Parliament.

“The role of a Member of Parliament is to empower others, not to accumulate and exercise power over them. Wherever possible, our actions should seek to enhance the dignity of the individual and his or her liberty.

“If public office is about empowering others rather than the exercise of power, it means looking to the future, identifying the challenges the nation faces, and presenting thoughtful proposals about policy responses, rather than concentrating on the present, obsessing about polls, and responding superficially in a populist manner.

“It involves responsibility rather than entitlement; action rather than tokenism; persuasion rather than slogans; and leadership rather than celebrity status.

“A person who enters public life without knowing what they stand for and what they wish to achieve, will have little lasting impact. They will strut and fret their hour upon the stage, but it will signify nothing of substance.

“In the end, clear vision, persistent advocacy, dedication and commitment to a cause will trump style and superficial appeal.

“Like nature, politics abhors a vacuum. Many voices, often shrill and demanding, fill the public square. It is the challenge of public officials to be able to see beyond the immediate and the temporal.”

Kevin Andrews joined the Australian Federal Parliament in 1991 and was a Cabinet Minister in the John Howard Government. He is now a Member of the Opposition.

His understanding of the role of an MP is an encouraging statement about the potential that exists for MPs to be leaders, without exercising coercive power.

-Maxim Institute

Photo : Kevin Andrews

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