Politics: the drama of our lives

It seems that our politicians and the media, who operate consciously on a split screen of these two 'political issues' know on an unconscious level that responding to refugees and to the climate emergency are increasingly entwined issues.

When the temperature of the earth rises beyond two degrees the world will see massive displacement of people whose lands can no longer support them.

Crops will fail and animals will die, as extreme climate disasters, disrupted weather and increased desertification will force mass movement of people.

An estimated 31 Million people were displaced by natural disasters in 2012.

This is just the beginning.

In a thinly disguised contrived prelude to a toughening refugee policy, Australia's Foreign Minister, Bob Carr has paved the way for a new version of berating the refugee. Not just focusing on 'evil people smugglers'' or merely decrying refugees as queue jumpers'. Carr is asserting that the majority of people arriving on boats from Iran and Sri Lanka are not true refugees but economic migrants. In fact Carr has implied that the independent Refugee tribunals will need to be enlightened [and therefore reassess refugees] by the up to the minute foreign dossiers provided by 'the department.'

Carr and Shadow Foreign Minister Bishop and shadow Immigration Minister Morrison visited Sri Lanka. All declared it a safe place to which to return refugees. This argument is easily discredited but that does not seem to be the point. Its electioneering time, and it is therefore open season on denouncing refugees, as invading our borders and our lives. The second, nudge hint wink policy, intimated is on climate change action and the price on carbon.

Rudd has indicated that he will not 'lurch to the left' on either of these voter and lobby group concerns. The denigration of the motives of refugees is aimed at the populace , and the fear of Muslims and loss of jobs to economic invaders. The second is a shout out to big business implying that my government will reduce your carbon pain rather than lowering our emissions[too much].

Asylum seekers arriving by boat and climate change, like indigenous inequity, have become our wicked problems.

These are the seemingly insoluble dilemmas that do not have a simple single answer. We have framed these problems ineptly and therefore find only ineffectual solutions that create more problems. We declare refugees as attackers refusing to recognise that they are vulnerable and suffering. We blame them for fleeing. We might shed a tear when women and children drown, but then we redouble our efforts to repulse them. We see the climate and earth as juxtaposed against our economic growth model and therefore neglect to move to renewables instead a supporting the fossil fuel industry. Like the drug addict who deals with practical emotional and psychological problems by eclipsing them, we only manage to distract from, but not to resolve these crucially wicked predicaments.

These quandaries pertain to nothing less than human viability on this planet.

Will the election debate and conversation hover around petty fears, and selfish concerns , or finally address the great moral challenges of our time? Will we confront the famed Hamlet question?

To be or not to be, and finally decide to 'take arms against a sea of trouble and by opposing end them'. Only then might we enable the continuity of our civilisation, and our planet earth….

That is the question, as yet,not being addressed by our petty politics.