You see it with almost every digital campaign – an action directed to government in which you are asked to “email your MP”.

These are usually campaigns initiated by political lobby groups, where many people are asked to write to one or more pollies about an issue. The letters may range from those actually composed by the writer, through to form letters and signed postcards.

Form letters and postcards use pre-generated content that in many instances you can edit, but generally you don’t.

The reason for this is it’s much quicker and easier to enter your details, click send and then be done. You can feel like you’ve taken part and made a stand, but for less time and effort – it’s the lazy-man’s activism.

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First published on The Drum: 28/11/2011

It’s been a year of big political fights: about the future of the world; about the future of the nation; and then some that seem to be akin to war over a barren piece of rock in the middle of the Atlantic.

If carbon tax has been the battle for the planet and the mining tax the battle for the nation; then the fight over bringing the budget into surplus could well be the Gillard Government’s Falklands War.

Because while Tony Abbott huffs and puffs and Wayne Swan blows back over who has the littlest one, the presence of a budget deficit in 2012-13 is regarded as a matter of little consequence to most Australians.

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First published on The Drum: 22/11/2011

For the recovering alcoholic, every day is defined by the decision not to have another drink. The Opposition leader should know how this feels as he attempts to swear himself off WorkChoices.

As the business lobby and former Coalition danger-men like Peter Reith urge him to take a tipple, Tony Abbott is attempting to stay off the juice even as every fibre in his being wants him to say ‘just a little one’.

And the public? They’re just waiting for him to fall off the wagon.

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First published on The Drum: 15/11/2011

If you thought coverage of the Queen’s hats and curtsey-gate was bad, just wait until Air Force One touches down in Australia this week.

There will be excruciating live crosses counting down the minutes until president Obama lands on Australian soil; describing in detail each element of the motorcade snaking through the roundabouts of Canberra.

It’s hard – make that impossible – to imagine an Asian head of state receiving such fanfare.

But it turns out media overkill is no guide to the way Australians understand our place in the world.

We might admire the Queen’s class and staying power, we might love the thrill of a POTUS visit; but we hold our cultural allegiances at arms length from our views on our future prosperity.

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First published on The Drum: 08/11/2011

Amidst the industrial carnage wrought by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce last week was a brief glimpse of what survival for the Gillard Government might look like.

It would start with a corporate leader arrogantly putting his commercial interests ahead of the national interest, to the cheers of his fellow CEOs.

It would move into a debate about whether loyal Australian workers had a right to expect any sort of say in the way their workplace was run; or whether they should be forced to cop whatever the latest management team cooked up.

It would give voice to the federal front bench, for once united on a matter of principle they truly believed in, providing a platform to speak up for the values of their movement.

And it would end with the Federal Opposition, stripped of any pretence of policy, in a tangle over the WorkChoices bogey, simply barracking for the big end of town because that is what they are conditioned to do.

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First published on The Drum: 01/11/2011

Protest about corporate giants holding the nation to ransom and you’ll get hauled away by police under cover of darkness.

Be a corporate giant and actually hold the nation to ransom and you’ll get a $2 million pay rise and a pat on the back from your mates.

Only slightly less bizarre than Qantas CEO Allan Joyce’s decision to ground his fleet over the weekend, stranding thousands of innocent punters, has been the muted response by the nation’s media.

Imagine a union leader taking wildcat industrial action and grounding an airline, with no thought of the implications. The tabloids would scream “industrial thuggery” and “un-Australian bastardry”; there would be calls for deregistration of the union, possibly jail for the rogue official.

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