Why I am cautiously rejoining the ALP

 Every citizen should feel as if they have a stake in what happens, that they are a part of something and that they have a responsibility to participate, contribute and safeguard all that is good about Australia. The major political parties are closed shops and that is a very dangerous thing for our future. Any small opening must be seized upon if we are to progress.

For nearly ten years now I have been calling for the Labor Party to democratise.  (See the long list of links and papers in the downloadable pdf file below) Its been a difficult cause to advocate. In the early 2000s I like so many others  gave up and became disenchanted. From the statistics we know that thousands of Labor party members left to try to find something better.  Many joined the Greens.  Many have swung their support behind independent candidates. Many, like me, have just become stray political dogs.

In desperation for a party that truly reflected its members, I initially joined the Democrats. There was nothing more than a rump of the membership left.  I was disappointed that after their radical experiment, with members even voting on policy decisions taken in the parliament, there seemed to be an extreme counter reaction. When I joined the only people left were professional political minders and number crunchers who wanted to control things like other party officials did. It was a tragedy for the Democrats they simply needed to moderate some of their procedures, they threw the baby out with the bath water. But that’s another story, another analysis.

For those that think that all this was just plain crazy, reflect on this:  Labor’s primary vote was 33.6 per cent last month. Whether the Democrats, the Greens, independents or Nick Xenophon or some other constellation of power; Labor will need to either form a coalition, consult or take over the vote of this new large group of stray dogs to win office in its own right. Furthermore this rump of democracy also protects Australians from any excesses that the Liberal National Party might contemplate. So were we so wrong to leave the Labor Party? I think not. There have been some real disappointments. But the impetus forsmall  independent, democratic candidates in the parliament will only grow stronger.

There is a big role for independents and minor parties. Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshot were a major disappointment. They simply became part of the Labor party and had a very short term objective. But the idea of independent candidates and parties remains valid and strong. Catherine McGowan’s campaign against Sophie Mirabella is an indication that if you run a real campaign based on real local issues you can unseat safe candidates of either of the political parties.

The main reason I am cautiously rejoining the Labor Party is to ensure that the corruption of our polity in Australia goes no further. Since I have been out of the Labor Party I have learned some very disturbing things about Australian politics. It may well be that the Australian polity is on the verge of being taken over by strong organised crime groups who use our parties as their play things. It is necessary to ensure that our biggest parties do not become fouled by corruption. If this happens being involved in minority parties and independents becomes an issue. Currently they only control 10-15 per cent of the vote it will be a long time before a small party or independent candidate can hope to form a majority government.

To read more download the free pdf file below...