WHEN SHOULD A POLITICIAN RESIGN?

Federal Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, has come under fire this week after it was revealed an Iranian man, Reza Berati, died in the riots at the Manus Island detention centre. Labour Senator, Doug Cameron, made it quite clear that he thinks Morrison should resign. Another Labour Senator, Sue Lines, said that Morrison “definitely does have blood on his hands”.

Before going any further, I should own up that I have recently taken out membership in the Liberal Party in Victoria. Over the years, when I was pastoring churches, I always felt it was inappropriate to align myself too closely with any political party, even the Christian ones. But I was very impressed with Cory Bernardi when I heard him speak recently. So, yeah, we’ll see how it works out.

Anyway…

When should a politician resign? When something tragic happens somewhere that falls within his or her area of responsibility? Obviously not. No Police Minister can guarantee the safety of every individual on our roads, or even in their homes. No Sports Minister can take all the blame if someone dies in a freak sporting accident. No Finance Minister, even with the best will in the world, can ensure the prosperity of every individual in the nation.

Politicians, by the very nature of their work, deal with many complex, difficult issues. If they are working hard on an agenda that they honestly believe is the best course of action, and problems occur, the responsibility of judgment comes back to the voters, who can remove them at the next election.

The Bible actually exhorts us to pray for government authorities (1 Timothy 2:1,2). Wouldn’t it be something if, someday, a government minister was trying to deal with a crisis situation somewhere, and the opposition MP said: “I know Minister X is working hard in extremely difficult circumstances. Let’s all pray that God will give Minister X the wisdom and discernment to find an answer to these challenging problems.”

But yes, I believe there are times when politicians should resign. If they are involved in criminal activity of any kind, if they have abused their position to financially benefit themselves or close friends and family, if they have deliberately deceived the public, or if they are unable to carry out their duties due to ill health or any other circumstance.

We have a great political system in Australia but I think maybe we have imbibed a little too much Red Indian culture. Politicians are always looking for the next scalp!