The creation of a new political system is a radical concept, but why have political parties at all? Do our current political parties really serve the citizens’ interest in the most effective way?

Why not have elections or referendums based on policies, not parties. I mean, do we agree with all the policies of our preferred party? Of course not.

But we’re forced to vote for a party even though we might only agree with some of their policies. And when elected they claim a mandate to implement all their policies, even though we didn’t give them such a mandate.

Or, for example, they say their policy is, “no to carbon tax”. Yet after being elected they implement a carbon tax, and use taxpayer’s money to run ads asking us to say yes to a carbon tax.

Didn’t the majority already say “no”? And why even run ads asking us to say yes, when we don’t actually get a choice again to say yes or no?

It’s a classic case of why we don’t need political parties!

Not just because they can’t be trusted to do what you voted for, but because they do what they need for political survival, often ahead of the nation’s best interest or the majority.

My point is this: let’s vote on major policies – not parties.

We would still have politicians (albeit less of them) but we vote based on policies and for politicians based on the quality of policies.

With technology today we can easily vote on major policies. And the ones that aren’t considered major enough, the elected politicians can vote on. No more need for politicians to tow the party line.

Imagine the more honest, congruent, passionate debates when politicians can debate policy and not party politics.

Imagine how fast, simple, easy and accurate it will be when we, as voters, get to vote on major policy online.

Our current political system is dominated by two adversarial major parties (Labor and a Coalition of Liberal and National Party) who, despite having very similar policies on many issues, find it difficult to agree on almost anything. They are strongly focused on winning the next election and constantly engage in petty point scoring, with members being expected to adhere to the party line on all issues.

Our parliamentary system is based on the English Westminster system, though the behaviour of members of both major parties in Question Time in particular is nothing short of disgraceful, with the removal of members for unparliamentarily behaviour being a common occurrence.

Both major parties have rejected legislation proposed by the other side while in opposition, but then successfully introduced similar legislation while in government.

In 2012, with a hung parliament, the voters of Australia appear to be totally disillusioned with our two major political parties. What do we need to do to have more equitable governance, and in the Australian vernacular, a fair go for all?

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. http://www.jamiemcintyre.com

Author Bio: Jamie McIntyre is the founder of the 21st Century Group of companies and CEO of 21st Century Education. He is also bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, investor, sought after success coach, internationally renowned speaker and world-leading educator. www.jamiemcintyre.com

Category: Politics
Keywords: 21st century,political system,jamie mcintyre,australia,politics