The actions of Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne running for the door in order to rebalance the numbers and “not accept” Craig Thomson’s vote have heaped farce on this already tragic parliament. As if the standards of debate in the house were not low enough already.
It is not a question of “not accepting” an intended pariah’s vote. Each party should vote in parliament according to whether or not proposed legislation or a proposed motion does or does not agree with their policies. That is what each member was elected to do: represent the position of their electorate.
The Coalition wanted to suspend standing orders to prevent the government shutting down debate on public debt. So, vote in favour of the suspension. Let Craig Thomson do what he wants. It’s not a tainted win. It’s parliament doing what it’s supposed to do: debating an important issue.
Abbott might take the line that to have done other than have one Coalition member abstain from the vote would be hypocrisy after he said the government should not accept Thomson’s vote after expelling him from the ALP. Yes, it would be hypocrisy. That’s why he should never have made the call in the first place.
The ALP members should vote according to party policy. That is what their supporters elected them to do. The Coalition can vote the opposite if they believe the policy is wrong. Let the independents support one or the other position based on the matters raised in debate. That is how parliament is supposed to work. It is how the public expects it to work.
The majority of people in this country want to go to an early election. The Liberals and Nationals should be moving no confidence motions whenever they believe it is warranted. That’s 72 votes out of a required 75. If Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter had any shred of integrity left, they’d do what the majority in their electorates want and be the other 3, rather than perfidiously hanging on to their jobs until next year.
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