James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It would be remiss of me in this contribution on the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Annual Disclosure Equality) Bill 2021 not to talk about the general issue of electoral reform. I do commend the government and I commend all parties who want to ensure that our democracy is the best that it can be. I acknowledge Senator Patrick's contribution there and acknowledge his interest in particular areas of transparency relating to how government works and also to how political parties operate.

I want to stand up in defence of political parties. When we talk about political parties, this is the issue: everybody thinks that political parties are powerful, well-oiled and well-funded machines. In fact, I can talk about the Liberal National Party in Queensland. It has a membership of 12,000 or 13,000 people. That's the party—they're voluntary members of the party. Our headquarters in Albion has fewer than 10 full-time staff. We have a receptionist—hello, Michelle!; we have a state director—hello Lincoln!; we have someone who helps Lachlan—hello Declan!; and we have other people who work in compliance—10 staff.

Now I'm not going to bash the unions and pick on the unions, but every single union in Queensland has more staff, individually as a union, than the Liberal National Party. My party is not some well-funded, well-oiled, powerful electoral machine; it's a party of volunteers. It's a party of 13,000 individuals who have joined up. It's a party of tens of thousands of people who are strong supporters but who may not sign on the dotted line of a membership form; but they're happy to help out on polling day or to deliver material and spread the message. And it's hundreds of thousands of people who vote for the Liberal National Party.

I'm sometimes agog at other politicians, who represent parties in this place, when they attack my party. To me it shows their failure to understand what it means to be a member of a political party. It means that I, as someone who has an interest in the future of my local area—I live on the Darling Downs, so I go and will join the Warwick branch of the Liberal-National Party. I go to meetings that are held in the CWA hall in Warwick. Occasionally I might go to the southern electorate council meetings, which is in the state electorate of Southern Downs—with Stanthorpe, Warwick and Goondiwindi. I will go along there with other people with similar interests.

We're in the federal electorate Maranoa. Maranoa is 42 per cent of Queensland. It effectively goes from Cunninghams Gap, which borders the Southern Downs and Scenic Rim—it goes from the border of New South Wales and goes to Kingaroy and then goes straight up to Longreach. It's 42 per cent of Queensland. One electorate in Queensland is larger than many countries in Europe. We've people there from Kingaroy, Warwick and Longreach who are very different. They have different perspectives on life. But they share beliefs and values in relation to what they think is best for their country, so they join a political party. I'm sure it's the same for other political parties.

What annoys me and frustrates me—this is a general comment—is that we want to burden volunteers. We want to burden people with all this compliance. Do you know what the worst job to do in a political party is at a branch level or at state level?

Thank you, Senator Scarr. The worst job in any political party unit—the Liberal-National Party—is to be to be treasurer. Avoid it at all costs! It's a nightmare of a job. I'm not just saying that because I got four per cent in maths and can't add up; it's because—

Thank you, Senator Payne. I'm going to ignore that. I don't want to have take my boots off to count. It annoys me how many burdens are put on treasurers. It's such a terrible job. Suddenly you have people who want to make their local community—Warwick, Southern Downs, Maranoa—a better place to live. They've got to come to terms with all these streams of pages and feet-high piles of documentation. We should be making it easier for people to get involved in politics. We should be making it easier for people to join political parties and get involved, not making it harder. What we are seeing across this country is this distaste for political parties. The immediate thing is that anyone who joins a political party is in it for their own gain, is in it to make themselves richer and better. I look at Senator Scarr, who is here, Senator Davey and Senator Payne; I look at the branch members in my party units; I look at the cars in the car park, and they belong to normal people. They run businesses—some are retired, some people want to become politicians, some people want to run for council. They're not rich people. They're not in it for themselves. They're in it because they want to make society a better place.

I think we should always support people who want to join political parties. Unfortunately, a narrative has developed in this country where if you join a third interest group suddenly you are so holy. You are so pure because you join this third interest group. You join some local, green action group and suddenly you're the first cousin of the Dalai Lama, whereas, if you join the local political party, you're seen as Satan's second child. I think that is wrong. I am proud to stand up for the political parties. I am proud to stand up for branch members across this country who join a political party.

I encourage people to join my party, the Liberal National Party—lnp.org.au, if you're interested. You can download the membership form. It's pretty easy to join. Please come along to a branch meeting, and please come back to a second one after that. Get involved, because there is a real fight on in this country in terms of the battle of ideas.

