Speaker 1: There's one question Grace Tame gets asked all the time
Speaker 1: and her answer is always the same.
Speaker 2: For the record, I'm never going into politics.
Speaker 3: For the last four years, I've been asked repeatedly, to
Speaker 3: the point where I've got a T shirt printed that
Speaker 3: just has no I'm not going into politics written in
Speaker 3: paint over Parliament House.
Speaker 2: I'm not.
Speaker 1: Like many younger Australians, She's disillusioned with the two party system,
Speaker 1: which she says only serves a dwindling minority of wealthy
Speaker 1: players rather than the general public. But as Australia prepares
Speaker 1: to head into an election where jen Z and Millennial's
Speaker 1: outnumber baby boomers for the first time, she thinks it's
Speaker 1: a chance to move beyond the two party games.
Speaker 3: The political system is in the state that it is
Speaker 3: because it has been corrupted by exorbitant wealth for too long.
Speaker 2: That's the major problem. And I don't think it's much
Speaker 2: deeper than that.
Speaker 3: It really is about the money from Schwartz Media.
Speaker 1: I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven AM Today, twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: Australian of the Year and director of the Grace Tame Foundation.
Speaker 1: Grace Tame on advocating for change outside of politics and
Speaker 1: why this election is a chance to fix democracy. It's
Speaker 1: Thursday May one. Grace, welcome back to seven AM. Thanks
Speaker 1: for coming on the show.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: So I wanted to start by talking about the AFL
Speaker 1: Grand Final in Perfect twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: Set the scene for me.
Speaker 3: Well, the Western Bulldogs were playing Melbourne Demons. Demons haven't
Speaker 3: been in a Grand Final for since the sixties.
Speaker 4: I think Melbourne fans celebrate relax because the drought.
Speaker 2: It's over, and we were embracing the day.
Speaker 3: I was dressed head to toe in a demon outfit
Speaker 3: with little horns in my hand.
Speaker 2: Had preeding Trent Blue for Reddin Blue.
Speaker 4: Years.
Speaker 3: There were a lot of WA politicians in the room,
Speaker 3: including then Governor Kim Beasley, letter of Labor Party in
Speaker 3: Howard years, and he was telling me that I should
Speaker 3: go into politics and that to be successful I would.
Speaker 2: Need to join one of the major parties.
Speaker 3: And whilst the conversation that I had with him was
Speaker 3: probably about twenty minutes long, and we covered a lot
Speaker 3: of different topics and he was a very nice man
Speaker 3: to me and I quite enjoyed talking to him, but
Speaker 3: I did disagree with him that to make change that
Speaker 3: you need to be aligned to one of the major parties.
Speaker 3: I think successive governments have let the people down, especially
Speaker 3: in recent years, the housing crisis, cost of living crisis.
Speaker 3: We're in a pretty dire situation and a lot of
Speaker 3: people are putting their heads in sand, and they're enabled
Speaker 3: to put their heads in sin.
Speaker 2: I think because we have week leadership.
Speaker 1: Okay, so Kim Beasley obviously wasn't able to convince you
Speaker 1: to enter politics, and there is obviously power in advocating
Speaker 1: for change outside of.
Speaker 2: The political system.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me a little bit more about how
Speaker 1: you see your role as an advocate.
Speaker 3: I see my role as an advocate is to support
Speaker 3: those who don't have a voice, and whilst they can't
Speaker 3: advocate for everyone or for particular communities, I'm an advocate
Speaker 3: of that community, you know, whether it's the survivors of
Speaker 3: child sexual abuse that I stand alongside.
Speaker 2: Or fellow autistic people.
Speaker 3: Advocacy is about awareness raising as well and educating people
Speaker 3: and encouraging people to do their part because we all
Speaker 3: have the capacity to be an advocate. I think whether
Speaker 3: it we're just advocating for ourselves on a day to
Speaker 3: day basis, or we're advocating for other members of the community.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned all the way in which you see
Speaker 1: the political system failing because our politicians they are by
Speaker 1: a much not representative of the community as a whole.
Speaker 1: So how much do you think that impacts the outcomes
Speaker 1: that we get from them.
Speaker 3: Well, politicians are supposed to be representing the people.
Speaker 2: They're supposed to be representing their constituents.
Speaker 3: But because there's so much power at stake in that machine,
Speaker 3: and policy and decision makers influence how big businesses are
Speaker 3: able to operate and how much revenue they're able to make,
Speaker 3: the big corporations put so much pressure on politicians.
Speaker 2: And they give them money. They give them money.
Speaker 3: I mean, one of the reasons that we have so
Speaker 3: much corruption, or that the machine itself is so corruptible,
Speaker 3: is because politicians.
