In defence of minor parties
RICHARD BRINKMAN Jeremy Roberts’ opinion piece, Ridicule of ‘micro parties’ misses the point, (InDaily, September 10, 2013) is right on.
A few days after the election and already the Lib/Labs are talking Senate reform, to ensure that policies which deviate from the Lib/Lab mantra are extinguished from our political process. The problem the Lib/Labs have is with a small group of independent Senators, which is not aligned with the Lib/Labs, and who are elected by “the public”. “The public” do not know what they are doing. The senators who they elect represent a diverse range of community groups and have the power to review, delay or even reject the legislation presented to the Senate by the Lib/Labs. These forms of obstruction are meant to be resolved by the Lib/Labs in secret back-room deals.
It is important that the Lib/Labs stay in total control because independent Senators are totally ignorant, lucky to know the difference between Syria and Switzerland. Your expertly-trained Lib/Lab politician, on the other hand, knows everything pertaining to any piece of legislation. Not only have they studiously studied it line-by-line, they have consulted with their electorate before it is presented to the House or Senate for a vote. And you thought they just put up their hand as directed?
Independent Senators can be the last window of opportunity for “the public” to introduce a check on the excesses of the Lib/Labs or even change their legislation. This is a threat to the “strong and stable government” promised by the Lib/Labs. Without “strong and stable government” we could have more elections.
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More democratic elections that give “the public” a chance to be heard are clearly a dangerous precedent. The voice of the “the public”, witless though it may be, must be heard, but only at the whim of the Lib/Labs.
KIM BLACK: Compulsory voting is really nothing but a symptom of a two-party political system that doesn’t work. I can’t believe that a country that thinks it is oh so democratic is inhabited by citizens who cast their vote on who they DON’T want to vote for than who they DO want to vote for.
The sad thing is that the system is never likely to be changed by the two parties who take turns to have the power benefits from getting all the ‘free’ votes from the preferential system.
I do believe that ‘a nation gets the government it deserves‘ (which in itself says a lot about the state of affairs over the last decade), but Australia is not making it easier for itself by being restricted to a two-party preferred and compulsory voting. But I guess Australia after all is call the ‘lucky country’ not the ‘smart country’.
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