The Ecstasy of Lowered Expectations

"Gay couples in Australia are on the verge of winning equality in tax, health, superannuation, aged care and other areas as the Federal Government moves to rush through laws to overturn same-sex discrimination."

It’s been five months since the election, and I still find it hard to remember that I’m living under a government I don’t totally despise any more…

I really wasn’t expecting very much from the Rudd government when they were elected. Labor pretty much ran on a platform of “Not as bad as Howard”, and I wasn’t expecting more from the new government, besides the repeal of Workchoices and not having to see Howard’s smug face on the news every night. Well, that’s all right, ‘not actively causing evil’ is still a step in the right direction, and I voted for them, and was very happy when they won power.

But since the election, we’ve had the apology to the Stolen Generation and what looks like a genuine effort to get to work closing the life-expectancy gap and get reconciliation moving again. Australia signed up to the Kyoto Protocol in Rudd’s first week in office. An Australian Republic is back on the agenda. Rudd actually brought up the issue of Tibet and human rights while in Beijing, which is a lot more than I’d have expected him to say. And now we get this.

I mean, it’s not perfect; the government still opposes same-sex marriage, and there’s no guarantees this legislation will pass the Senate. But even to have this sort of legislation proposed, let alone put before parliament, would have been unthinkable during the Howard decade. And if the ACT tries again to bring in civil unions, the federal government says it’s not going to try and override them.

I mean, I like Australia; I wouldn’t live anywhere else. But, on the other hand, for as long as I’ve been politically aware, Australia’s been run by a bunch of, well, assholes who tended to advance horrible positions on everything. And having a government now that’s making even the smallest steps in the other direction, towards a better society… well, I’m sure in a year or two it will seem normal, and I’ll be bitching about how the government really isn’t doing that much on a lot of important issues. But for now? Well, I’m reminded of The Simpsons:

BART: What’s the opposite of shame?
MARGE: Pride?
BART: No, not that far.
HOMER: Less shame?
BART: Yeah…

And for now, that’s a pretty good feeling.