Speaker 2: They need money to run their election campaigns. It's a huge,
Speaker 2: huge thing. You can make or break your next government
Speaker 2: in an election, Campaig.
Speaker 3: So it's worth it in politicians eyes to spend a
Speaker 3: lot of money targeting people who otherwise are disengaged or
Speaker 3: who are sitting on the fence and who are swing voters.
Speaker 3: And if we didn't have so much disengagement, if we
Speaker 3: didn't have so much political apathy, it might be less
Speaker 3: of an incentive for politicians to take big sums of
Speaker 3: money from the corporations who can afford to donate it.
Speaker 3: And so really you get political parties who bend in
Speaker 3: a certain direction because that's where the money is coming from.
Speaker 3: That's we know that follow the money, and it therefore
Speaker 3: is also a rigged game because you've got disproportionately morbidly
Speaker 3: wealthy individuals, whether they're representatives of the colon gas lobby,
Speaker 3: and you've got major corporations as well, and they've embedded
Speaker 3: themselves such that there is a lot to lose for
Speaker 3: political parties. And I'm not excusing it, but that's just
Speaker 3: the explanation.
Speaker 1: And in this particular election, for the first time, gen Zata,
Speaker 1: millennials will outnumber boomers as the biggest voting block. So
Speaker 1: talk to me a bit about what you've made of
Speaker 1: the two major parties' campaigns and the way they've tried
Speaker 1: to appeal to young people.
Speaker 2: Where to start.
Speaker 3: The policies themselves, I think don't go far enough to
Speaker 3: address the problems at hand, whether it's cost of living
Speaker 3: with the housing crisis, the housing crisis is the result
Speaker 3: of decades upon decades of both major parties pulling the
Speaker 3: wrong leaders to really benefit multiple property owners and landlords,
Speaker 3: you know, wealthy investors and the younger generations who had
Speaker 3: nothing to do with it. Not only coughying it, but
Speaker 3: we're being majorly gas lit. And you know, given these
Speaker 3: sort of like crumbs of possible solutions, like you know,
Speaker 3: having to make a five percent deposit instead of a
Speaker 3: twenty percent deposit, but then you still whopping great mortgage
Speaker 3: and you know, like the Coalition saying that elderly women
Speaker 3: and first known buyers can draw fifty grand from their
Speaker 3: super which is really problematic and short sighted, and Labory
Speaker 3: continuing to expand colon gas projects and we just can't
Speaker 3: afford to.
Speaker 2: Be dragging our heels on those things.
Speaker 3: We get a huge revenue injection if we started by
Speaker 3: actually applying the resource rent tax and seeing these fossil
Speaker 3: fuel blooders actually.
Speaker 2: Pay their fair share of tax. Because that's not happening.
Speaker 3: We're not doing that because there are benefits in the
Speaker 3: short term of maintaining the status quo, and the young
Speaker 3: people do actually understand it. I think we're not given
Speaker 3: as much credit for understanding it. We're sick of being
Speaker 3: told that, you know, if we just have you know,
Speaker 3: less avocado on toast and less lat's, we will be
Speaker 3: able to save up. It's just actually mathematically correct. The
Speaker 3: median house price is twelve the median salary where it
Speaker 3: used to be about four.
Speaker 2: Or five times, and you don't have to be a.
Speaker 3: Mathematician to understand that the cost of not only housing
Speaker 3: but the cost of living has gone up way out
Speaker 3: of proportion to wages.
Speaker 1: After the break where Grace Team finds hope in politics.
Speaker 5: Hi, I'm Daniel James. Seven Am tells stories that need
Speaker 5: to be told. Our journalism is founded on trust and independence,
Speaker 5: and now we're increasing our coverage. Every Saturday until the election.
Speaker 5: Will bring you an extra episode to break down the
Speaker 5: biggest political moments of the week. If you enjoy seven Am,
Speaker 5: the best way you can support us is by making
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Speaker 5: slash support. Thanks for listening and supporting our work's prime minister.
Speaker 4: For coming to the pub. I'm one ahead of you,
Speaker 4: but I usually am with me guests, so a little
Speaker 4: bit of catching up to there.
Speaker 5: There's no pressure.
Speaker 1: Although this is a zero alcohol beer, so.
Speaker 4: You are on the zero, which is fine. That's becoming
Speaker 4: more socially accepted. It is in Australia, Grace.
Speaker 1: When you look at this election campaign, what have you
Speaker 1: made of the way in which the major parties have
Speaker 1: attempted to connect with younger voters.
Speaker 2: Oh, incredibly patronizing.
Speaker 4: Well, mister speaker, they are delulu with no sololu, mister
Speaker 4: speak at they are completely delusion.
