Action Blogs

by Jason Wilson
 

In the eleven years John Howard's Liberal government was in power, the face and role of the Senate changed dramatically.

Gone were the days of the Senate providing protection against legislation that did not have community support, or had not been raised at the last election for public mandate.

The Howard Government also made a radical departure from previous governments by blocking almost all non-government amendments to bills - this even occurred when committees that unanimously voted for the amendments contained government senators.

The figures are startling. In 2004, 42% of non-government amendments were successful.

In 2005, the figure dropped to 16%. 2006, it was down to 2%. By 2007, the figure had dropped to a measly 0.8%.

To suggest that the difference was in quality of the amendments would be naieve. We see the drop most dramatically after Howard's government gained control of the Senate. Even during Fraser's reign, the Senate retained it's role of checks and balances.

So if the role of the Senate has changed for the worse during Howard's tenure, can we expect better things from a Labor Government led by Kevin Rudd?

Unfortunately, I don't think the answer is yes.

First of all, Howard has shown that it's possible to get away with a scary amount of control of the Senate without public outcry.

By it's very nature, the Senate is complex. It's aims are far more lofty, and it's workings less in the public eye that other forms of parliament. Not only that, but during the Howard Governments control of the Senate, a palpable lack of information delivered to both the other parties and the general public has meant that grasping the day-to-day workings of the Senate has become harder. People don't protest against what they don't understand, and the Howard Government made a name out of escaping accountability.

It would be so easy for Kevin Rudd to follow Howard down that path, particularly when he knows the public is already inured to it, to some extent. If Howard could get away with it, what's to say Rudd won't as well?

Secondly, one of the best assets for not only providing a balance in the Senate, but also providing the public with information from the Senate was the Democrats. Love them, hate them, dance on their grave, most would admit that their demise in the Senate leaves a hole that will be hard to fill. Their raison d'etre was 'Keeping the Bastards honest'

A quick sweep of the bills and amendments currently before the Senate shows the sheer volume of work undertaken by the Democrats. There are some big shoes to fill, and looking at the current Senate, it's hard to see who can fulfill that role as well as they have in the past. Xenophon and Fielding certainly won't.

I hope that the time has come that the Bastards can keep themselves honest.

I also hope that if they don't, the word gets out to the electorates and we don't see eleven years of a government intent on misusing the power entrusted to them by the people.

Keri James blogs at This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours