Dr John Kaye MLC

John Kaye: Campaigning to bring about progressive social change in New South Wales.

It is not only the idea of public that we need to reinvent but politics itself. We are ill-served in this greenhouse century by a political culture that appears to most people to be little more than a game of football between two sides, scoring points at each other's expense to win the premiership and govern for four years. The challenges we face are too complex to be resolved by simple right and wrong answers. Added to that mix is the malign influence of political donations from developers, the tobacco and alcohol industries, pharmaceutical companies, defence contractors, banks and other corporations seeking to buy legislative outcomes that sacrifice the public interest in their quest to maximise their profits.

For the Greens, politics can be so much more, and it really has to be so much more if we are to address those challenges. Proportional representation is an important first step so that we bring to each debate a real reflection of the range of opinions in our society—as we saw this evening in the adjournment debate. It is only by bringing a range of opinions on to one table that we can produce answers that are closer to forming a complete social consensus.

But politics is much more than just parliament; it is about how people think of themselves and their community and the possibilities for making life much better. Creating a real democracy is about engaging everyone in determining the future. It is about making sure that wealth and cultural resources do not buy power at the expense of the poor and marginalised.