My opposition to a unified non-Labor party has been due to my experiences in other western democracies, whereby the views of the rural minority are totally ignored due to their inability to shift enough seats to matter.

I have held the view that Australia, as a highly urbanised society, has been well supported by the political field of two major parties and a rural based party, which has been able to punch well above its actual ’seats in parliament’ clout, allowing the voices of the cultural heartland, who produce the vast majority of this nation’s food as well as a sizeable amount of the world’s, to be heard and acted upon in the best interest of the entire nation.

However, times have changed. Australia, like Europe and the US, is a nation with a parliament bullied by lobbiests, due mainly to the proliferation of media-driven public sentiment. Rural Australia has been highly active in keeping up with the shift in the power play, with the unification of rural lobby groups and the direct use of media, to ensure rural Australia’s message is heard by the urbanised voter.

Which is why I am now totally in favour of the Queensland conservatives dissolving and forming a new party.

The State no longer needs a rural focused party in parliament. Firstly, voters themselves have become split, with a variation of political support  in the form of independents, One Nation, Liberals and Nationals. So there is not one clear bloc which is focused on the interests of regional people. Even urban voters are left off the agenda as change is not forthcoming, they do not have an alternative, and in many instances choose independents over Liberal candidates due to the perception that Liberals are more interested in infighting.

Rural Australia is best served now by media savvy lobby groups, which are directly controlled by rural Australia with clear goals and objectives. The lobby group AgForce has proven that it can, with well planned campaigns, shift government policy, which has resulted in much better outcomes for regional people and industry.

However, relying on a party to achieve these objectives results in poor outcomes when that party is not in government, and in Queensland this is even more exaggerated with the lack of a ‘house of review’ in our unicarmal system. With the amalgamation of shires into super shires, the strength and mandate of local mayors has been dramatically improved, lending more weight to regional voices in their own areas, and again lessens the paramount need for a political party focused on regional issues, as the new shire mayors are, in fact, more able to voice and action the needs of their constituents at a State level.

A two-party system lends Queensland to better government. Why? Because the rag tag of non-Labor party groups ensures massive domination by Labor and ineffectual opposition. With a strong unified non-Labor party, Queenslanders would feel like they have an alternative worth voting for, which in turn results in the Government being more accountable by being on more of a close margin.

It’s exciting times in Queensland…finally we might have a more functioning democracy.

We may not be on our way to ditching Captain Bligh, but we are on our way to having her be a little more accountable and a little less sure of retiring whilst in office and handing her cap to Andrew Fraser, who will just continue racking up debt but ignoring the regions and not fixing health and policing. Acountability is the most important element we have in our democracy, for regardless of who is in government, be it a massive majority by Howard, Bjelke Petersen, Beattie or Rudd, an effective and strong opposition will keep them in check and in service to the people.