Ross Cameron, Member for Parramatta, has confessed, to borrow a euphemism attached to Springfield’s adulterous Mayor Quimby on “The Simpsons”, to “polling the electorate”.
Unfortunately, for Cameron, a notorious Jesus freak not blessed with a safe seat, the majority of female constituents questioned by “The Daily Telegraph” on Friday were unsatisfied with his performance, while, according to “Insiders”, McNair has revealed a 4% swing against the politician.
Although a woman interviewed by “The Daily Telegraph” early last week used the alleged division between the private and public spheres to suggest disinterest in the divulgence, Cameron and the administration he is a part of are responsible for making it news.
This is because of the way he has represented himself during his career and as a result of their interest in personal lives when politically opportune.
Leaving aside that the public and private intersect more than some liberals acknowledge, it must be interesting for groups in the community like gays and lesbians to observe the Prime Minister’s reticence to discuss Cameron’s behaviour when he has been more than vocal about theirs, and how marriage needs to be protected from it.
Back in May, when still “moral”, Cameron appeared on “Lateline” to talk about proposed changes to the Marriage Act that would confirm the denial of the institution to queers. Maxine McKew, the show’s host, began proceedings by pointing out they were “more evidence…the Government is increasingly preoccupied with our sex lives”.
Cameron was quoted in “The Sunday Times” saying “the problem is that if you are conservative and your kids are photogenic, you wind up almost by default looking like the very emblem of everything that is good and wholesome”.
“We seek crusaders for the family’, oh Lord, but no socialists with ugly offspring, praise be to you”.
While claiming certain attributes are credited to some for superficial reasons such as physical appearance rings true in our image-obsessed society, his awareness of this leaves one wondering why he so frequently put his family in the picture if not to exploit it, and them.
Even if we expect politicians to behave better than we do, it is doubtful words like “good” are “wholesome” are attached to them, or anything other than high-fibre bread.
These days, they are sometimes used with sarcasm and do not mean the same to everybody.
For example, while declaring yourself for the family might be “moral” to the old-fashioned or the sort of people who attend Hillsong, for others to challenge the traditional meaning of family is the decent thing to do.
A cynic might infer Cameron was trying to make himself more human to ‘average’ punters with his admission and also endeavouring to keep a certain kind of Christian onside by using the language of repentance; yes, he is moving away from the dark and most of us are not sorry to see him go.
Speaking of questionable language, it is significant one of Cameron’s lovers, who has an Indian surname, has been described as “exotic”, which hints at the old ‘other’ luring the innocent white man line.
Whatever the outcome of this saga, it informs it is not just Cameron who is guilty of hypocrisy, as his colleagues also apply different standards to him than they do to the rest of us.