Phew! What a wild few weeks it has been.
With a very healthy 1.5% of the vote from the Victorian state election under our belt, we’ve managed to make a bit of noise for the things we care about. Ideally, in time we may be able to say that we’ve been an example for others who have up-to-this-point been unsure of the relevance of their own voice in the political arena, and the process behind making it heard.
For us, the battle for Australia’s soul is only just beginning, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that if you want to see a more equitable Australia, then you’ve got to want to be the change – no one is going to do it for you.
Over the years, the three of us – Tim, Wally and myself – have individually and as a band worked in areas of social justice – indigenous rights is a shared passion, while I have spent the better part of the past three years working in Africa, much of that with the Red Cross. So the creation of The Basics Rock ’n’ Roll Party was something of a logical next step, as many of the issues we face as a society border in some way on the political.
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Moreover, aside from thinking we might be able to effect some positive change from within the system, we wanted to demonstrate that it was actually still worth trying.
Life-long Greens supporters, we otherwise agreed that politics was a mug’s game where everyone loses. Like many others of our generation, we’ve buried ourselves in our art, in the fostering of personal pursuits, so disenchanted and disengaged from our political system, whose daily activities would continue to confirm to us that “the world is fucked” and “there’s nothing we can do about it”. We’d given up on our so-called leaders being able – let alone wanting – to do anything about it.
A friend recently posed the question, “Why are some people so apathetic toward politics?” and the best answer to that seemed to be, “when you feel like you always lose, why would you still want to play?”
So we had our goals: to set up a party, draw attention to some issues we cared about (localised Indigenous learning in High Schools, for instance), and show people that – as oppressive as the system appears to be – that good things are possible if we work together.
And if we couldn’t get a seat of our own, we’d help another progressive party (who, after consultation with the Greens, ended up being the Australian Sex Party) to get a leg up. There were a number of ways to effect positive change that don’t have to see us winning outright.
It appears we have been successful in making this happen, with our votes crucially keeping the Sex Party in the count, and enabling their success in gaining a seat in the Upper House. They will now be able to raise issues in Parliament that to-date none of the other parties have an interest in raising, and further broaden the discussion currently existing in the political sphere.
It will be through constructive dialogue that we progress, and it will be with positivity that we encourage and foster a multiplicity of voices, that will at times complement, and other times challenge one another. And that is the other key learning from this experience – it is absolutely crucial in the pursuit of progressive government that we diversify, encourage a broader and therefore more vibrant political community that doesn’t put all its eggs in one basket.
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The Basics ‘The Lucky Country’ Dates
December 16/17: Newtown Social Club – Newtown, NSW
December 19: Sol Bar – Maroochydore, QLD
December 20: Old Museum – Brisbane QLD
December 27: Corner Hotel – Melbourne VIC
December 31: Princes Wharf 1 “A Taste of Tasmania NYE”- Hobart TAS
January 1: Cataract Gorge “The Basin Concert” – Launceston TAS
January 3: Rosemount Hotel – Perth WA
January 4: Mojos – Fremantle WA
February 13: Aurora Spiegeltent @ The Garden Of Unearthly Delights – Adelaide SA
Tickets and info: www.thebasics.com.au
