A Spot of Culture

About the only thing of interest that happened this week was the annual ANU Law Revue. This is a show put on by ANU law students that satirizes just about anything topical. Perennial favourites are impressions of professors and politicians, however anything particularly topical will also find its way into the Law Revue. I missed last year's and I was determined not to miss this year's and I'm glad I didn't. The Revue was exceedingly funny especially when it came to professors and politicians. I don't think I've ever seen a professor at the Revue but I think they should go. It's meant to be good humour and it really is. Some of the segments were a very funny video lampooning our Vice-Chancellor's decision to cut humanities programs, a simulated election rap-off, professors lamenting while singing that teaching students is too complicated (to Avril Lavigne's Complicated), Survivor: Christmas Island (where refugees are housed while being processed and a song about never being able to escape Canberra. I laughed very heartily as did the rest of the audience.

One thing the Law Revue must be substantially commended for is their inclusion of a High Court decision handed down just that day. As this was the second show, it means that the directors had to quickly come up with something and they did. It was really just a mention but well done nonetheless.

This particular High Court decision comes from something called the GetUp! Case. As I understand it, GetUp! is a citizen's group devoted to electoral awareness. In Australia being enrolled as an elector and voting and compulsory and it used to be the case that once the election was called, you had 7 days to enter yourself on the electoral roll. A few years ago, the Howard government changed the rules so that the electoral roll closed on the day the election was called. Why that was I'm not sure but this rule survived. However, some time ago GetUp! mounted a challenge to that law and the High Court agreed with them that it was unconstitutional. I haven't read the decision but it means that something like 100 000 voters are now eligible to enroll and vote. The analysis is that this may help the Labor and Green Parties but we'll have to see how it plays out.

Come to think of it, the election is only 2 weeks away. As of right now, I still think Julia Gillard will win but 2 weeks is a very long time in politics and in this war, there are no holds barred.