The teeth of common sense need to be bared

Common sense sleeps in its coffin buried deep underground. It's time for it to rise up and bite us all in the neck.

When asked 12 months ago why I wanted to become Queensland's first ever elected independent senator I said I was fearful for Australia's future.

Nothing has changed, except my fear has grown.

I said Australia was a lucky country but it wouldn't stay lucky unless we laid down long term untouchable economic policy for the future.

I said politicians within the Federal Parliament had become addicted to the game of politics, winning no matter what the price. They'd lost sight of the purpose of politics, collectively working to secure Australia's future.

I said 12 Queensland Senators, fighting to safeguard and enhance Queensland interests (as dictated by Founding Fathers) had long ago deserted the hard yards of fighting for state and had meekly capitulated along party lines.

I said the Senate had become a House of Reward for union and party officials rather than a House of Review and State's House to advance Australia.

On my candidate cards I put Greg Rudd LCM, then waited for people to ask what LCM stood for. Logic, common sense and maturity, I would say. That's what's missing in our federal debate. That's what's missing in our national policy settings. Over the past 12 months no-one has disagreed with that.

Yet I find it bemusing there is no national outcry to improve the structure of our parliamentary democracy when we all know it's running so poorly.

Don't get me wrong, there is an outcry. But it's an outcry of complaint and clever point-scoring rather than an outcry demanding positive structural reform that will benefit Australia.

I've suggested creating a structure protected from short term party politics, owned by the parliament, where 30% of vital long term economic policy is securely locked away from tinkering political hands.

This concept is no different from creating a protected structure for compulsory superannuation once we realised Aussies were pathetic long term savers. We bitch that we pay and can't access super, but we're still glad when retiring that we have thousands or millions more than would have otherwise been the case.

Parliament can create this protected structure for vital long term economic policy by injecting real democracy into democracy, not just voting along party lines so the next Government can overturn decisions to appear different. That's not real democracy.

I've suggested we have a two year parliamentary debate, drawing from expert sources nationally and internationally. Collectively we decide what is the vital 30% long term economic policy that will underpin Australia's economic growth and security?

After this two year debate, covered extensively by the media, legislation is drafted. Real democracy is injected into democracy by allowing all 226 Members and Senators to have a conscience vote on what is best for Australia.

226 politicians take off their party hats, their career hats, their self-interest hats and put on their "what's-best-for-Australia" hat. After all, isn't that why they were first elected?

Once this long term Bedrock Economic Policy is locked in and legislated it is only amended every five years. This only happens after another two year parliamentary debate to improve legislation followed by another conscience vote by all Members and Senators.

Bedrock Economic Policy - including core tax, infrastructure, health, education and productivity policy- is now owned by the institution called the Federal Parliament and not by any political party that happens to be in power at a given point in time.

Bedrock Economic Policy is never a political football. It's too important. Its five year review cycle never coincides with the three year election cycle. That still leaves 70% of federal policy with which the political parties can play PR branding games where they pretend to be oh so different.

All parties win because the Australian economy grows which means bigger tax revenues to allow Governments of the day do better things for Australia. Hard decisions can be made with Bedrock Economic Policy because there will be no finger pointing between parties. All take credit, all take blame – all decisions are done for what's best for the country not party.

I haven't met any individual in Australia over the past two years who thinks my idea is not at least worth discussing – including individual politicians and media. Yet, as individuals become groups, hunting for headlines and votes, neither media nor politicians show interest in putting Bedrock Economic Policy on the national agenda for this election.

It appears what's best for Australia doesn't come first on anyone's agenda. This includes most of the voting public, who enjoy complaining (because it's easier) or sending nasty emails or tweets (because its anonymous or just plain trolling fun).

On a recent trip north I couldn't get a regional newspaper interested in the virtue of Bedrock Economic Policy or even 12 Queensland Senators hunting for Queensland on tourism and infrastructure projects rather than simply voting along party lines. Instead the paper gave a next morning splash to a candidate running for the Rise Up Australia Party who was convinced the recent Queensland floods were caused by a United Nations secret cloud seeding experiment.

Yep - plenty of logic, common sense and maturity there to secure our long term economic future for our kids and grand kids.

