Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, Mr Speaker—I am pleased to second the motion, and to support the member for Fremantle’s remarks. I am delighted to speak on this tremendous motion for several reasons. But, first of all, I notice in the gallery upstairs that there are some young Australians. Wherever you are from in this great country of ours, I welcome you to the people’s House, the House of Representatives of this parliament. I am not sure if you are from Queensland, but if you are from Queensland: a particularly warm welcome! To those citizens from elsewhere in our great country who are visiting the national parliament, I extend a very warm welcome as well.

I am delighted and, indeed, honoured to support this motion because I am a believer in democracy. I certainly subscribe to the democratic way of life, so I want to put on the record that I am for democracy. In my maiden speech I said in my opening comments why I think that this is a great country. I want to revisit those words, because I think they also say something about this democracy—the great democracy that is Australia. This is what I said, way back in 2002, when I came to this parliament:

… I consider my election to the Commonwealth parliament a very deep privilege. Indeed, that someone like me—who claims no fancy background, no establishment patronage and who possesses no material advantage—can be elected to the parliament of Australia says much about the strength of our contemporary civil society. My fellow Australians, the majesty of our democracy is alive and well.

We are a majestic democracy because anyone—from any station in life, of any gender, of any financial background, of any capacity at all—can come to this place, be a representative of the people and make a contribution to the greatness of this country.

The member for Fremantle referred to Indigenous representation in our country. I take this opportunity to honour an Indigenous Australian who did in fact come to this parliament to represent the state of Queensland. I refer, of course, to Senator Neville Bonner AO, who was born on 28 March 1922 and died on 5 February 1999. He was an Australian who loved his country immensely, and he broke new ground by being the first Indigenous person to become a member of the federal parliament. I would like to very briefly talk of his stature and his background because they go to the heart of this motion, I think, and reflect the significance of what democracy is all about: to reflect the people’s will, to be a voice for the people, to carry the sentiments and the views—diverse, of course, but also united in many aspects—of the people. That is, in my reading of it, something that is part of the spirit of this motion. Senator Neville Bonner was a great Australian. He came to this parliament not with great wealth, great networks or great education but simply as a man who was a farm labourer. He came to this parliament with great distinction and a great reputation—so much so that he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1984. Before that he was also an Australian of the Year—a great honour indeed.

Senator Neville Bonner in this place served not only his party but also, more significantly, his state of Queensland—so much so that we as a nation honoured his service in this place by creating the federal seat of Bonner. I touch on Senator Neville Bonner because, as an Indigenous Australian, he is someone who created history. He is someone that all of us must remember and honour in our deeds and words here in this parliament.

In relation to this motion specifically, on 8 November 2007 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution introduced by Qatar and declared 15 September 2008 the International Day of Democracy. A UN press release states:

… the Assembly recognized that 2008 marked the twentieth anniversary of the first International Conference of New or Restored Democracies, which would offer a special opportunity to focus attention on the promotion and consolidation of democracy at all levels. As such, the world body decided to commemorate the International Day, and invited all Member States to participate in a manner that contributed to raising public awareness.

I note that the preamble of the resolution affirmed:

… while democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy.

It affirmed that democracy does not belong to any country or region and:

… democracy was a universal value based on the freely-expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems, and their full participation in all aspects of life.

The UN General Assembly, in making these remarks, highlights one of the very strong points of the UN: to focus on something that draws attention to the wider international community. I think that there is a significant place for the UN in the architecture of international bodies and in the architecture of our global system. I am sure that many would know of its flaws, and it is certainly an organisation that can be improved.

As a graduate student at Cambridge university, I had the distinct pleasure of being the president of the Cambridge UN society. While being one who puts up his hand for democracy, I also say that, as someone who was a voice for the UN as a graduate student at Cambridge, I am certainly one who is in the corner of the UN—overwhelmingly so. It does not mean that the UN is the sole repository of all solutions to our challenges, but it is a very significant organisation in our global architecture.

