Come together

Single-issue independents overpromise but achieve little. Instead, enduring change comes from working together within the party system. By Dave Sharma.

In my previous life as a diplomat, I would travel regularly to Africa for bilateral meetings, UN summits and strategic dialogues. Almost invariably at these events a senior African political figure would cite a well-known proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

I’ve been reminded of this proverb this week as new political forces emerge from both the left and the right.

On one side you have the United Australia Party, bankrolled by millionaire Clive Palmer, promising to run candidates to the right of the Liberal and National parties at the next election.

Their agenda is largely confined to campaigning against the public health measures that Australia put in place to protect our population and economy against Covid-19, including vaccination.

On the other side you have the Climate 200 party, bankrolled by another millionaire, Simon Holmes a Court, and supported by several others of inherited privilege, funding and running candidates to the left of the Liberal Party in mainly metropolitan seats, including my own seat of Wentworth.

Again, their agenda is a narrow one. Holmes a Court nominates integrity, gender equity and climate change as the most important issues facing the country.

If he genuinely cared about such issues, you’d think there would be Climate 200 candidates running in several seats across the country to raise the profile of these issues. That such candidates are standing only in Liberal-held seats is revealing of the true motivation: to defeat the Liberal Party at the next election.

Neither of these political forces makes an attempt to engage with the other major issues facing us as a nation. There is no mention of economic recovery from Covid, fiscal repair, economic reform or the myriad national security challenges Australia faces. It’s as if they think Australia runs on autopilot, and that parliament has the luxury of pursuing single issues and special projects.

I can understand the superficial appeal of such candidates. They can say whatever the public wants to hear and engage in populism without consequence.

But it’s a form of political nihilism, destructive of our system of government. Government and parliament are, by their nature, full of compromise and at times untidy. This is a feature, not a bug. It serves as an inherent check and balance in our political system.

In a House of Representatives of 151, your ability to get things done and achieve results depends entirely on your ability to convince 75 of your colleagues to back your approach. As I have learnt during my first term in parliament, it does not matter how strong your ideas or how powerful your commitment if you are unable to convince others of your proposed course of action.

Working with my colleagues, I’ve been able to achieve some important goals, including a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, and new policy measures to accelerate our transition to a lower carbon pathway.

I freely admit there are things I have not been able to achieve. That’s the nature of being part of a team. The collective achievement is more enduring and substantive, but you don’t always get things your own way. Getting things done, and moving the nation ahead, means working as part of a team and building a consensus that is broadly based.

This is what is meant by the African proverb. Operating alone, as independents do, you can go fast and make a lot of noise. But if you want to go far and create change that is enduring, you need to work as part of a team.

Independent candidates may promise a lot, but their capacity to deliver is very little. They are but one voice among 151.

Australia faces significant challenges in the years and decade ahead. The emergence of a new variant, Omicron, is a reminder that the threat to global public health and the global economy presented by Covid-19 is far from over.

The economic challenges ahead are substantial: to restore the economy to full health, begin the task of fiscal repair, address workforce shortages and ensure inflation does not get out of hand.

Externally, our continued security and freedom from threat and coercion are no longer guaranteed. We face the most contested geopolitical environment in a generation. Tensions are rising in our own neighbourhood of the Indo-Pacific.

Continued military modernisation and effective investment in our diplomatic and national security infrastructure are critical to navigate these more challenging times. These are the sorts of challenges only a major party in government can address effectively.

This new breed of independent candidates does not have the answers to these challenges confronting Australia.

In fact, they do not even choose to engage with the questions, considering them to be seemingly irrelevant to the work of the national parliament.

I want Australia to go far. But that means going together.

Dave Sharma is the federal Liberal member for Wentworth in New South Wales and a former diplomat. This op ed was first published in The Australian and has been republished with permission.