“The implosion of the Liberal Party across most of Australia undermines our democracy. A strong opposition is a key element to keeping the government on its toes,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE. 

The impact President Donald Trump is having on American democracy raises concerns for the free world. Australia is not exempt.

The combination of preferential and compulsory voting in Australia helps prevent domination by powerful forces that attempt to drag voters to the extremes of the political left and the political right.

A respected constitution, a strong opposition and a vibrant media are critical elements of effective democracies.

Although Australians can be proud of the sophistication of our electoral systems and the general lack of corruption in our politics, complacency makes things worse.

The next state election will be in SA in March. Recent polling shows Labor incumbent Premier Peter Malinauskas winning an extraordinary landslide.

Looking at recent polling, Adrian Beaumont wrote in The Conversation: “On a uniform swing, the Liberals would be reduced to three to six of the 47 lower house seats, with leader Vincent Tarzia losing his seat.”

Considering the trouncing that the Liberals received under the leadership of Peter Dutton at the last federal election, Australians should be concerned about the weakness of the Liberal Party across the southern states and the west of Australia.

Such concerns are exacerbated at the federal level by the constant undermining of the leadership by the chest thumping of the right of the party, and the inability of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to pull them into line.

In Tasmania, the Liberals retained government after an early election. However, the government in that state does have to work with a minority in both houses of the parliament. The LNP in Queensland and the NT seem much more stable with their unicameral systems.

Labor governments in the other jurisdictions seem to be much more stable. None more so than in the ACT where Labor has ruled, largely unchallenged, since the end of 2001. Even with a minority government, the likelihood of a Liberal chief minister in the foreseeable future seems remote.

The implosion of the Liberal Party across most of Australia undermines our democracy. A strong opposition is a key element to keeping the government on its toes. 

Although there are many independents and smaller parties working hard to maintain accountability, the threat of an alternative government taking over any time soon seems highly unlikely.

With the future of the Liberal Party in such dire straits, the temptation is for Labor governments to rest on their laurels. The consequence is lack of accountability of the ministers and their governments, and a more complacent public service.

Fortunately, the calibre of public servants in Canberra, whether local or federal, mitigates the worst of these problems. Even so, when a government is secure, when an opposition is weak, there is a greater likelihood of things going awry.

The successful censure motion on ACT minister Chris Steel, over what was seen as his disastrous handling of rollout of the MyWay+ system through the ACT public transport network, illustrates the power that non-government MLAs can exercise with a minority government. 

Although there remains little likelihood of a change of government with the currently dysfunctional opposition.

The most challenging focus for the ACT opposition should be the state of our territory finances. On September 5, Standard and Poor’s downgraded the ACT’s credit rating yet again. It is now at an all-time low of AA+ rating from its peak of AAA+. A long-term lackadaisical government that does not fear being replaced.

In the US both Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr are doing dreadful damage to health systems and support for ordinary people.

Electoral systems do matter. Efforts of the Republicans supporting Donald Trump for president were quite remarkable. Trump used the “first-past-the-post” electoral system to his personal advantage by wooing Kennedy. 

Kennedy traded his voting support as an independent (who stood no chance of being president) for the position of secretary of health, and Trump removed a candidate who would have taken precious votes from him. 

There remains hope that the US will be able to withstand the democratic storm that is Donald Trump. The success of the Democrats in the elections that were run in the last week may yet prove that even a relatively crude form of democracy, as used in that country, may still show that the people can hold governments accountable.

Pertinent now is the famous saying attributed to Edmund Bourke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.

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