The International Conference of New or Restored Democracies began in 1988 and was initially an intergovernmental forum. The ICNRD process developed into a tripartite structure with participation of governments, parliaments and civil society. The sixth conference, which took place in Doha, Qatar in 2006, reinforced the tripartite nature of the process and concluded with a declaration and plan of action which reaffirmed the fundamental principles and values of democracy. Following up on the outcome of ICNRD 6, an advisory board set up by the chair of the process, Qatar, decided to promote this International Day of Democracy. It took the lead in drafting the text of that UN General Assembly resolution. The resolution was entitled ‘Support by the United Nations system of the efforts of governments to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies’. That was adopted by consensus on 8 November 2007.

As a federal member, I think one of the great pleasures we have is to visit our schools and talk to young people. Certainly, as the federal member for Ryan, I do that in the western suburbs of Brisbane. It is a great joy and delight to engage with our young people and talk about the work we do as members of parliament and as representatives of the people. One of the questions I get asked quite often when I talk about Australia being a democracy is: what is meant by ‘democracy’? I always go back to a little bit of history when I talk to the students of the schools that I visit. I take pleasure in talking about the history of ‘democracy’. It comes from ancient times, from the Greek historian Herodotus, who as we understand first used the term in the fifth century BC. He coined the word from ‘demos’, ‘the people’, and ‘kratien’, ‘to rule’. It really is rule by the people. The people are supreme, and they are whom we serve as elected members of parliament.

One of the other famous definitions that I like to raise when I talk to students about democracy and its meaning is a phrase by a very historic figure in American politics: Abraham Lincoln, a former American president. He coined the phrase ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’. It is this simple eloquence that really does go to the heart of what democracy is all about and, in a sense, also what government is all about. ‘Government of the people, by the people, for the people’—what majestic words they are to describe the spirit of this motion and the spirit of a way of life that we in this country certainly treasure very much: the democratic way of life.

Getting back to Herodotus for a moment, I think it is no accident that it was a Greek who coined the word, because ancient times were when scholars were able to see democracy in Athens during the fifth and fourth centuries. We understand that people at that time actually assembled together and ruled in a very direct, community oriented fashion. It is a lesson for those in politics today that the community forum or town hall still has its supreme place in modern politics. It is interesting how something so long ago has profound relevance to politicians in the 21st century.

In my view, the ultimate benefit of democracy to the modern state and to people who believe in democracy is that it confers a sense of legitimacy on the elected government of the day—that legitimacy of course comes about quite simply because the will of the people is reflected in the government of the day. The mechanism to achieve democracy in modern times is through the ballot box and through elections. It is through that mechanism that a government is formed. It has a mandate to govern on behalf of the people.

I want to make three observations about a fully democratic and pluralistic state as I see them. The first great benefit of democracy is the right to oppose. Professor Kenneth Minogue of the London School of Economics has suggested that no state is seriously democratic unless opposing and critical voices are permitted to criticise governments; there is guaranteed freedom for people to form political organisations of many types—whether formal or informal, direct or indirect; and people are able to freely contest fair and frequent elections. The tolerance of opposition is distinctive to a genuine democratic form of government.

Another benefit of democracy is that democracy enjoys and respects individual freedom. Citizens can meet whomever they like, whenever they like and do whatever they like in terms of worship, free speech and movement. They can actively engage in the democratic process. In our modern times that would of course involve things like writing letters to newspapers, ringing up talkback stations and getting involved actively in the democratic and the political process. Citizens of course are not barred from voting or from seeking the votes of their fellow citizens if they wish to contest elections.

Another significant benefit of democracy is that government is seen to be transparent with a two-way communication between governments and citizens. Governments must not only be prepared to listen to the com-munities they represent but clearly communicate their decisions. The member for Fremantle made observations of the media and I acknowledge her point about the significance of the media as part of the architecture of a fully functioning democratic state.

Australia is the sixth-oldest uninterrupted democracy and is recognised all over the world for its history of political stability and its values—the sixth-oldest uninterrupted democracy only behind the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada. What a great place we occupy. We are, of course, a parliamentary democracy with our roots set deep in the British tradition of Westminster. The distinctive feature of our modern democratic Australia is our proud liberal democratic tradition that provides for robust public debate and exchanges from town halls to national stadiums. I am very proud to be a member of the Australian parliament and to be a citizen of this great country, and I pledge to do all I can to guard our significant way of life. (Time expired)

Debate (on motion by Mr Combet) adjourned.

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