Learning from the Independents: Local MPs need to step up tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Learning from the Independents: Local MPs need to step up

Posted by Claire Connelly in Politics

This week I have heard an awful lot of bitching about how  Katter, Oakeshott, Windsor and Bandt are selfishly holding the government to ransom – that they care more about the people in their electorate than they do the rest of Australia.

It got me thinking that I really wished more MPs were “behaving” like the three Independents and one Green – (who I must admit, appears to be doing little more than once again rolling over for Labor without making any demands, but that’s a blog for another time).

If anything, this hung parliament has indicated the important role local MPs can and should be playing.

I don’t think it is selfish that these men are trying to ensure that their little-known electorate’s are taken care of -  rather they are fulfilling their responsibility.

So often the needs of the party, the needs of the MP, or the needs of “the people” (a vague term that seldom benefits anyone)  overrides the promises made by local MPs to the people they are elected to represent.

In his blog, Rob Oakeshott claims that prioritising party needs over the electorate should be tantamount  to treason.

He emphatically reminds us that the concept of a Parliament has been around a lot longer than the political party and a hung parliament was never really seen to be a problem until the concept of the political party arrived on the scene:


“The term “hung parliament” implies that voters want power to rest in the hands of a majority political party, rather than with the Parliament. Yet in the upcoming Australian election, voters will elect 150 local members, who will have promoted themselves, as night follows day, as local MPs who will be voting in their electorate’s and their nation’s best interests. No other issue, including their party’s agenda, should matter. Indeed, it should be seen by local electors as borderline treason if a local MP votes against the best interests of their electorate or country and votes against these pre-election promises, due to some self-interest or political party interest.”

If you haven’t already read it, this blog should be compulsory reading for all politics students, anyone with political or journalistic ambitions, anyone who wants a prosperous future for this country, anyone who thinks that our government has lost its way, anyone who thinks – should read his blog.

I may be a sucker, but Oakeshott speaks and writes like a statesman and I am glad we finally have someone new on the scene who seems to be a driving force for good.

I don’t know why it is so bloody hard to sell big ideas in this country, and I don’t know why the concept of a “unity government” has been so monumentally scoffed at or deemed so politically impossible – if they can make it work in the UK, they can make it work here.

All I know is every MP should be holding the government to account the way that these four men have been – even if it is at the cost of political expediency, not just because you chance upon some power, but because MPs are tired of constantly leaving their electorates bitter and disappointed.

I’m also a little tired of how the Liberal party seems to be copping most of the blame for neglecting rural areas.

Though the Nationals have avoided direct criticism for neglecting their local communities, they certainly have a lot to answer for.

While I do feel a little bit sorry for Barnaby Joyce & the public spanking he had to endure at the hands of Windsor, (a scolding I believe was uncalled for and completely unprofessional, but again – that’s a matter for another blog),  it only serves to highlight the neglect that rural Australia has had to endure at the hands of the Nationals.

I hope this election has served as a reminder to regional and rural Australians that “major party” does not necessarily equate to “best man for the job”.

If this result is anything to go by, I suspect the National Party’s days are limited.

If the Liberal party is smart, they will distance themselves from the Nationals over the coming years and work closely with the Independents who are working tirelessly for their community.

Things I would like to see achieved at this election:

1. If they can’t just come right out and legalise gay marriage, I at least want a conscience vote in Parliament.

2. Real investment in addressing mental health and suicide prevention, including the creation of preventative mental health care centres designed to keep people out of hospitals, as well as unionising Social Workers and OTs to represent them in Parliament and educate GPs as to their value.

3. A National Broadband Network for rural as well as inner city areas.

4. The complete dismantling of Telstra, and creating opportunities for new companies to buy up parts of the NBN, creating a real and lasting competition.

5. A more attentive welfare system including a DOCS overhaul.

6. Fairer treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

That is all for now. I will add things to the list as I think of them.