Yet, there is mounting evidence that this is not the case – they don’t listen, and that they spend most of their time in the self-absorbed, short-term, opportunistic, and mostly negative, game of politics, scoring points on their opponents and shifting blame, rather than actually solving problems – indeed, just kicking most of the big issues further down the road.

The results of the recent postal vote on same-sex marriage caught many on both sides of politics by surprise. For example, many in the National Party expected, while it may be close, on balance a “no” vote, yet 15 of their 16 lower house seats voted “yes”, some with significant margins. Similarly, others were surprised by the strength of the “no” vote in several ALP seats in western and southern Sydney. These politicians clearly weren’t all that close to their voters!

This week saw the release of the 2018 Lowy Institute Poll (the fourteenth such poll) on community attitudes on a range of domestic and international issues. One important conclusion was that “concern about climate change seems to be accelerating, and the public preference for renewables over coal has hardened, despite concerns about energy insecurity which might result from coal power station closures”.

To be specific, 59 percent of Australians (up five points from the last poll) say “global warming is a serious problem” about which “we should begin in taking steps now even if this involves significant costs”. Almost all Australians (84 percent, up three points) say “the government should focus on renewables, even if this means we may need to invest more in infrastructure to make the system more reliable”. Only 14 percent said “the government should focus on traditional energy sources such as coal and gas, even if the environment may suffer to some extent”.

Here is a clear case of where the voters are way ahead of our politicians. We’ve seen it unfolding for years, with households, and many businesses, rushing to install solar panels on their rooftops, to the point where Australia has the world’s highest installations, per capita, in the world. 

Yet, the so-called “Climate Wars” roll on, both between the two major parties, and within the government parties. The bottom line of this grossly irresponsible, short-term politicking over the last couple of decades, is the extreme, almost unaffordable, increases in power costs, to the significant detriment of households and many businesses. 

Neither side has yet to outline a deliverable energy policy. Most voters would feel that, with an issue as important as climate and energy, not only domestically but also globally, and not only for us today, but also for our children and grandchildren, indeed the very future of our planet, our politicians should have been able to lift themselves out of the mire of day-to-day politics, and work in a bipartisan way to meet the challenges.

More broadly, the big political issue today is the rising costs of living, driving people to increase their debt and run down their savings. Rather than attempt to address the sources of each of the increases, in housing, education, health, child and aged care, and power, they have embarked on an embarrassing contest of which side can offer the most short-term “relief” by way of a tax cut, which in the longer-term we can’t afford. 

Pollies, please listen up!