Barnaby Joyce’s move to clarify he is not in a homoerotic relationship with Tony Abbott is the latest example of politicians taking us somewhere we just don’t want to go – into the bedroom.
Following hot on the heels of Tony Abbott’s foray into the ‘gift’ of virginity, Joyce’s gaffe unnervingly suggests that the Coalition has things other than the management of the national economy on their mind.
For Australians, politicians are a bit like our parents – we innately accept that while they probably have sex, we would rather not confront the fact.
While the British repress it, the Italians exalt it and the Americans use into to get closer to God, Essential Research’s latest polling shows Australians want to retain a clear separation between sex and politics.
These findings can be understood in several ways.
The first theory, is that we see our leaders as first and foremost managers of the economy – as long as things are ticking over we don’t really care what happens with our leaders. Jim Cairns’ downfall as Treasurer came because the economy was pole-axed and not because he had developed a ’special kind of love for his secretary.’
The second theory is that our dislike of the Tall Poppy Syndrome means we actually don’t expect our leaders to be God-like figures, In fact, the Liberals attempt before the 2007 election to create a scandal around Kevin Rudd’s visit to a nudie bar actually backfired – it made a colourless character appear human.
The third theory goes back to our convict roots – while the American political culture is based on a national story of pioneering a new land to find God, our national story is about being sent to the wilderness because we had done the wrong thing. The last thing we want in our leaders are people who reinforce that we are sinners.
Finally, it might just be that we have a healthy sense of perspective, that the only people that really worry about John Della Bosca having an affair is the man himself, leaving most of us shaking our heads in disbelief when he felt compelled to fall on his sword.
Whatever the reason, the general separation of sex and politics in Australia is a healthy phenomenon, which has created a set of rules that actually make us stronger:
1. Debates about the way individuals live their lives – from abortion to homosexuality - do not generate groundswells of support in this country.
2. Noone gains political capital for digging into our politicians private lives – and therefore they don’t do it
3. Public confessions of affairs and pecadillos do not become media events that rehabilitate the transgressor in the eyes of either God or the electorate.
4. Disclosures of cross-political infidelities (think Gareth and Cheryl) gross us all out.
5. Former leaders wearing white bathrobes elicit the same response.
6. And finally, please note Barnaby, when politicians talk of an ‘open relationship’ with their leader, NO-ONE suspects they are having sex.
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