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Sco-Mo is out, Albo is in. Yup, after nine years of Australia being captained by the Liberal government, there’s a new crew in town, and these folks want to sail this ship in a completely different direction.
If Labor gets its way, its policies will be very different from that of its Liberal rivals’. Many of their ideas will profoundly change Australia if they are implemented as promised. Here’s a list of a few meaningful policies that Labor’s keen to get off the ground:
Labor Will Implement the Uluru Statement of the Heart
According to the ABC, Anthony Albanese started his federal election victory speech by saying, “I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to their elders past, present, and emerging. And on behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.” If Albanese’s government is able to live up to this promise, then they’ll be making one of the most important changes to the Australian Parliament since its inception.
If you’re unsure what the Uluru Statement from the Heart is, then its website has many different informative resources. Their front page explains, “The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people from First Nations Australians. It asks Australians to walk together to build a better future by establishing a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and the establishment of a Makarrata Commission for the purpose of treaty making and truth-telling.”
If you’d like a deeper dive into this topic, then the Uluru Statement from the Heart’s website is certainly worth your time.
Labor will introduce a national anti-corruption commission
Anti-corruption commissions hold politicians to account by investigating whether or not they’ve done anything corrupt while working for the government. Every single state and territory has one, and the federal government has zilch. Labor promised during the election that they’d create a national anti-corruption commission that’s powerful, tough, and independent.
This commission would be able to investigate complaints made by whistleblowers and the public alike. It’ll also be allowed to create public hearings when “it is in the public interest to do so.” Hopefully, this anti-corruption commission will be as comprehensive as Labor has advertised.
Labor Will Let the Biloela Family Return Home
In 2012 and 2013, Priya and Nadesalingam Murugappan, two humans escaping Sri Lanka’s civil war, arrived in Australia. Afterwards, these folks had two kids and settled in the Queensland town of Biloela. They then became a cherished part of this community. In 2018, they were removed by Australian Border Force officers because their temporary visas ran out. In an SBS article on this subject, the publication explains that they’ve been fighting to come home ever since, only to be roadblocked by Morrison’s government. If they were to make it back to Biloela, it would be under Labor’s leadership.
As previously discussed, Labor won the election. So the Murugappans get to come home. Home to Bilo campaign’s Angela Fredericks said in a statement that she had told the family that Labor had won and that they were very relieved. Fredericks also wrote, “We now believe that this long, painful saga can finally come to an end. This family has been away from their home for more than four years. They never should have been taken from the town that loved and needed them.”
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