I don't like leaving things for the last minute. I generally like to get things done sooner rather than later and then they are out of the way. I don't have to worry about them again. Take my sermon writing for instance. I like to have a fair idea of what I am going to say by Tuesday at the latest. Oh sure I might add and revise afterwards. If something major happens in world affairs, I might change my sermon totally. But generally, I like to have the main skeleton of the sermon in place. That way, I am not continually thinking, "Oh I should work on my sermon" rather than doing something more enjoyable on a Friday or Saturday evening. Being prepared early means that I can at least relax.
I think the same thing goes with car repairs. I am not mechanical. But I know that when I am told that my brakes need repairing, that if I do it now, it will cost less then if I wait. Same with leaks on my roof. Better to do it now when it is just a few drips than before the house is flooded. It is as Benjamin Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
This axiom holds true for government as well. Government knows that there are problems and issues out there that will not go away. If they duck their heads on dealing with anyone of them, the problem grows. The longer it waits to deal with problems such as unaffordable housing, the growing economic gap between rich and poor, the poisoning of the environment, the greater these problems become.
That is why I was very disappointed with the news out of Canberra last night. Rather than dealing with the issue of same sex marriage now, some members of the government are choosing to wait. We need to do things their way, (with either a forced vote plebiscite or a voluntary postal plebiscite). Both of these methods will involve a nasty campaign, lots of horrible debate, and cost at least $160 million for a forced vote or $100 million dollars for a postal vote. How many school children could benefit if an extra $100 million went into local schools? How many more doctors or nurses could we employ in our hospitals? How many parents unable to pay for child care might benefit if a $100 million were used to reduce child care fees? $100 Million could be spend in so many other better ways.
The proposed plebiscite serves one purpose, and one purpose only- to delay legislation. We have already been told that our politicians do not have to honour the decision of the vote. For instance, 99 percent of people could vote against same sex marriage and our parliament politicians could still pass same sex marriage legislation. In the same way, 99 percent of people could vote in favour of same sex marriage and parliament could reject it. The decision rests with parliament not the people so why do we need to waste $100,000,000 on a vote that is not binding? The time for parliament to act is now, and not later. Blessings.
