Calmes: The Jan. 6 committee did the country proud but it hasn’t changed our calcified politics
Jan. 6, 2017, marks the first anniversary of the release of the White Paper, “Putting Australia in the News: What do we want the nation to know?” The White Paper set out a series of media agendas for Australia.
It was written in response to the media scrutiny on the budget and then the citizenship crisis.
It was written in a bipartisan way, both in the media and in parliament.
The White Paper is a testament to good government but, at the same time, it’s not only about fixing the budget.
It is a document that shows the importance of the media in politics and how the media can be used in government and opposition.
It is a document that shows the value of the opposition and how the media can be used to undermine the government.
The government was at pains, in the White Paper, to point out it does not control the media and does not have the mandate the media gives it.
What it does have is a mandate from the Australian people.
Just over 100 days after the White Paper’s release the country has been gripped by a political soap opera with all the drama in between.
It would be tempting to say it’s the fault of the media, the opposition and the government.
For the government it would be a convenient excuse.
For the opposition it would be to blame someone else, someone a bit more obvious.
As the Labor opposition has tried to position itself as champion of the media, many pundits and commentators have argued the media is part of the problem.
It’s not.
The media has played a part in the budget debate but it’s not the only part.
It’s part of a broader story about what it means to govern Australia and who the media should give weight to in the run up to the next federal election.
Of course, it’s easy to paint it as the fault of the media and opposition and when in fact it’s one of the biggest problems the country now faces.
In the White Paper the government made it clear it did not control the media and did not have the mandate the media gave it.
It pointed to the