The Democrats - a party with punch

Don and his colleagues were successful very early in saving the Franklin River and setting up World Heritage legislation. We have since negotiated fairer native title and industrial relations laws; taken GST off essentials; introduced fuel standards and vehicle emission; the National Safe Schools Framework to tackle bullying; removed taxation from full-time postgraduate scholarships; increased levels of overseas development assistance; won discounts on Telstra services for pensioners; toughened trade practices laws and laws on accountability of parliamentary entitlements; won hundreds of amendments on Federal environment and heritage laws; forced equal treatment of same sex couples in superannuation law, to name a few.

It’s not a bad record for a party that’s said to be finished.

So why do journalists argue that the Democrats are dead?

What do they hope to achieve by this constant negating? Do they want a return to the bad old days where the Senate is an emasculated house, a rubber stamp for the government's ideological excesses? And do they realise that they are now in fact driving the potential demise? Who's going to vote for a party when they are constantly told they are dead?

Let's face it, people's views on politics are shaped by what they read, see and hear. And the majority of voters get their information about politics from TV, newspapers and radio.

I challenge journalists to tell us what else we need to do to stop the graveyard stories. Our influence in the parliament remains high and our small team is highly regarded by those who know our work.

Even without the balance of power, we have delivered a $1.8 billion increase in mental health spending, our sustained campaigns contributed to offshore migration Bill being pulled and agreement for critical inquiries into stolen wages and gynaecological cancer. We forced a conscience vote on RU486 and won, and will likely do this again on stem cell research. Which other party or individual parliamentarian can claim this many wins in less than a year?

We are still the centrist party Don started. If anyone bothered to analyse his platform they would see that we are still campaigning on many of the issues Don did, like human rights, the environment, level playing field for small business and accountability. It’s because the Coalition that has moved so far right that makes everyone else look like they are on the left.

The media yearns for the charisma that was Don Chipp. Good, entertaining one-liners and rousing speeches delivered with conviction and style - combined talents that were as rare then, as they are now. But in any case people expect those of us in politics to have vision, sound policies and to work for the common good: expectations that are usually dashed by the media focus on the contest rather than the content.

I don't believe that the Australian Greens can play the role of balance of power as the Australian Democrats have done. The record of the Green Party shows they eschew the benefits of incremental progress and do not engage in the processes of negotiation needed to achieve it. And, unlike the Greens, we believe that business can and should play a role in the solution to our social and environmental challenges, rather than being sidelined as part of the problem.

I think there's still a future and a need for the Australian Democrats. We can point to a long line of achievements that, through incremental change, has improved society, the environment and the economy.

We believe business can and should play a role as part of the solution to our social and environmental challenges.  Our economic efforts have played a key part in enabling our society to be as prosperous as it is. If we want a democratic and fair society that values justice, diversity and individual freedom - a party that protects Australians from the extremes of Liberal, National, ALP and Green ideology - then the Democrats must survive.