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Both major parties are failing the Australian people

Many people like to recall a time when politics was a matter of principle and the major parties were animated by a commitment to great political ideals; a time when politicians of all stripes worked for the public good.

People contrast this earlier time with today’s political climate in which the major parties seem willing to do ‘whatever it takes’ to secure power. The numbers seem to tell the story, with membership of the major parties in terminal decline.

However, are we nostalgic for a time that never existed? Are the major parties maligned without good cause?

Poll results

At each IQ² debate the audience is polled on the topic, both before and after the debate takes place. Here are the results for this debate:

	Pre-debate poll	Post-debate poll
For:	80%	75.5%
Undecided:	9.8%	19.9%
Against:	10.2%	4.6%

Watch the video

Speakers

For:

• Greg Barnes is a Tasmanian barrister who has worked in state and federal politics.
• John Hewson is an economic and financial expert with experience in academia, business, government and the financial system.
• Carmen Lawrence is Winthrop Professor at the School of Psychology at the University of Western Australia. She is a former Premier of Western Australia and federal government minister.

Against:

• Shaun Carney is a senior columnist on The Age and is the author of two books, including a biography of Peter Costello.
• Helen Kroger has been in Federal Parliament since 2008 following an extensive career in small business, corporate fundraising and Human Resource Management.
• Penny Wong has been an ALP senator for South Australia since 2001. She is the Federal Minister for Finance and Deregulation. She was previously the Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water.

Chair:

Dr Simon Longstaff has a PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge. Prior to becoming the inaugural Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre in 1991, Dr Longstaff worked in the Northern Territory in the Safety Department of BHP subsidiary, GEMCO, lectured at Cambridge University and consulted to the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trusts. His book Hard Cases, Tough Choices was published in 1997. Dr Longstaff was inaugural President of the Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics and is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. He is Chairman of Woolworths Limited Corporate Responsibility Panel and AMP Capital Socially Responsible Investment Advisory Committee and serves as Member on a number of Board Committees.