Speaker 3: You know, well, I think that obviously social media has
Speaker 3: taken on a different role and everyone gets access to
Speaker 3: each other on social media, including politicians, and there is
Speaker 3: a need to keep up with the times.
Speaker 2: However, you know, releasing disc tracks, this.
Speaker 3: Election campaign has officially kicked off into the next level.
Speaker 2: The Liberal Party have released a di track. We're going
Speaker 2: to listen to it together.
Speaker 4: You need the way it is supposed to be.
Speaker 2: The money was spending on groceries. I just want to
Speaker 2: buy some eggs and cheese one hundred bucks. You can't
Speaker 2: emend doing softball interviews. We're just talking cricket in here,
Speaker 2: Prime Minister.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, what do you think of the Ashes campaign?
Speaker 2: That these ladies had absolutely awesome to win the four
Speaker 2: bit three, three.
Speaker 3: And one, knowing that there's a lot of benefit in
Speaker 3: just reaching people without having to communicate information or really
Speaker 3: be strong in your messaging, and I think that's disappointing.
Speaker 5: Bring them prices down. This is what we need because
Speaker 5: our bow's gotta leave olbos, got to leave brings.
Speaker 1: I mean, we know that historically low numbers of people
Speaker 1: now vote for the major parties, not just young people,
Speaker 1: you know, people in general. And I think both lay
Speaker 1: About and the Coalition had their lowest ever primary votes
Speaker 1: at the previous election. So if that trend does continue,
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you look at what that might
Speaker 1: mean for political outcomes.
Speaker 3: I think that's a good thing because I think that
Speaker 3: if we're able to restructure the governments such that we've
Speaker 3: got more independence, a better mixture of political representatives that
Speaker 3: reflect the mixture of values and priorities in our many
Speaker 3: and diverse communities, that represent society as a whole, and
Speaker 3: they're able to hold the major parties to account, and
Speaker 3: hopefully we would get less influence from vested interests who
Speaker 3: don't have the best interest of the public at heart,
Speaker 3: that are really interested in.
Speaker 2: Growing their profits.
Speaker 3: Because Robin Williams, who said that you know, people who
Speaker 3: are running for office should really have all of their
Speaker 3: donors on their clothing, like a NASCAR driver, you know,
Speaker 3: or like.
Speaker 2: A VA supercar driver.
Speaker 3: Like that's the major problem. And I don't think it's
Speaker 3: I don't think it's much deeper than that. It really
Speaker 3: is about the money. There's a reason why that both
Speaker 3: the major parties came together to past legislation that would
Speaker 3: limit the amount of donations that independence could receive, because
Speaker 3: they know that it's a threat having more diversity and
Speaker 3: more independence. They don't have as big as stronghold on
Speaker 3: the political system.
Speaker 1: And we've spoken a little about how the political class
Speaker 1: isn't representative of broader Australia. Do you have thoughts on
Speaker 1: what it would take, how the political process might need
Speaker 1: to change for there to be a more representative cohort
Speaker 1: of Australians who might feel like they could or should
Speaker 1: run for office. I mean someone like you, for example,
Speaker 1: What would it take to make that something that would
Speaker 1: be actually appealing.
Speaker 2: You can do anything. You can force me to do it.
Speaker 2: I've been exploited enough in my life and that's not
Speaker 2: a joke. I need to do it.
Speaker 1: I mean, I feel like perhaps I already know the
Speaker 1: answer to this question, but do you have any optimism
Speaker 1: that the political system can change, that it can become
Speaker 1: more representative of Australia and therefore I suppose provide better
Speaker 1: outcomes for people.
Speaker 3: Yes, I think that you have to be hopeful and
Speaker 3: there is hope in a minority government that has representatives
Speaker 3: from many in diverse backgrounds who can stand up for
Speaker 3: all of the different issues that are affecting the every
Speaker 3: day Australian.
Speaker 2: Grace.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, economists are predicting the Reserve
Speaker 1: Bank will cut interest rates when it meets this month,
Speaker 1: following the latest inflation figures. Data from the Australian Bureau
Speaker 1: of Statistics shows headline inflation has remained steady, but the
Speaker 1: RBA's preferred measure of consumer prices has fallen within the
Speaker 1: bank's target band for the first time in over three years. Yes,
Speaker 1: and fewer than one in one hundred full time workers
Speaker 1: on minimum wage can afford places to rent, according to
Speaker 1: the latest rental affordability snap shot from Anglicare Australia. Anglicare
Speaker 1: surveyed fifty one thousand rental listings, finding only zero point
Speaker 1: seven percent were affordable for a person earning a full
Speaker 1: time minimum wage, and just zero point three percent were
Speaker 1: affordable for a person on the age pension. I'm Ruby Jones.
Speaker 1: This is seven am. Thanks for listening.