In the wake of the Coalition's election victory, it has been unedifying to see the public response of partisan opposition voters seeking to explain the loss of their preferred parties. Without critical examination of the performance of their party, their comments have instead sought to blame a 'stupid' electorate for the loss. Despite a national swing to the LNP, Queenslanders in particular have been singled out for 'blame' for returning the government.
Apparently, Queensland is a state populated by 'low IQ' people: backward, uneducated, greedy, ignorant, self-serving, Deliverance characters. I have seen a lot of posts that are almost abusive in their tone, denigrating the people of Queensland using lazy stereotypes, and a lot of posts calling for #Quexit, that is, cutting Queensland loose from Australia.
Queenslanders are used to this kind of treatment. We are subjected to the imposed norms of southerners all the time. And similarly, those in central and north Queensland are imposed to the same kind of disdain from Brisbane.
I am a Queenslander. My father was a cattle producer in Central and Northern Queensland. I was born and raised in Brisbane but have lived in Cairns for 27 years. Even with my level of education and my privilege, I have experienced the dismissive tone of those from major southern metropolitan centres (including my home town of Brisbane) who know better than me and my Far North Queensland community.
In the North all of us experience the vagaries of government policy. Centralisation and regionalisation in turn. Pie-in-the-sky programs delivered in ignorance of the needs of community and the realities of life 1700km from Brisbane. Brisbane is an 18-hour drive from Cairns, if you are wondering, and it is another 1000km, 24-hour drive from Cairns to the tip of Cape York.
Although I hold strong views about the unsustainability of mining, and of coal, and I would prefer to see protection of land rights and the environment above industrial mining, I am capable of understanding and respecting the diversity of experience of others. I recognise that there are whole communities whose lives are in the balance as we seek to transition our economy from fossil fuels. My argument here is that it is not incumbent on those from outside these communities to ridicule what is clearly a rational response to their circumstances. Those who seek change must instead interrogate their own capacity for clear communication.
Apart from Cairns and some other tourist towns, many regions in Central and Northern Queensland are mining communities. It is just not fair to say to these communities that they are 'stupid' to respond to either a government pitch that purports to protect their livelihoods, or an anti-Adani movement that has not managed to engage with the people about how their lives will look. In fact, in the absence of a convincing alternative, these communities make rational decisions.
"The disrespecting of regional Queenslanders is Clinton's 'basket of deplorables' all over again."
Central and North Queenslanders face a youth unemployment rate of 25 per cent. Unemployment generally in Queensland sits at six per cent — the lowest in the country. There is a general understanding that the resources sector will provide job growth and indeed, it has done so in the past. Couple this with a general political discourse around the economy, fears about tax rates, unemployment, and a lack of traction on solutions for regional communities, and you have a recipe for communities to give voice, through the ballot box, to their genuine fears about the future.
Those who oppose mining, including the Adani proposal, may well have alternative plans for the people in these communities. But at the moment, true or not, Adani represents the hopes of these communities. Any alternative plans for education, jobs, and economic growth, have simply not been communicated. Until we accept this breakdown in communication, listen to these fears, and address these fears in terms that the people understand, those fears will not go away.
I have observed first hand extremely troubling traits displayed in Queensland including terrible racism and sexism. I realise that it is easy for those in large metropolitan centres to conflate these miserable attitudes with broader political views. I see also the way in which political parties play on the rational fears of communities by introducing the spectre of external threats like terrorism and demonising of immigrants as a means of distracting voters from genuine economic issues.
However, not only are deep-seated discriminatory attitudes no reason to resort to lazy stereotypes. They provide a greater incentive to engage communities in laying out a clear alternative. Not in terms that I might instantly comprehend, but in terms that genuinely engage with those who have most to lose.
The disrespecting of regional Queenslanders is Clinton's 'basket of deplorables' all over again. President Trump may well be propping up the big end of town, but he has managed to validate the concerns of the ordinary person who is facing an uncertain future. Meanwhile, others (practising politics as usual) have simply ignored these fears. In Queensland, I suspect that the LNP has managed to achieve just this — with the help of Clive Palmer, One Nation etc. — even as others of us can see that corporations (including Palmer's mining company and Adani) have likely misrepresented the truth about the prospects for these communities.
Those of us who seek change, who care about our collective future, are faced with the more difficult task of bringing our communities along with us. We cannot assume anything. This is not because our fellow-voters are 'stupid', but because their circumstances are different from ours.
Until we listen to the people so that we effectively grapple with this question, the country will remain divided. In the meantime, please stop your abuse.
Kate Galloway is a legal academic with an interest in social justice.
Main image: simonbradfield / Getty