Whether ‘tis nobler in Page to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous Coalition,
Or to act against a sea of empty promises,
And by voting Labor spurn them? – To wake – to sleep no more;
And by our vote to say we end
The disadvantage, and the constant sore neglect
The region’s heir to; ‘tis a situation
Devoutly to be wished. To act – to vote –
To vote! Perchance to change. Ay there’s the rub;
For in that new regime what Acts will come
When we have shuffled off this mortal Coalition,
Must give us pause. That’s the fear
That makes incumbents hard to shift.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of Howard -
The shameful war,
The corporate donations,
The racist whistle,
The esteem for cruel and greedy,
The blaming of the poor,
The disdain for workers’ rights,
The damage to the Earth -
If we did not dread the other choice,
Rudd’s undiscovered country in which
Life might be just as bad?Would we rather bear the ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Your National Party candidate presumes that this is so.
Thus fear does make cowards of us all.
And thus the shining promise of the polling day
Is sicklied over with a pale apathy,
And hopes for changes of great pitch and worth,
With this apathy, their currents run away.
-Claire