It’s time to choose Australia. It’s time to pick a side. Choose wisely

It’s election time, Australia! You remember elections: every three years the federal MPs are obligated by law to give the people a turn at choosing the nation’s leader.

People, our track record isn’t great. Last election we chose Tony Abbott. The election before that we didn’t choose anyone. And the election before that we chose Kevin Rudd.

It’s time to lift our game. Then again, elections are choices. We can only choose from what’s on offer — and some years offer slim-pickings indeed. But this year the menu looks a lot better.

In fact, it is the most exciting time to be a... no, sorry, I won’t go that far.

But there are two good options for prime minister. Yes, I mean that. Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull are not perfect individuals, granted, but who among us is without flaws? But neither man is a narcissistic egomaniacal control freak nor a robotic sloganeering exercise freak. So already we can predict the choice this time might just be better than before. But people are choosing not just a person and a personality. They are also choosing policies. They are choosing between competing visions for their nation’s future. They are choosing (on most issues, anyway) what they want the government to do in their name and with their money.

I have valued this aspect of Australian democracy since moving from Ohio to Sydney in 1994. We don’t run a presidential system down under. We ask — no, demand, through compulsory voting — that each of us pay attention to the problems we face and the policy solutions each side offers. Some of us may only tune in for the 20 minutes it takes to vote on election day, but most of us spend bit more time deciding which party we will support. And we all (well, mostly all) turn up to vote. And that is awesome.

By contrast, look at the horror show that is taking place in America at the moment. Donald Trump! I hold a BA (Hons) in political science from an American university. That means I am qualified to offer expert analysis of Trump’s success in the Republican primaries. Here it is: What’s going on, America? In all seriousness, I do know a thing or two about American democracy. In 1990 I was an intern in the office of Ohio Governor Dick Celeste. If we had compulsory voting in America Dick Celeste might have ended up president in 1992. Maybe I could have been an intern for the US President in the 1990s — imagine how differently my life might have turned out. But I digress. American democracy — lacking party discipline in the house of representatives and the senate, lacking compulsory voting, and lacking direct cabinet accountability to the legislature and the people — is left, well, lacking.

Australian democracy truly is remarkable. Yes, they had a few far-than-perfect prime ministers in the past few years, but they survived. In fact, compared to the overwhelming majority of nations on earth, they thrived, even through the GFC. The Australian political system — the Westminster system — ensured that survival. Surprise, surprise, I believe that when a group of MPs removes an unsuitable prime minister (or premier) it is not evidence that the system is broken but rather that it works as it should for the good of the nation.

And if you don’t agree with me, let’s chat next year when President Trump, an economic and foreign policy disaster elected by a fraction of the eligible voters in America, is unable to be removed from office by his disgruntled fellow Republicans in Congress.

Australia, on July 2 there will be a clear choice between the two major parties, the Liberal/National Coalition and the Australian Labor Party, when it comes to most of the biggest challenges. Granted, there’s not major differences between Labor and the Coalition regarding asylum seekers and refugees. There’s not really significant differences when it comes to taxation arrangements for superannuation. And there’s absolute agreement about commitment to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. There’s a lot of similarity on trade and on encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. And there’s now no major difference on the major parties’ commitment to build submarines in South Australia. Also, too bad if you are a smoker — both major parties agree that it’s time to give up or strike it rich. And there is — as usual — a definite unity ticket between the major parties on national security.

So where do the choices lie? Education — primary and secondary. Education — training, vocational and university. Taxation, especially as it relates to company tax and housing. Hospital funding and primary health care. Foreign aid. Funding infrastructure. Pensions, especially for seniors and families. Industrial relations and work place pay and conditions. Child care. Paid paternity leave. Same sex marriage. Climate change. Commentators (of which I am now one) will tell you this election is about who is best placed to fix the structural challenges in the budget and return Australia to surplus.

Voters will make their decision in this election as they do in every other election: which side is most likely to make my life and my children’s lives better?

It’s time to choose Australia. It’s time to pick a side. Choose wisely.

— Guardian News & Media Ltd

Kristina Keneally is a former Australian politician who was premier of New South Wales. She is the host of To the Point on Sky News and the Director of Gender Inclusion at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management.