There's a fixation by the media on politics as entertainment while politicians are fixated on the game of politics – winning at all costs. Rhetoric rules while logic, common sense and maturity suffers. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

When Tony Abbott was headlined for his "sex appeal" gaffe (as the media called it) I facetiously put out a release saying "Abbott should be killed and Paul Hogan should be burnt at the stake for saying 'she's a good lookin' shiela'". One regional newspaper actually ran that as fact – not understanding, or not wanting to understand, I was saying there are far more nationally important issues at hand.

Even when the media do run parts of my press releases about 'Bedrock Economic Policy' it's dressed up as part comedy to get a run. Journalists often tell me they have to beat stories up to get a run. Like most other Australians none feel job secure at the moment so they write to please.

Even the ABC presses comedy, send-up and comment more regularly into the news. The National Press Club invited me to debate Bob Katter and Clive Palmer in Canberra at a Press Club lunch. A Queensland election theme with Queensland characters debating from different points of view. The ABC, who run the national broadcast, insisted I be taken off the agenda. I wouldn't mind if Bob or Clive were talking about structural reform of our parliamentary democracy but they're not.

Is this the best we can do in terms of serious debate to better Australia?

Do a majority of Australians even care?

It appears not?

I've lost track of the number of times I've been asked as a Senator which seat I'm running for in Queensland. My favourite question from a regional journalist came after a half hour of explaining that all states have 12 Senators and why the founding fathers formed the Senate before the House of Representatives. I was then asked, "So you represent the whole state, I get that now, but what I don't get is what political party you belong to as an independent?"

Young people are extremely disengaged. They often say "why should I care when the Government doesn't care about me?" I ask them if they intend to build a house one day. Most say yes. I say when builders come to you and say "what kind of house do you want built?" always shrug and say you don't care. So when the house is finished, and you inevitably complain about the many design faults, always remember you have no-one to blame but yourselves because you didn't care.

Electing governments is like building your house – you should take special interest in all aspects of the build because you have to live with the consequences.

Political and business friends overseas told me from the start Australians are not yet ready for my message of quarantining 30% of long term vital Bedrock Economic Policy into a bipartisan, Australia friendly, anti-politician-tampering structure owned by Parliament. They said I'm two elections too early. They told me Australians have never really suffered like the rest of the world so won't wake up to the precariousness of their long term future until they do suffer.

My overseas friends use national anthems as an example. Ours is about geography and topography while most of theirs are about suffering, oppression, war, genocide and revolution.

I've argued Australians aren't so dumb that we have to suffer a drop in living standards before we realise inherited luck eventually runs out. We know deep down we have to create our own luck to stay in the economic game to prosper within a increasingly competitive world.

But after two years of peddling my story and as we approach the 2013 federal election I think I may be wrong and my overseas friends may be right. I'm amazed at the number of people I meet around the country who profoundly believe we cannot change the structure of our parliamentary democracy. Australians love playing the victim – it's always someone else's fault.

I constantly say Australians created our federal parliamentary structure so Australians can change it. What's the point of education if we don't learn and make change for the better? Democracy began in Greece. The Greeks didn't change and look where Greece is today. No western democracy is delivering fantastic outcomes in the world today – can't Australians see that?

In Australia we have an opportunity to improve the system rather than be victims of the system. The overall vacuous debate in this election has not once touched upon structural change of our parliamentary democracy.

Does that mean all sides of politics think it's working well? Or don't they care? I care and so should you.

Where are the agents of change within our Parliament? I see agents of self-interest but very few agents of change, particularly agents of structural change.

Using LCM - Logic, Common Sense and Maturity – imagine if in our wedding vows we had the words "Do you promise to find fault in all utterances of your partner and laugh at their every stumble and rub salt into every wound."

It doesn't make sense – how the hell would a marriage work and a family grow and prosper under those conditions – yet that's how we run our Federal Parliament.

Imagine if every public company had two boards with the second board instructed to publicly dispute, ridicule, undermine and character assassinate the first board at every opportunity for the sake of the company. It doesn't make sense – yet this is how we run our Federal Parliament.

Imagine if every teacher encouraged every student to talk over, interject, spuriously oppose and belittle other students for the sake of free speech in education. It doesn't make sense – yet this is how we run our Federal Parliament.

It's time to dig up the coffin of Logic, Common Sense and Maturity that has somehow got buried over the years and let LCM sink it's teeth into the neck of voting Australians.

It's time to wake up. You've been glamoured.