On a recent school visit a school a teacher told me that she was no longer going to take her class to see Parliament in action.  She felt that the behaviour that they witnessed undermined the values that she was trying to impart to them, in particular courtesy, tolerance and fairness.   On the campaign trail I also come across people who are disenchanted with the whole political process because of what they see as the self-serving behaviour of politicians.  This is a sad situation, and one that I think my generation of politicians need to do something to rectify.

I do not want to sound like a political ‘wowser’ in saying this.  Politics should be a robust contest where values, vision, ideas and policies are debated and challenged.  There will be heated discussions, as there are when people disagree.  From time to time we (me included) all say things that we shouldn’t, but that can and should be put right.

The most difficult area for me in this regard, as I have written about before is the question of character. What I do not think has a place are cheap shots and personal insults that are not aimed at winning an argument, but rather at undermining someone at a personal level.  The exchange between my National opponent and the Co-Leader of the Greens is illustrative in this regard.  Russel was talking about policy, when Stephen interjected with a comment on personalities, including invoking Rod Donald’s death.  Russel’s reply was ill-mannered and regretable, but the exchange should never have been started.

Overall though I think the key to restoring some faith in politics is to make people feel that it is something that is relevant to them and that they can engage with in a meaningful way.  To do this we need to bring our politics closer to our communities.

The best electorate MPs do this on a daily basis, assisting their constituents with all manner of problems and making a practical difference in their lives.  At other levels I think there are opportunities.  I think we need to investigate the use of Citizens Assemblies and Citizens Juries to discuss issues of significance and importance. These models bring randomly selected people together to consider a topic with all the advice on hand. 

I am also a fan of the Community Cabinet’s begun by the Queensland State Government and now being taken up with great gusto by Kevin Rudd’s government.  The Labour-led government here has gone some way down this path with the Community Forums, but the Australian example has the Cabinet holding meetings in regional and rural towns, having open and informal discussions as well as scheduled meetings with interest groups.

Technology opens up the possibility of virtual versions of all of these examples, though I still think there is no substitute for face to face exchanges. Taking politicians and public servants into the communities they serve is not only useful for them, but also for the public to help gain an understanding of the difficult choices and compromises that are required in government.

For the future of our democracy I think we need to give some thought to the way we do our politics, and ensure that it is a process that people feel they want to engage with, and that the engagement is meaningful and worthwhile.