Golden Grevillea on the red sands of the Canning Stock Route, East Kimberley. Photo: CAS

Yahweh turns her desolation into an Eden, her wasteland into the garden of Yahweh.

Isaiah 51:3

Issue 2, April 2007, Highlights:

Editorial

Viewpoint

90 Years Young - Sr Scholastica OSB

Wonders of the Kimberley - Snakes Alive

KCP Magazine

Editorial

Let your “Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’

The state and national press has been recently captured by debates concerning the behaviour of our politicians and their relationships with outside lobbyists and other parties of less than high repute. Some politicians have paid a high price for their associations with such people. There is still a way to go before the full import of these dealings is revealed, as the investigative body has yet to recommend any legal actions that might flow from what it has uncovered.

We all have an obligation to deal justly and honestly with each other. There is so much of our everyday interaction with each other that depends upon mutual trust and the expectation that we will be honest in our daily life, whether it be professional or personal.

The gospel story recalled in Matthew chapter 5 has Jesus advising that the Christian has no need to take an oath that says he is now going to tell the truth. Truth-telling is meant to be a way of life for the Christian and not something that happens on special occasions.

People in public office of any kind have pressures put upon them that the ordinary person does not. They are asked for favours and special treatment; many times with no promise of anything for themselves, just a call on their good nature or friendship. So there is some obligation upon the rest of us to not place such people in awkward positions by expecting that they will make exceptions ‘just for me’. There is something good about the local member representative system of Government that our Constitution guarantees. It seems to suit our Australian desire for us all to be on an equal footing and for our politicians to rise from the ranks or the ordinary citizen and to remain in contact with the concerns of the ordinary citizen. When it works it works well.

Unfortunately, there are those who would seek to exploit the system for their own selfish ends. Then the system unravels and we all feel let down. The temptation is then to be looking for corruption or unfair dealing in every corner. Let us hope that the tribunal and the legal system can pinpoint those who have broken the law and deal with them appropriately. But let us not lose our confidence in the vast majority of hard-working and honest local members who are doing their best to represent the best interests of their constituents.

Both Church and State have now discovered what turmoil is unleashed when those who hold offices of trust betray that trust. Many in our communities and families have been put through similar traumas. The whole episode has been a timely reminder of the need for us all to comply with the highest possible moral code of conduct in our dealings with each other, not because we might be caught out if we do not, but because it is what we have a right to expect from each other.^ top