Importance of Senate vote emphasised

Andrew Bartlett speaks to a member of the media after addressing Annual Conference.

by Kerri Carr

Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett told Annual Conference it was vital for the Senate to get proper attention in an election year, regardless of who ends up as Prime Minister.

"The Democrats will be focussing on ensuring the Senate is as strong as possible; to keep exposing the truth, exposing Government expenditure and policies and making sure all proposed laws and actions of the Government are fully and properly scrutinised," he said.

"Even where it is not possible to have a direct say on issues such as funding levels, by properly using the balance of power position in the Senate we can continue to not only play a key role in the schools and education debates, but equally importantly ensure the voices of others in the community can also be heard.

"One of the ways to keep Governments accountable is through Senate Inquiries," Senator Bartlett said.

"Just last month we initiated a Senate Inquiry into schools funding that will ensure a thorough examination of the hotch-potch of current funding arrangements and their inadequacy in delivering on future schools' needs.

"This Inquiry will also be an opportunity to challenge the lie that private schools, and not public schools, are the responsibility of the Federal Government, and to further examine and highlight the inequities in the system."

Senator Bartlett said that from the inception of the Australian Democrats, party members had strongly promoted the importance of education.

"But, above all, we've provided a special focus on making the Senate as strong and effective as possible, scrutinising Government expenditure policy and legislative proposals, trying to stop extreme measures, improving others within a framework of being financially and politically responsible," Senator Bartlett said.

"Sadly, I think we're at a stage where we're getting more and more dishonesty from the larger parties and unless we have the strongest possible Senate then we're in big trouble.

"There is a real prospect at the next election of the Coalition parties having sufficient votes to actually have half the seats in the Senate. This would ensure the ability of the Liberal Party to halt anything, purely in its own right.

"If we get that sort of scenario then I think the opportunity for moving things in a better direction will be very much compromised, and it is for that reason that the Democrats are wanting to ensure that the decision of who people vote for in the Senate is given as much focus as the decision of who ends up as Prime Minister, because it is equally important to the future direction of the nation, and it's one that I certainly hope people will consider in examining the issues that are put forward before the federal election."

"We are going to ensure that all aspects of education at all levels are part and parcel of this federal election, not just the bits that the larger parties want to focus on -- the whole range of issues that affect teachers, that affect students -- because it all affects our future and we can't afford a federal election campaign that doesn't have a proper focus on those issues," Senator Bartlett added.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005