I know some on the extreme Right and the extreme Left talk about convergence. They don't use the words 'convergence theory', but I will. There is the convergence theory of politics that the Labor Party and the Liberal National Party are coming together. I strongly disagree with that theory of politics. I think at the next election there will be a strong choice between who will be in the Lodge.

I strongly oppose Mr Albanese becoming Prime Minister. I don't want him to get into the Lodge. I don't want him to go to CurtainWorld and decide how he is going to redecorate the interior of the Lodge. I don't judge him on his interior decorating taste, his sartorial fashion or anything like that. What scares me about Mr Albanese is the policies that he will take to the next election, because we heard in the Senate yesterday Senator Rice talk about a power-sharing arrangement between the Labor Party and the Greens. That should scare people who are listening in today. 'A power-sharing arrangement' is code for a coalition government.

So the choice at the next election will be between Scott Morrison leading a coalition of the National Party and the Liberal Party, a coalition that has served this country for so long and so well—and particularly over the last two years it has kept Australians safe—and a coalition of Anthony Albanese and the Greens. That is a real choice. If you do change this government—and we're talking about political parties here—it means that the Labor Party will be in power with the Greens, and this country will change and, in my view, change for the worse.

So it is important that we do defend those Australians who join political parties. It is important that we don't allow people who want to get involved in politics to be ostracised and tainted. It's important that we don't allow the media to say to Dawn Scrymgeour—and Senator Scarr will know her well; she's an honorary life member and the doyen of the Warwick branch of the Liberal National Party—'Because you have spent the last 30 or 40 years of your life supporting the Liberal National Party, you are a bad person.' That is rubbish. I think Dawn Scrymgeour is a good person. I think all people who join political parties, even those who join the parties opposite me here, do so because they want the country to go in a certain direction. They're not doing it because they want to personally gain.

I think we need to redirect the conversation in Australia away from this tainting of party politics. We are not 17th century England, where you had very loose coalitions of people who would come together based on personal interests or on single issues. We do have a choice between cohesive ideologies. On this side it is of smaller government, lower taxes and greater freedom. I will let the Left talk for themselves, but on that side they are for government having an increasing role in people's lives. Essentially, we believe in freedom and the other mob don't. That is how I put it in McGrath-speak.

I do support legislation that will bring about a level playing field between political parties and other interest groups. I also do support legislation that does improve transparency. We need to make sure that we're not thinking about some political party that have their headquarters in a gleaming high-rise in Collins Street, Melbourne.

That's not a political party—thank you, Senator Scarr. Yes, the Liberal-National Party headquarters are in Albion, at the Albion Fiveways; they're above an Indian restaurant.

A government senator: It's a good restaurant!

It's a very good restaurant.

Thank you, Senator Davey. And, yes, we did sell Bjelke-Petersen House, and we got a good return on Bjelke-Petersen House, and then we bought a place—

I'm not going to go into the property history of the Liberal-National Party, Senator Davey; you've put me off! Interjections are always disorderly; that one was particularly disorderly.

The Liberal-National Party has very basic headquarters. But what makes my party—our party, on this side of the chamber—stronger is the membership. It's those people who will pay their $100 or so each year to come along to a branch meeting. What that is—and, yes, it's the ratification of the minutes of the previous meeting; yes, it's a discussion amongst people—is a coming together of people who have a shared belief in the system and a shared value system. What we should be doing, as a parliament, is making it easier for people to stay in a political party or to join a political party, and making it easier for them to want to stay in that political party and continue to participate in politics and in party politics. I will always stand up strongly for party politics, because I think that it is through that stability of party politics—of that great split between those on the left and those on the right—that there is a choice between who governs each state or territory or who governs this country for Australians to make; there is a choice for Queenslanders to make. And that choice is one that I believe is, at the coming federal election, going to be so important for how this country goes forward.

I'm someone who is very strongly supportive of further electoral reform. Yesterday in this chamber I introduced a private member's bill on optional preferential voting and the Robson rotation because I believe that that will make it fairer for voters. It's so they can decide who to vote for and not vote for. I believe the Robson rotation will make it fairer for candidates, so candidates do not benefit from the donkey vote. I hope that this Senate and this parliament will give due consideration to that bill, because that bill will make the coming federal election that much fairer for all Australians. I also hope that voter ID is brought in to this country sooner rather than later.