Minority governments provide the best form of democracy

The Prime Minister has often appeared to be a hostage of those minorities. This was very true with regard to the Carbon Tax, when she reneged on an election promise so she could bring the Greens into her minority government. The alternative that she faced was to lose power, and we all know that power is everything in politics. No politician gives it up easily.

Then, we had the Kevin Rudd sideshow which was constantly besmirching the Government. At one point, it became a highly embarrassing laughing stock, but I don’t see how Gillard could have avoided this. The ALP had to cleanse itself of Rudd, as he believed that he been ordained by God to be Prime Minister forever, and it was necessary for him to find out that God had changed his mind about that.

Indeed, if his chat with God was a frank one, he would have found that the Almighty was not impressed by his betrayal of Simon Crean and other people who thought they were mates. Christians just don’t do this to their friends.

Gillard has been able to keep her government together largely because of the personal unpopularity of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. He really should have brought her down at least two years ago, but failed to do so, despite fighting relentlessly. No-one can criticise him for lack of effort, but many of his own supporters are disappointed that he failed to destroy the Prime Minister.

So, it has come down to this unavoidable fact. We have been through the most extraordinary three years of my political life. Many voters have disliked the spectacle and felt insecure because of it. They want it to end, but now accept they won’t get this opportunity until September, when it can be determined by normal processes at the ballot box.

But, blame our political leaders in all Parties, not the validity of a minority government. It is an accepted exercise in democracy that is practised in most nations around the world.

I regard it as vital to the credibility of democracy that no government should be able to ride roughshod over a Parliament. They must be required to negotiate with their opposition for true democracy to work.

I was appalled when Rudd had a small group of four people running his government, totally ignoring Cabinet, Caucus and Parliament. It snubbed the nose of the vital issue of accountability.

A prime example of a pragmatic implementation of democracy can be discovered and enjoyed by reading Robert Caro’s great book Passage of Power, which recounts the incredible political saga of John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in 1963. During Kennedy’s short stay in the White House, he managed only to get a few Bills through Congress, and none of them were significant. Conservatives from both the Republican and Democratic Parties ganged-up on him consistently and either voted down or stalled his legislation. When he was gunned down in Dallas, the nation was on the brink of emotional and political collapse.

Lyndon Johnson, who had declared as a schoolboy in Texas that one day he would be President, strode into the vacuum and took command, holding the unshakeable belief that his destiny had been fulfilled. He used his enormous political savvy and awesome negotiating skills to get all of Kennedy’s legislation through the House of Representatives and Senate, particularly the historic Civil Rights Bill and its associated Voting Bill, for which Martin Luther King had fought so bravely and purposefully.

Johnson faced defeat in the Congress day after day, but kept pulling his opponents back from the brink and negotiating his way past every obstacle. Some cynics tried to condemn his efforts by saying that the legislation was a watered down compromise. But, the fact is that none of it was. Each final draft looked like a new Bill because Johnson incorporated in it something of the views of all the major elements of American Society. He showed that democracy can produce the will of the people, whereas a majority government slams legislation through and creates a situation where only one side wins and all the others are alienated.

It is unlikely to happen, but I will be quite at peace if Australia votes for another minority government in September, irrespective of who runs it. In the past three years, our Parliament (as distinct from the Government) has recreated the spirit that existed when the Constitution was written and negotiated in 1901.

Barton, Deakin and Fisher then laid out the framework for a democratic nation. They successfully embedded its fairness through a succession of minority governments who negotiated with opposing parties by using goodwill and commonsense, totally unlike the shameful bitterness of today. In fact, most of it was agreed upon in the gentlemanly surroundings of the Members Bar at the Melbourne Club.

My hope is that many Independents will be elected in September, and that they will act as responsibly as Tony Windsor has done for the past three years. With voters having little respect for any of major political parties or their leaders, there is a real chance that some good quality Independents will get up, especially as most voters will think that there is no possibility of there being a hung Parliament again.

They may wisely decide that a few more Independents will enhance the Parliament. This will be a correct assumption.