🧹 Time to Clean House:

🧹 Time to Clean House: Why Politics Needs a Hard Reset

If politics were a job site, half the crew would be sent packing before smoko. No induction, no experience, no clue. Yet here we are—governed by career politicians who’ve never run a business, never led a team, and wouldn’t know a profit margin from a parking fine.

So maybe it’s time we rewrote the rulebook.

🔧 Rule #1: Six Years, Max. Then Clock Off.

No more lifelong tenure. No more clinging to power like it’s a family heirloom. Six years in Parliament—enough time to contribute, not enough to calcify. After that, back to the real world. If you haven’t made a difference in six years, you’re not going to. And if you have, great—go mentor someone else.

Australia currently has no term limits for federal politicians. Prime Ministers can serve indefinitely, provided they retain party leadership and electoral support. This lack of turnover fosters stagnation, factionalism, and a culture of entitlement.

🏗️ Rule #2: Real-World Credentials Required

To qualify, you must have:

• Owned a business, or

• Held a position of genuine responsibility in one.

Not a ceremonial title. Not a board seat handed down like a birthday card. We mean payroll, risk, strategy, and the kind of pressure that doesn’t come with a chauffeur.

Many of our elected leaders—including the current Prime Minister—have spent their entire careers in party politics, union offices, or advisory roles. They’ve mastered the art of the soundbite, the photo op, and the strategic non-answer. But ask them to manage a budget that isn’t taxpayer-funded, or lead a team without spin doctors—and suddenly the resume looks a little thin.

🧠 Rule #3: Common Sense Over Careerism

We don’t need more spin doctors. We need problem-solvers. People who’ve had to innovate, negotiate, and occasionally eat humble pie. People who’ve faced the consequences of their decisions—not just deflected them in Question Time.

Currently, there are no formal experience requirements to become a politician in Australia. You just need to be 18, a citizen, and not disqualified under Section 44 of the Constitution. No leadership test. No business acumen. No proof you’ve ever made a tough call.

🪞 Real-World Experience? Not in This Cabinet.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the press conference: many of our elected leaders have never built a business, led a team outside of politics, or worked a job where performance was measured by anything other than polling.

A 2021 analysis found that most federal MPs come from elite, homogenous backgrounds—private schools, arts degrees, and party machinery. Only a handful have experience in trades, farming, or frontline business. And among senior ministers, business ownership is the exception, not the rule.

This isn’t just a dig. It’s a structural flaw. We’ve built a system where political success depends more on factional loyalty than lived experience. Where climbing the party ladder is more valuable than understanding payroll, procurement, or project risk.

And it shows. Policy gets drafted without frontline consultation. Regulations land like bricks on small businesses. And the people making decisions about infrastructure, housing, and employment have never had to submit a tender, hire a tradesperson, or chase an unpaid invoice.

🗳️ Time for a Civic Renovation

Want to lead the country? Great. But first, show us you’ve led something else. A business. A team. A project with real stakes.

Because if you’ve never had skin in the game, you shouldn’t be calling the shots.

📚 Sources & Footnotes

1. How term limits for Australian political leaders could build a stronger democracy – The Conversation

2. Four-year parliamentary terms – Parliament of Australia – Parliamentary Library

3. How Australia's politicians entered Parliament – Sydney Morning Herald

4. How To Become A Politician In Australia: A Complete Guide – OzStudies

5. What degrees Ministers in Australia have – Torrens University